At the start of Week #4, I will post some comments here to help you focus on this week's material.

Week #4 we'll be learning about the Stoic pursuit of the Good Life. Like the Epicureans, the Stoics considered themselves a type of Materialist. However, unlike the Epicureans, the Stoics believed that Nature was governed by a rational force they identified as God or Fate or Nature or The Logos. During Week 4, I'll explain why they saw a need to interchange these four names.

For now, I will note that the Stoic God was not a transcendent, supernatural God that is separate from nature. For them, God is the Logos within nature, and their pursuit of the Good Life centered around recognizing this God or Logos in nature and coming to terms with one's inability to control it. For the Stoics, the Good Life is about learning to recognize what one can not control (i.e., Nature, God, Fate) and what one can control (i.e., one's beliefs and reactions to Nature, God, Fate).

We will see some videos and read an encyclopedia entry before trying to read the writings of Epictetus, a Turkish slave who gained his freedom only to be banished (along with all other philosophers) from Rome. Despite these and other misfortunes, he managed to gain a reputation as a great teacher whose company was later sought by many, including Emperor Hadrian, and pathed the way for the next emperor, Marcius Aurelius, to identify as a Stoic.

The comments I post here at the start of the week are to help you understand and reflect upon these resources.