Capella Essays

Marcus was one of the strongest men of his time when he was an emperor in Rome, the biggest empire at the time. Born Marcus Aurelius Antonius, he was adopted by his uncle, Hadrian who appointed him to priesthood in 129 BC. Marcus, a stoic philosopher succeeded Hadrian as emperor in 161 BCE and ruled jointly with Lucia Vera. He fought so many battles for Rome but the most important is his literature on meditation which lay basis for stoicism, a philosophy that defined what a good life is.

He was the only emperor besides Caesar whose writing has much value. The meditations were loosely organized philosophies from stoicism which he had discovered at the age of 11 and addressed the plight of the people during the Greco-Roman civilization. Capella Essays

Note that the meditations were written based on his experiences in life, just like the confessions of Augustus before him. In his philosophy, he urges that people should not seek to know what a good man is like or what a good man should be, rather, he points out that they should become good men themselves.

In his meditations, he cautions that the future and the past are inaccessible and one can only influence the present. As a result, he points out that the goal of each individual is not to the populace but rather to the private conquest of satisfying and perfecting their character and spirit. This paper seeks to determine the exact definition of a good life according to Marcus Aurelius and see whether it has any relevance in our day to day activities at the present.

Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and the Good Life

According to the meditations everything happens with a reason, whether good or bad. They are have the propensity for causing a change in our lifestyles and as such can influence our behaviors, character and spirit. However, Marcus cautions that one who intends to live a good life should block himself from all this and focus on making his thoughts and actions pure. Capella Essays He argues that even thoughts should be controlled for one to have a good life. Accordingly, there is the problem that comes with the human perception and interaction.

Apparently, Marcus defines a good life as that where no distraction that comes between people is allowed to prevail so that at no time will there be a conflict between the two parties.  In this, Marcus was absolutely right as interactions have a susceptibility to cause the way of life of the individuals living in a certain community. With peaceful coexistence, people are at harmony and good life prevails (Casaubon, pp.3).

Another important aspect of a good life is that people should live selflessly without giving too much attention to the benefits they intend on themselves as this will be directed to their bodies which are not important. He argues that the most important part of the human beings is the soul. Capella Essays

According to Marcus, life can torment the body but one should always make sure that the character and the spirit, all which pertains to the soul remains untouched as this is what suggests who the person was (Casaubon,pp.4). He argues that there is no proof that there exists gods but keeping the soul pure, when one dies and the soul is pure, gods should be just enough to welcome you according to the virtues by which you lived.

Again if the gods are unjust, a person of pure soul will not want to worship them. Finally, if gods do not exist at all, a life of pure soul and humanity will leave behind noble memories to those you live behind. The argument is that one should live his or her life according to the way they feel inclined knowing far too well that the consequences are to themselves.

He advocates the life of purity as there is nothing one can loose by doing so while there is everything to loose if they live otherwise (Casaubon,pp.15). The teachings of the stoic philosophy differed slightly with Aristotle who thought that to be good a man had to have some fortunes (Kuninski,56-67).

Marcus points out that a man who does not have get depressed by the vexation of other people and their thoughts towards him but only focuses on attaining his goals and executing a purposeful and productive life, with love for his family and his kinsmen cannot have a bad life. Capella Essays

It is important to note that this kind of life as described by Marcus does not mean that one should life in solitary or austerity but that one will live free of occasions that could corrupt his soul. Additionally, Marcus warns that such a man should not be open to listen to slanders and gossip of other people as this might taint his perception of the said individuals and thus develop a seed for hatred. Surely, Marcus was a wise person by coming to such a realization at that time in life.

Even in the civilized world, these are some of the things that lead to broken families and hatred among friends and brothers. Definitely, people who live in such kind of life of hate cannot have a good life. It should be mentioned that good life, not according to Marcus or any other philosopher but based on life itself is not about earthly acquisition but rather how one coexists with fellow humankind (Jones,para.1).

Perhaps Marcus had already realized this at the time in the history of civilization as indicated in his meditations. He points that fraud, hypocrisy; corruption and envy are very much likely to be in a tyrannical kingdom. Furthermore, he indicates that people considered noble in such tyrannical kingdoms are incapable of experiencing natural affection from their people and sometimes from their families. It can be argued that those vices in such systems of leadership have a direct oppressive nature to their people and therefore the people are wont to rebel against those who subject them to oppression. Capella Essays

In the present world, most nations which have had tyrannies as leaders have had uprisings and rebellions where these leaders have either been kicked out as in the case of Tunisia and Egypt or are still fighting like in Libya. Definitely, these leaders are not having a good life as it is since they are keeping in hideouts and further still are haunted by the experiences they are having or have caused during their leadership. Matter of factly, this would not have been the case had they followed the teachings of Marcus on governing selflessly and without tyranny (Casaubon,pp.8). Capella Essays

There is also the importance that one should not speak ill of other people and most especially about their masters. However, in cases where they feel that justice is not done unto them, they should seek audience with the individual and make clear their feelings to them. Marcus was a ruler and therefore to some extent exposed to different feelings that people experienced under their masters and also knew how they could suffer consequences if they handled their differences in the wrong manner. It would be very important for him to advise people on the proper way they