The Daily Stoic - Seneca on the First Cause

Episode Date: January 16, 2022

Today’s episode is an excerpt from The Tao Of Seneca produced by Tim Ferriss’ Audio. In this letter Seneca writes about matter is being substance ready for any use whereas cause (reason) molds matter and turns it in whatever directions it will, how the wise man is so trained that he neither loves nor hates life, and how wise men regard their body as nothing but a chain since it is the only part of man which can suffer injury. Go to tim.blog/seneca to get the PDF for free. Get Letters From a Stoic from the Painted Porch.Shopify has the tools and resources that make it easy for any business to succeed from down the street to around the globe. Go to shopify.com/stoic, all lowercase, for a FREE fourteen-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features. Grow your business with Shopify today - go to shopify.com/stoic right now.Talkspace is an online and mobile therapy company. Make your mental health more than just another New Year’s resolution, with Talkspace. Visit talkspace.com and get $100 off your first month when you use promo code STOIC at sign-up. That’s $100 off at talkspace.com, promo code STOIC.GiveWell is the best site for figuring out how and where to donate your money to have the greatest impact. Go to Givewell.org to read more about their research or donate to any of their recommended charities. Enter Daily Stoic at checkout so they know we sent you.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://DailyStoic.com/dailyemailCheck out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Stoic. Each weekday we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics, something to help you live up to those four Stoic virtues of courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom. And then here on the weekend we take a deeper dive into those same topics. We interview stoic philosophers, we explore at length how these stoic ideas can be applied to our actual lives and the challenging issues of our time. Here on the weekend when you have a little bit more space when things have slowed down, be sure to take some time to think, to go for a walk, to sit with your journal and most importantly to prepare for what the week

ahead may bring. Hi I'm David Brown, the host of Wundery's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target. The new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another Sunday episode of the Daily Stoic podcast. We've got another letter from Seneca. We've been pulling some excerpts from Tim Ferris' wonderful, produced audio book The Dow of Seneca.

Would you get for free at Tim.blogslashseneca as a PDF or pick up on Audible with an Audible credit or you can click the link in today's episode and grab that. I just love Seneca's letters so much that here we are 2,000 years later, able to sort of peek in on this wonderful friendship and conversation he was having with the one and only Lucilius. Great money quote from today's episode. I have no fear of death since I have no fear of ceasing to exist. It is the same as not having begun. Nor do I shrink from changing into another state because I shall under no conditions be as cramped as I

am now in my mortal body. That Sennaka, who ultimately did have to come face to face with death when Nero's goons came for him, but that was well after he wrote this wonderful little letter. And I hope you do check out the audiobook, The Doubt of Seneca. As I said, you can get it for free as a PDF, a Tim.blog slash Seneca. And we carry the Penguin Classics translation of letters of a stoke, one of my favorite books,

the second book of stoicism I ever read. Here at the painted porch in Baster, Texas, as well as thepaintedporge.com. to visit the pastor of Texas as well as thepantedport.com. Let her 65 on the first cause. I shared my time yesterday with ill health. It claimed for itself all the period before noon. In the afternoon, however, it yielded to me. And so I first tested my spirit by reading, then, when reading was found to be possible,

I dared to make more demands upon the spirit, or perhaps I should say, to make more concessions to it. I wrote a little, and indeed, with more concentration than usual, for I am struggling with a difficult subject and do not wish to be downed. In the midst of this, some friends visited me with the purpose of employing force and of restraining me is if I were a sick man indulging in some excess. So conversation was substituted for writing, and from this conversation I shall communicate to you the topic which is still the subject of debate,

for we have appointed you referee. You have more of a task on your hands than you suppose, for the argument is threefold. Our stoic philosophers, as you know, declare that there are two things in the universe which are the source of everything, namely, cause and matter. Matter lies sluggish, a substance ready for any use, but sure to remain unemployed if no one sets it in motion. Cause, however, by which we mean reason, moulds matter in turns it in whatever direction it will, producing thereby various concrete results. Accordingly, there must be in the case of each thing, that from which it is made, and next,

an agent by which it is made. The former is its material, the latter, its cause. All art is but imitation of nature. Therefore, let me apply these statements of general principles to the things which have to be made by man. A statue, for example, has a forwarded matter which was to undergo treatment at the hands of the artist, and has had an artist who was to give form to the matter. Hence, in the case of the statue, the material was bronze, the cause was the workman, and so it goes with all things. They consist of that which

is made, and of the maker. The Stoics believe in one cause only, the maker, but Aristotle thinks that the word cause can be used in three ways. The first cause, he says, is the actual matter, without which nothing can be created. The second is the workman. The third is the form, which is impressed upon every work, a statue, for example. This last is what Aristotle calls the Idus. There is two, says he, a fourth, the purpose of the work as a whole. Now, I shall show you what this last means. Bronze is the first cause of the statue, for it could never have been made unless there

had been something from which it could be cast and molded. The second cause is the artist, for without the skilled hands of a workman, that bronze could not have been shaped to the outlines of the statue. The third cause is the form, in as much as our statue could never be called the Landsbarrer, or the boy binding his hair, had not this special shape and stamped upon it. The fourth cause is the purpose of the work, for if this purpose had not existed, the statue would not have been made. Now, what is this purpose?

It is that which attracted the artist which he followed when he made the statue. It may have been money if he has made it for sale, or renown if he has worked for reputation, or religion if he has wrought it as a gift for a temple. Therefore, this also is a cause contributing towards the making of the statue. Or do you think that we should avoid in including, among the causes of a thing which has been made, that element without which the thing in question, would not have been made? To these four Plato adds a fifth cause, the pattern which he himself calls the idea, for it is this that the artist gazed upon when he created the work which he had decided to carry out. Now, it makes no difference whether he has this pattern outside himself, that he may direct

his glance to it, or within himself, conceived and placed there by himself. God has within himself these patterns of all things, and his mind comprehends the harmonies and the measures of the whole totality of things which are to be carried out. He is filled with these shapes which Plato calls the ideas, imperishable, unchangeable, not subject to decay. And therefore, though men die, humanity itself, or the idea of man, according to which man is molded, lasts on, and though men toil and perish, it suffers no change. Accordingly, there are five causes, as Plato says, the material, the agent, the makeup, the model, and the end-in-view. Last, comes the result of all these.

Just as in the case of the statue, to go back to the figure with which we began, the material is the bronze, the agent is the artist. The makeup is the form which is adapted to the material. The model is the pattern imitated by the agent. The end-in-view is the purpose in the maker's mind and finally, the result of all these is the statue itself. The universe also, in Plato's opinion, possesses all these elements. The agent is God, the source, matter.

The form, the shape and the arrangement of the visible world. The pattern is doubtless the model, according to which God has made this great and most beautiful creation. The purpose is his object in so doing. Do you ask what God's purpose is? It is goodness. Plato at any rate says, What was God's reason for creating the world?

God is good, and no good person is grudging of anything that is good. Therefore God made it the best world possible. Hand down your opinion then, O judge. Stay too seem to you to say what is truest, and not to says what is absolutely true. For to do that is as far beyond arcane as truth itself. This throng of causes, defined by Aristotle and Biplatos, embraces either too much or too little. For if they regard as causes of an object that is to be made, everything without which the object cannot be made, they have named too few. Time must be included among the causes, for nothing can be made without

time. They must also include place, for if there be no place where a thing can be made, it will not be made. Ah, the Bahamas. What if you could live in a penthouse above the crystal clear ocean working during the day and partying at night with your best friends and have it be 100% paid for. FTX Founder Sam Bankman Freed lived that dream life, but it was all funded with other people's money, but he allegedly stole. Many thought Sam Bankman Freed was changing the game as he graced the pages of Forbes and Vanity Fair.

Some involved in crypto saw him as a breath of fresh air from the usual Wall Street buffs with his casual dress and ability to play League of Legends during boardroom meetings, but in less than a year, his exchange would collapse. An SPF would find himself in a jail cell, with tens of thousands of investors blaming him for their crypto losses. From Bloomberg and Wondering comes Spellcaster, a new six-part docu-series about the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of FTX and its founder, Sam Beckman-Freed.

Follow Spellcaster wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to episodes Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. And Motion 2. Nothing is either made or destroyed without motion. There is no art without motion, no change of any kind. Now, however, I am searching for the first, the general cause. This must be simple and as much as matter too is simple. Do we ask what cause is? It is surely creative reason, in other words, God. For those elements to which He referred, or not a great series of independent causes,

they all hinge on one alone, and that will be the creative cause. Do you maintain that form as a cause? This is only what the artist stamps upon his work. It is part of a cause, but not the cause. Neither is the pattern a cause, but an indispensable tool of the cause. His pattern is as indispensable to the artist as the chisel of the file. Without these, art can make no progress. But for all that, these things are neither parts of the art nor causes of it. Then, perhaps you will say, the purpose of the artist, that which leads

him to undertake to create something, is the cause. It may be a cause. It is not however the efficient cause, but only an accessory cause. But there are countless accessory causes. What we are discussing is the general cause. Now the statement of Plato and Aristotle is not in accord with their usual penetration, when they maintain that the whole universe, the perfectly wrought work, is a cause, for there is a great difference between a work and the cause of a work. Either give your opinion, or, as is easier in cases of this kind, declare that the matter is not clear and call for another hearing. But you will reply, what pleasure do you get from wasting your time on these problems,

