Phil
102 – The Good & the Beautiful
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Fall 2011 ]
Assignment #2: We have sampled the writings of two ancient philosophers, Plutarch and Seneca, both of whom offer moral advice to their readers. Plutarch works in a generally dualist, Platonic tradition and opposes what he takes to be the extremism of the Stoics and their wise man, whom he ridicules, while Seneca offers a version of Stoicism, though one that is more practical and less extreme than that of earlier members of this philosophical school. Both authors have had a tremendous influence on the subsequent history of Western philosophy, and their works were read avidly over the centuries by many kinds of readers.
This assignment asks you to write a letter of moral advice to one of your own friends, modelled on Seneca and Plutarch, and drawing on both of them for ideas. That is, you should compose a letter giving the sort of moral advice that you have found in your reading of these two authors. You need not actually send your letter, and your friend can be imaginary, though it may be better if the friend is real, and it may get interesting if you really send it.
Choose at least six themes from Seneca and Plutarch (use both) and organize them into a coherent letter of moral advice. Like your originals, use contemporary examples to make your advice concrete and effective. Pretend that you really care about your friend (like Seneca cares about Lucilius), and use the letter to help them live a good life -- one that is morally upright and happy. You may quote both ancient authors -- just as they quote others before them -- but the quotations should be auxiliary and not simply a substitute for your own work (recall Seneca's remarks about this in L33). Also, select your themes from different letters and works, and don't mine only one or two sources. If you've been reading the texts as advised, you should have many passages picked out already.
Look at Seneca's letters as a guide for how to structure your own. Clearly, this is not a formal paper, and therefore it should not be written as one. However, a good letter also requires planning, structuring, careful thought, precise expression, good examples, and rhetorical finish. There should be more than one draft, with a critical reading in between. Then as now, letter-writing is an art, and practicing it requires care and skill. Indeed, writing such letters is, itself, a moral exercise.
Possible themes that you might use include the following: time, reading, wealth, poverty, status, friendship, suffering, death, living according to nature, crowds, solitude, retirement, slavery, apathy, wisdom, old age, philosophy, foolishness, the sage or wise person, moral progress, virtue as a mean, flattery, self-discipline, traveling, types of goodness, how to be a good person, fate, fortune, freedom, letter-writing, quoting others, places to live, etc.
Details : 3-4 pp.
(typed, in 1.5 spacing*), value: 20 points. Submit in hard copy,
not as an email attachment. Use in-text references, especially for
quotations, such as (Sen., L-22, p. 27) and (Plut., "Friend" [or
"Virtue" or "Progress"], #5 -- with
# indicating the bracketed paragraph number).
Due : Friday, Oct. 28, 4 p.m. Deliver papers to my mailbox in CH 300.
( * to get 1.5 spacing, select the text, hold down Ctrl and type ‘5’ )