On the Psyche: An International Conference to celebrate the work of Professor Christopher Gill

Posted on by
Reply

On the psyche: studies in literature, psychology and health is an international conference to celebrate the work of Professor Christopher Gill, from the Department of Classics and Ancient History, at the University of Exeter, and builds on his studies of the psyche and the self in the ancient world.

In three impressive volumes he has integrated literary approaches with ancient psychology and medicine, from Homer and Plato to the Stoics and Galen. He has additionally addressed the question whether some of these approaches may contribute to improving our own lives and wellbeing.

The conference presents papers on the development of the psyche from Homer to tragedy and Plato, on the underworld, on medical and philosophical debates on psychology ; on modern medical understanding of ancient wellbeing; on happiness, hope and truth, and freedom, and on Neoplatonic approaches to the self and the human relationship with the divine.

Professor Gill will be retiring at the end of 2013, but will keep very much alive his interests and work in ancient philosophy, and its implications for the modern day.

For more information, and to book, click here.

Stoic Week 2012: The Student View

Posted on by
2

Christopher Thompsett, first year undergraduate student of Classics at Exeter University, offers his view of the Live like a Stoic trial, 2012. This report will be published in the forthcoming journal Pegasus, published by the Classics Dept. here at Exeter.

Stoic Week: The Student View

Christopher Thompsett

 From the 26th November to the 2nd of December 2012, volunteers worldwide participated in the first ‘Stoic Week’, an endeavour which would put to the test the philosophical school of Stoicism in applying its ethical theories to contemporary life. ‘Stoic Week’ was set up as a satellite of the Classics and Ancient History Department’s recent work on Health and Wellbeing in the Ancient World, which is considering what may be learned from the Ancient World’s practices in psychotherapy and diet for modern day living. The team which organised it included Professor Christopher Gill, Professor of Ancient Thought here at Exeter and Dr. John Sellars, lecturer in philosophy at Birkbeck in London. Making the work truly interdisciplinary, however, was the involvement of leading psychotherapeutic professionals, such as Dr. Donald Robertson, author of The Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (which examines the Stoic roots of this therapy), and Tim LeBon, author of Wise Therapy, who, among other things, provided wellbeing surveys and questionnaires for the measurement of any psychological benefits. What started as a project for students taking Roman Philosophy here ended up attracting interest from all parts of the world, with 130 officially taking part. In this report, I hope to give some personal reactions to the events of the week in which we followed Stoic principles, reactions from fellow students, and also those who shared their experiences online through the blogosphere and in the press.

Continue reading →

Perspectives: Core Ideas of Stoic Ethics in Marcus Aurelius Part Two

Posted on by
Reply

Perspectives: Core Ideas of Stoic Ethics in Marcus Aurelius Part Two (of two)

 An Illustrative Reading: Meditation 3.11

 The relevance of these ideas to the Meditations can be brought out in two, complementary ways. One is by examining in some depth a single passage, which shows how Marcus draws on these ideas and also how he weaves them together into a connected sequence. The other is by discussing in more general terms certain recurrent – and sometimes striking and distinctive – ways in which he treats each of these themes. First, let us look closely at this passage (3.11):

 Continue reading →

Perspectives: Chris Gill on The Core Ideas of Stoic Ethics, Part One

Posted on by
1

Core Ideas of Stoic Ethics in Marcus Aurelius: Part One

A positive reason for seeing Stoicism as influential on Marcus is that most of the Meditations are strongly reminiscent of Stoic ideas, even if Marcus does not use technical Stoic vocabulary and sometimes recasts these ideas in his own distinctive ways. We can identify at least five features which were seen in this period as distinctive of Stoicism; and they match strongly marked themes in the Meditations. One is the idea that the virtuous life is identical with the happy life (that virtue is all that is needed to ensure happiness). Other things widely regarded as good, such as health or material prosperity and even the well-being of one’s family and friends, are seen as being irrelevant for happiness; they are ‘matters of indifference’, even if they are naturally ‘preferable’.  A second theme is that emotions and desires depend directly on beliefs about what is valuable or desirable; they do not form a separate (non-rational) dimension of psychological life. The emotions and desires most people form are seen as shaped by mistaken ethical beliefs and in this sense as being psychological ‘sicknesses’. A third theme is that human beings have an in-built natural inclination to benefit others. This inclination, if properly developed, is expressed both in full-hearted engagement with family and communal roles and in a readiness to accept all human beings, as such, as part of a ‘brotherhood’ or ‘cosmic city’ and as proper objects of ethical concern. These three ideas add up to a highly idealised view of human ethics and psychology, one that ancient critics thought was over-idealistic and unrealistic. None the less, the Stoics maintained that all human beings are fundamentally capable of progressing towards the ideal state of complete virtue and happiness, though they admitted that no one had perhaps achieved this completely. Hence, ethical life, for Stoicism, consisted in an ongoing process or journey towards this goal, a journey for which their methods of practical ethics were a means of support.

Continue reading →

Ancient Healthcare and Modern Wellbeing: Introductory Video

Posted on by
4

Ancient Healthcare and Modern Wellbeing

A new, 10 minute, introductory video on the Ancient Healthcare and Modern Wellbeing project here at the University of Exeter’s Classics Department, discussing the work being undertaken both on finding insights from ancient psychotherapeutics texts (as found in Stoicism) and from ancient texts on preventative medicine (as found in the 2nd Century doctor Galen and his text On Preserving Health). 

Perspectives: The Stoics on the Community of Humankind

Posted on by
4

Perspectives: The Stoics on the Community of Humankind

Much of Stoic philosophy stemmed from the simple observation that each of us is a part of the human race.  From this accurate, so often considered naïve, fact, they argued that each of us had a role to play in contributing to the common good of our own species. For nature wants all things to continue, and each species is to work together to that end.

Now whilst, the Stoics observed, ants or bees naturally work together, the human being, whose mind is subject to all kinds of prejudiced conditioning from his or her own individual society, has to use his reason to pierce through that conditioning in order to understand the way things are, i.e. the aforementioned fact that each of us is a part of a species whose wellbeing we value, and to base his or her action on this fact. For that reason, they developed the metaphor of the human race as a ‘body’. Thus, as all the limbs contribute to the health of our body, so too does each human, like a limb, contribute to the body of humanity. The fact that this was setting the bar high was never to be taken as a deterrent, and especially so if you really did want to follow nature’s way. And as you too are a part of nature, a Stoic would say, why wouldn’t you want to do this?

Continue reading →

Stoic Week in School: A Student’s View

Posted on by
1

This short article is printed with kind permission of the James Allen Girls’ School in London,  Howard Peacock, who teaches philosophy there, and philosophy pupil Matilda Simpson.

 Stoicism at James Allen’s Girls’ School

As a part of the “live like a stoic week” our Year Thirteen philosophy class decided that it would beneficial for all to try to actively educate our fellow students in the ways of Stoicism. Setting up a stall in the middle of the common room we stood on hand handing out pamphlets and giving advice to our peers on how they could make the most of that week. Though most people’s immediate response to us was to inquire as to why we were wearing beards (not quite understanding we were undertaking the role of classic philosophers) they soon became interested in the actual ideas of the doctrine. There was some misunderstanding at first but they soon became accepting of the concepts of the importance of wisdom and harmony and decided altogether these were definite traits they felt could be integrated in to their work fuelled life styles. To those who were receptive we handed out cue cards with key phrases that they could take away that would remind them to live stoically such as “If something bad happens, you must simply accept it”, and “If someone is mean to you say : It seemed so to him.” Although nobody made a definite promise to swap their morning coffee for meditation we nonetheless felt that the idea had been a success, and hopefully they will think about employing stoic ideals in to their lives for more than just the week.

Matilda Simpson

More background, from the school’s website: From 26-29 November, girls at JAGS participated in the UK’s first “Stoic Week”, organized by the University of Exeter to raise awareness of the continued relevance of Stoicism, the ancient Greek and Roman lifestyle philosophy that emphasized self-control, virtue, and above all the “Stoical” acceptance of events which it is not in our power to control.

The Year 13 Philosophy class set up a stall in the sixth-form common rooms offering Stoic advice to their peers, and spread Stoic doctrine peripatetically through the school, while Stoic ideas were the theme of the Year 10 & 11 philosophy discussion group. Year 12 Greek students set about translating two chapters of Epictetus’ Encheiridion (“handbook”) of Stoicism from the original koine Greek.