which relieve you of none of your emotions, route none of your desires? So far as I am concerned, I treat and discuss them as matters which contribute greatly toward calming the Spirit, and I search myself first, and then the world about me. And not even now am I, as you think, wasting my time. For all these questions provided that they be not chopped up and torn apart into such unprofitable refinements, elevate and lighten the soul, which is weighted down by a heavy burden, and desires to be freed, and to return to the elements of which it was once apart, for this body of ours is a way to pawn the soul, and its penance. As the load presses down,

the soul is crushed, and is in bondage, unless philosophy has come to its assistance and has bit it take fresh courage by contemplating the universe and has turned it from things earthly to things divine. There it has its liberty, there it can roam abroad, mean time it escapes the custody in which it is bound, and renews its life in heaven. Just as skilled workmen, who have been engaged upon some delicate piece of work, which wearyes their eyes with straining, if the light which they have is niggeredly or uncertain, go forth into the open air, and in some park devoted to the people's recreation to light their

eyes in the generous light of day, so the soul, imprisoned as it has been in this gloomy and darkened house, seeks the open sky whenever it can, and in the contemplation of the universe finds rest. The wise man, the seeker after wisdom, is bound closely indeed to his body, but he is an absentee so far as his better self is concerned, and he concentrates his thoughts upon lofty things. Bound so to speak, to his oath of allegiance, he regards the period of life as his term of service. He is so trained that he neither loves nor hates life, he endure as immortal lot, although he knows that an

ample lot is in store for him. Do you forbid me to contemplate the universe? Do you compel me to withdraw from the whole and restrict me to a part? May I not ask what are the beginnings of all things, who molded the universe, who took the confused and conglomerate mass of sluggish matter, and separated it into its parts? May I not inquire who is the master builder of this universe, how the mighty bulk was brought under the control of law and order, who gathered together the scattered atoms, who separated the disordered elements and assigned an outward form to elements that lay in one vast shapelessness? Or once came

all the expanse of light, and whether is it fire, or even brighter than fire? Am I not to ask these questions? Must I be ignorant of the heights once I have descended? Whether I am to see this world but once, or to be born many times. What is my destination afterwards? What a boat awaits my soul on its release from the laws of slavery among men. Do you forbid me to have a share in heaven? In other words, do you bid me live with my head bowed down? No. I am above such an existence. I was born to a greater destiny than to be a mere chattel of my body, and I regard this body as nothing but a chain which manacles my freedom. Therefore, I offer it as a sort of buffer to

forge him, and shall allow no wound to penetrate through to my soul. For my body is the only part of me which can suffer injury. In this dwelling, which is exposed to peril, my soul lives free. Never shall this flesh drive me to feel fear, or to assume any pretense that is unworthy of a good man. Never shall I lie in order to honor this petty body. When it seems proper, I shall sever my connection with it. And at present, while we are bound together, our alliance shall nevertheless not be one of equality, the soul shall bring all corals before its own tribunal. for its own tribunal, to despise our bodies is sure freedom. To return to our subject, this freedom will be greatly helped by the contemplation of

which we were just speaking. All things are made up of matter and of God. God controls matter which encompasses him and follows him as its guide and leader. And that which creates, in other words, God, is more powerful and precious than matter which is acted upon by God. God's place in the universe corresponds to the soul's relation to man. World matter corresponds to our mortal body. Therefore, let the lower serve the higher. Let us be brave in the face of hazards. Let us not fear wrongs or wounds or bonds or poverty. And what is death? It is either the end or a process of change. I have no fear of ceasing to exist. It is the same as not having begun.

Nor do I shrink from changing into another state because I shall, under no conditions, be as cramped as I am now. Farewell. You know, the Stoics in real life met at what was called the Stoa, the Stoa Pocule, the Painted Porch in ancient Athens. Obviously, we can't all get together in one place.

First off, because this community is like hundreds of thousands of people and we couldn't fit in one space. But we have made a special digital version of the Stoa. We're calling it Daily Stoic Life. It's an awesome community. You can talk about like today's episode. You can talk about the emails, ask questions. That's one of my favorite parts is interacting with all these people who are using Stowe's

system to be better in their actual real lives. You get more Daily Stowe meditations over the weekend, just for the Daily Stowe life members, quarterly Q&As with me, clothbound edition of our best of meditations, plus a whole bunch of other stuff including discounts and this is the best part. All our daily stoke courses and challenges totally for free hundreds of dollars of value every single year including our new year new year challenge. We'd love to have you join us. There's a two-week trial totally for free. Check it out at dailystokelife.com.

Hey Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke Early and Add Free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery on music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.