Stoic philosopher, born in Hierapolis. At first a Roman slave, on being freed he devoted himself to philosophy. He was banished by Emperor Domitian along with other philosophers in AD 90, and settled at Nikopolis in Epirus. He wrote no works; the Enchiridion is a collection of maxims dictated to a disciple.
For the bishop, see Archdiocese of Zaragoza. For the vase painter, see Epiktetos.Epictetus (Greek: Επίκτητος; He was probably born at Hierapolis, Phrygia, and lived most of his life in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he died.
Life
Epictetus spent his youth as a slave in Rome to Epaphroditos, a very wealthy freedman of Nero. Even as a slave, Epictetus used his time productively, studying Stoic Philosophy under Musonius Rufus.
It was Epictetus' exile by Domitian that began what would later come to be the most celebrated part of his life. After his exile, Epictetus traveled to Nicopolis, Greece, where he founded a famed philosophical school.
True to Stoic form, Epictetus lived a life of great simplicity, marked by teaching and intellectual pursuits.
Demonax supposedly rebuked Epictetus' exhortation to marry by sarcastically asking whether he could marry one of the philosopher's daughters.
Philosophy: ethics and psychology
So far as is known, Epictetus himself wrote nothing.
Epictetus focused more on ethics than the early Stoics had. The role of the Stoic teacher, according to Epictetus, was to encourage his students to learn, first of all, the true nature of things, which is invariable, inviolable and valid for all human beings without exceptions. Epictetus then introduced his students to two cardinal concepts: the concept of Prohairesis and the concept of Dihairesis Prohairesis is what distinguishes humans from all other creatures. Epictetus repeatedly says that "we are our prohairesis". Finally, Epictetus taught his students that good and evil exist only in our Prohairesis and never in external or aprohairetic things. The good student who had thoroughly grasped these concepts and employed them in everyday life was prepared to live the philosophic life, whose objective was eudaimonia (happiness or flourishing).
The essence of Epictetus's psychology is revealed by two of his most frequently quoted statements:
We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them.
I must die.
In the last chapter in Enchiridion he concludes his ethics with four maxims meant to help during everyday life:
"Lead thou me on, O Zeus, and Destiny,
To that goal long ago to me assigned.
I'll follow and not falter; if my will
Prove weak and craven, still I'll follow on.
"Whoever has complied well with necessity
Is counted wise by us, and understands divine affairs. 965)
"O Crito, if it thus pleases the gods, thus let it be." (From Plato's Crito)
"Anytus and Meletus can kill me, but they can't harm me." (From Plato's Apology)
Modern influence
The influence of Epictetus continues today. Psychologist Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, credits Epictetus with providing a foundation for his system of psychotherapy (How to Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable about Anything, 1998). Freud ranked third.)
James Stockdale was an American fighter pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam, and was later a vice presidential candidate. In Courage under Fire : Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior (1993), Stockdale credits Epictetus with helping him endure seven and a half years in a North Vietnamese military prison – including torture, and four years years in solitary confinement. In his conclusion, Stockdale quoted Epictetus as saying, "The emotions of grief, pity, and even affection are well-known disturbers of the soul. Epictetus considered the suffering of grief an act of evil.
The philosophy of Epictetus plays a key role in the 1998 novel by Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full.
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