Nature,Passion And Philosophy Training

As an ancient ethical proposition,many philosophers have studied happiness in detail.How did Marcus Aurelius view happiness? In Meditation,Aurelius pointed out that happiness was living in accordance with one’s natural nature.Like the late Stoic philosophers Seneca and Epictetus,the pragmatic Aurelius was particularly concerned with the fundamental ethical question of how one should live.This paper focuses on his happiness theory from three angles: nature,passion and philosophical training,and provides methodological guidance for people to seek a happy life.This paper is divided into three parts.The first chapter begins with the relationship between happiness and nature,and through the textual analysis of the Meditations,concludes that happiness is living in accordance with one’s natural nature.In the Stoic school’s view,nature,reason and God are interlinked,and human natural nature recognizes reason,so human must follow nature in order to achieve the perfection and happiness of life.Aurelius undoubtedly agreed with this point.Secondly,by examining the relationship between human nature and the nature of the universe in Aurelius’ theory of happiness,this paper analyzes his unique view on the world,namely,that human must insist on seeing everything in the universe from a holistic perspective.Finally,it focuses on the path to happiness in Aurelius’ view.In his view,one should use reason and live a life in accordance with nature.Only by doing what is within one’s power and serving the public interest can one truly live a happy life.The second chapter discusses the causes,characteristics and treatment path of passion through the definition of passion by Stoic school.In the Stoic school’s view,wrong value judgment and cognitive error within power are the causes of passion.External things don’t hurt us.It is the misjudgment of external things that really brings harm to ourselves.Passion is not controlled by reason,which will lead to mental disorder.Therefore,passion is a kind of soul disease and an obstacle to happiness,which needs to be treated.Aurelius greatly admired his predecessor Epictetus and practiced his philosophical ideas physically in life.On the issue of passion,he inherited Epictetus’ therapeutic ideas and insisted on the “control dichotomy” and “negative imagination” to eradicate human passion.In addition,he proposed three principles for the treatment of passion: man and nature,man and others,and man and himself.That is,people should live according to nature,be friendly to others and return to nature.Through the treatment of passion,human attain peace and excellence of mind,that is,happiness.The third chapter mainly turns to the fundamental path to happiness,namely philosophical training.Since Aurelius’ ethical thought was heavily influenced by Epictetus,this chapter begins with the three aspects of Epictetus’ philosophical training,namely,human will,appropriate behavior and consent.Secondly,on the basis of inheriting Epictetus’ philosophical training,Aurelius also has his own philosophical characteristics.That is,keeping calm(aproptosia),being friendly to people(oikeiosis),being pious to God(akolouthia)and meditating on death and short life.In Aurelius’ s view,human,as a part of the universe under the rule of God,has the same nature as others,so he should be pious to God and friendly to others.One should accept death calmly,train and perfect one’s virtue in one’s lifetime,and avoid being too hasty or reckless.Finally,it proves that happiness needs to be achieved through philosophical life.In a word,Aurelius’ s theory of happiness enlightens us that a truly happy life depends not on external things,but on the peace and excellence of the mind.This requires people to live in accordance with natural nature and improve their personal virtue.