Seneca: De otio; De brevitate vitae

Introduces students to the complex artistic method and provocative message of Senecan philosophy.

Seneca (Author), G. D. Williams (Edited by)

9780521588065, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 January 2003

288 pages
18.8 x 12.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.3 kg

"The volume would...make an attractive choice for study even at the undergraduate level, for the two dialogues offered here are among the most accessible of Seneca's shorter works."
-Margaret Graver, Department of Classics, Dartmouth College, Ancient Philosophy

This edition, the first modern one in English, introduces undergraduates and more advanced students to the therapeutic possibilities of Seneca's Stoic philosophy. The short treatises De otio and De brevitate vitae balance each other by representing different but complementary aspects of Senecan philosophy: in De otio, one's duty to the 'active' life, in De brevitate vitae, one's duty to oneself in reclaiming life from the impositions made upon the self. The provocative Senecan message is to promote introspection in life, and to suggest the benefits of an inner existence of the personal. In addition to its literary and linguistic emphasis, this edition tries to advertize the means by which Seneca conveys the attractions of his therapeutic 'philosophy'.

Introduction
L. ANNAEI SENECAE DE OTIO
DE BREVITATE VITAE
Commentary.

Subject Areas: History of Western philosophy [HPC], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]