All concerned were very pleased by the success of the events, but not excessively so: participants were quick to remind us that success or failure in worldly affairs is beyond our control; the important thing was that at all points they acted in accordance with virtue and their own nature as rational beings.

Want to try Stoicism in your school? Check out these resources for secondary school students.

Stoic Week 2013

Posted on by
2

Stoic Week 2013

This year, Stoic Week will take place from Monday 25th of November to Monday 2nd of December. We are applying for funding to improve the resources available for the week, including a vastly improved booklet; more audio recordings of Stoic askeseis (spiritual exercises); and more robust measurements and scales. We decided it would be best to put all our resources into improving the resources available for the next Stoic Week in November/December, rather than rush everything for a Stoic fortnight in February. This way, there will be a strong foundation for Stoic weeks to run annually in future. At the moment, we are also investigating funding for other exciting projects related to adapting Stoicism for today, which could take the project in exciting parallel developments.

So keep practising Stoicism! Perhaps invite some friends and classmates to be Stoics for a week, or two weeks, and let us know how you get on!

For example, here in Exeter, we will be having out own Stoic week amongst staff and students in late February and early March. 

Heraclitus and the Birth of the Logos

Posted on by
1

This is a chapter, reproduced with kind permission, from the forthcoming work 50 Philosophy Classics, by Tom Butler-Bowdon and published by Nicholas Brealey. The book will be published on the 14th March, 2013.

In this guest piece, read about Heraclitus, the first Greek to place such attention on the idea of the Logos, or the rational underlying structure of the universe, a concept which later underpinned the practice of ancient Stoicism. Read and post your thoughts!

Heraclitus

One of the great philosophers before Socrates and Plato, Heraclitus was the eldest son of the leading family of Ephesus, one of the main cities of the ancient Greek world and famous for its temple of Artemis.

We do not know a huge amount about Heraclitus, except that he avoided involvement in politics, was something of a loner, and, at a time when it was normal for philosophers to play a part in politics and communicate their ideas in speech, he focused on the written word. As a result, his thoughts survived him and his book of sayings became famous in the ancient world. Plato and others discussed him, but his influence was greatest among the Stoics.

Continue reading →

Event in London: Insights from Ancient Greece for Today

Posted on by
1

Galen, Healthcare and Money are the themes for this evening

University of Exeter scholars illuminate the background of the current financial crisis and the contemporary usefulness of ancient Greek healthcare methods. .

Two short lectures followed by discussion by scholars from the University of Exeter, bringing out key insights from ancient Greece for modern society.

Professor Richard Seaford: ‘Money: from its invention by the Greeks to the crisis of today’.

Professor Christopher Gill: ‘Healthcare and wellbeing: can the ancient Greeks help us?’

Free entry but please confirm attendance on 020 7563 9835 or at press@helleniccentre.org

When & Where: 

Wednesday 27 February 2013 – 7 pm Great Hall, Hellenic Centre.

16-18 Paddington St. London, W1U 5AS (Nr Baker St Tube).

More about this event: 

Organised by the University of Exeter and the Hellenic Centre. This event forms part of the Initiative on the Impact of Greek Culture in the ancient and modern world, which is sponsored by the A. G. Leventis Foundation.

Summary for Richard Seaford’s presentation on ‘Money’. The first society in history to be monetised was the ancient Greek polis.  And so the Greeks – unlike us – did not take money for granted, and so could sometimes see the nature of money more clearly than we can.  Though aware of it convenience, they were also shocked by its impact.  They noted its tendency to replace all other values, and its unlimitedness: one can have enough of just about everything, but not of money, and this insatiability is, they believed, both unnatural and potentially destructive of society.  Something like the ancient Greek culture of limit is precisely what we need if we are to avert economic crises and environmental catastrophe.

 Summary for Christopher Gill’s presentation on ‘Healthcare’. World-wide concern about the massive rise in obesity and depression, among other conditions, is leading people to look again at preventive medicine and the role of a healthy life-style. The ancient Greeks had highly developed ideas on this subject, including Galen’s ‘six-factor’ method for maintaining a healthy and balanced life. Classics scholars at Exeter have been exploring the usefulness of the Greek (especially Galenic) method under modern conditions, and are working with medical experts and community health groups to see what contribution the ancient approach can make to modern problems. This presentation sets out current work in this area and its larger implications.