MgA. Dominik Novosád
Katedra filozofie a aplikovanej filozofie, FF UCM v Trnave

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This paper examines the philosophical utility of traditional Roman exemplarity in Seneca’s Moral Epistles. The aim is to apply Pierre Hadot’s method of understanding ancient philosophical discourse, of which exemplarity is a significant part, as forms of spiritual exercises. That means, to consider philosophical discourse in reference to its formal and historical confinements while closely reflecting its intentional didactic purposes. The present work focuses on exemplary references to Cato the Younger with a thematic scope of philosophical preparation for death. The goal is to portray how exemplary discourse operates within the coherent and gradual process of stoic exercise meditatio mortis fictionalized in Seneca’s Epistles. By considering a series of chronologically following letters, the paper presents how different forms of exemplary references create philosophical exercises that relate to various stages and needs of Seneca’s addressee. The discussion in the first two letters, Ep. 13; 24, showcases the three-stage process of inspiring exemplary considerations of Cato that lead the recipient from his initial inclinations for hope toward courageous facing of death. The next series of letters, Ep. 67; 70; 71, is shown portraying a process of philosophical reformation of judgment that simultaneously ensures a stoic reinterpretation of Cato’s exemplum. The final part of the discussion considers Ep. 82, to show how such a philosophical setup served to create a mode of exemplary comparison, which fosters the early announced and finalized consciousness of death’s moral indifference.

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Key words: Exemplarity; Cato; Spiritual Exercises; Stoicism; Seneca; Meditatio Mortis

References:

• Hadot, P. (2002). What is Ancient Philosophy? Harvard University Press.
• Langlands, R. (2018). Exemplary ethics in Ancient Rome. Cambridge University Press.
• Trinacty, C. (2016). Lucius Annaeus Seneca: Letters on Ethics to Lucilius trans. Margaret Graver and A. A. Long. Classical World