6/24/2023 0 Comments Dave erickson seneca![]() Significantly, an ancient Greek student of Stoicism was called a prokopt о̄ n, literally “one who is making progress.” What this means is that making progress is an incremental or step-by-step process. Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic school, is reported to have said, “Well-being is arrived at little by little” (Diogenes Laertius 7.1.26). This idea goes back to the earliest Greek Stoics. In the Letters, Seneca frequently mentions the idea of making progress, encouraging both Lucilius and himself to do so. There are many ways to look at Seneca’s letters, but one fruitful way is to see them as an introductory course to Seneca’s unique brand of Stoicism. “Progress” was a central idea in Stoicism, and it is most fully discussed in Seneca’s famous Letters on Stoicism, written to his friend Lucilius. Well-being is arrived at little by little-but, in itself, is no small thing. For Seneca, Stoicism is a philosophical path that we progress along to develop a better character.
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