Epictetus, Discourses | Duties, Roles, and Relationships | Philosophy Core Concepts

This is a video in my new Core Concepts series -- designed to provide students and lifelong learners a brief discussion focused on one main concept from a classic philosophical text and thinker.

This video focuses on book 2 of Epictetus' Discourses, specifically on his discussion(s) of the connection between Duties on the one hand, and our social roles and relationships on the other hand

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#Stoicism #Epictetus #philosophy

[budcat]

A man came to the Buddha asking for help, "master, people are always bothering me in my business upsetting me, I just want to mind my own business and be left alone". And the Buddha said, "your cup is dirty, you must clean your cup". And the man said "I don't understand" and the Buddha said "there is sediment in the bottom of your cup and people come along and put their finger in there and stir up the water and the sediment in there and you cannot drink. Clean your cup of the sediment and people can stir all they want but despite their best efforts you will still be able to drink".

[Anekantavad]

Very good stuff. Duty strikes me as a very useful concept in that it shows you where your duties lie, but also show where they don't. In our present situation, it seems that we are constantly under assault from a zillion "oughts", with no end to them. Nailing down one's duties can at least set the stage for self-knowledge, in that it places boundaries on what we are obliged to do. Not that determining where those boundaries *are* is an easy matter .... heh heh.

:-)

[godsappleseve]

Hi Dr. Sadler —

I have two questions in regards to the lecture. First, how do we negotiate between duties from different roles that conflict? For example in the Euthyphro, Euthyphro clearly thinks his duty as a citizen takes precedence over his duty as a son so he puts his father on trial, but Socrates thinks it’s the other way around, or is at least skeptical that the precedence is so obvious.

Secondly, are our duties to humanity in some sense “higher” than our other duties? What kind of duties stem from our role as a human being?

Thanks in advance.