Dialogues and Essays

✍ Scribed by Seneca, Tobias Reinhardt, John Davie

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 298
• Series: Oxford World's Classics
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Alain de Botton's bestselling The Consolations of Philosophy--later made into a six-part TV series--has helped popularize ancient philosophy and especially the work of Seneca. This superb volume offers the finest translation of Seneca's dialogues and essays in print, capturing the full range of his philosophical interests. Here the Stoic philosopher outlines his thoughts on how to live in a troubled world. Tutor to the young emperor Nero, Seneca wrote exercises in practical philosophy that draw upon contemporary Roman life and illuminate the intellectual concerns of the day. They also have much to say to the modern reader, as Seneca ranges widely across subjects such as the shortness of life, tranquility of mind, anger, mercy, happiness, and grief at the loss of a loved one. Seneca's accessible, aphoristic style makes his writing especially attractive as an introduction to Stoic philosophy, and belies its reputation for austerity and dogmatism. This edition combines a clear and modern translation by John Davies with Tobias Reinhardt's fascinating introduction to Seneca's career, literary style, and influence, including a superb summary of Stoic philosophy and Seneca's interpretation of it. The book's notes are the fullest of any comparable edition.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 6
Introduction......Page 8
Note on the Text......Page 29
Select Bibliography......Page 30
Chronology......Page 33
DIALOGUES AND ESSAYS......Page 36
On Providence......Page 38
On Anger, Book 3......Page 53
Consolation to Marcia......Page 88
On the Happy Life......Page 120
On The Tranquillity of the Mind......Page 147
On the Shortness of Life......Page 175
Consolation to Helvia......Page 198
On Mercy......Page 223
Natural Questions, Book 6: On Earthquakes......Page 254
Explanatory Notes......Page 284