Confronting Mortality and Morality

7min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

This chapter examines the inevitability of death and the various beliefs about the afterlife, contrasting religious perspectives with atheistic views. It also explores the tension between Stoic ideals of virtue and the moral dilemmas individuals face in extreme circumstances, questioning the practicality of maintaining these principles without the promise of an afterlife.

In this week's meditation, we explore Meditation 2.4 from Book 2 of the Meditations. The conversation centers around the inevitability of death, the urgency of utilizing the present moment, and the Stoic approach to perceiving and appreciating life on Nature’s terms.

Meditation Quoted: "Remember how long you have been putting off these things, and how many times the gods have given you days of grace, and yet you do not use them. Now is it high time to perceive the kind of Universe whereof you are a part and the nature of the governor of the Universe from whom you subsist as an effluence, and that the term of your time is circumscribed, and that unless you use it to attain calm of mind, time will be gone and you will be gone and the opportunity to use it will not be yours again." — Meditations, 2.4

Go ad-free : https://stoicismpod.com/members

Follow the print publication : https://stoicismpod.com/print

Take the free course : https://understandingstoicism.com

Order my book : https://stoicismpod.com/book

Source Text : https://stoicismpod.com/far

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices