Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
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DE PROVIDENTIA SIVE QUARE ALIQUA IN-<br />
COMMODA BONIS VIRIS ACCIDANT<br />
CUM PROVIDENTIA SIT.<br />
NOTE: This monograph is addressed to the same Lucilius,<br />
procurator <strong>of</strong> Sicily, to whom Seneca also dedicates his letters<br />
<strong>and</strong> his Problems in Physics. The date <strong>of</strong> composition is not<br />
known, but it<br />
probably belongs to the later years <strong>of</strong> the<br />
author s life. The opening sentences seem to make it a part <strong>of</strong><br />
a larger work on ethics, or rather <strong>of</strong> a theodicy, which was either<br />
never completed or has not come down to us. This is a serious<br />
loss both to us <strong>and</strong> to Seneca: to us, because such a work would<br />
doubtless have placed before us a complete theory <strong>of</strong> human<br />
conduct as conceived by a man who was thoroughly conver<br />
sant with the motives that dominate men; to Seneca, because<br />
it would in all probability have explained if not justified some <strong>of</strong><br />
the inconsistencies that have so sadly marred his career. In<br />
deed the fundamental proposition <strong>of</strong> the essay is inconsistent,<br />
since the conclusion does not follow from the premises. For if<br />
the patient endurance <strong>of</strong> tribulation is the supreme test <strong>of</strong> a<br />
good man, how is he justified in avoiding that test, as our author<br />
proposes, by taking hie own life?<br />
I.<br />
You have asked me, Lucilius, why it is, if the<br />
world is governed by a Providence, that so many mis<br />
fortunes befall good men. To this an answer would<br />
more properly be given in a work in which I should<br />
undertake to prove that a Providence presides over<br />
the affairs <strong>of</strong> men, <strong>and</strong> that God dwells among us.<br />
But since you deem it best to take a small portion <strong>of</strong><br />
the whole subject, <strong>and</strong> to settle this single disputed<br />
question, the main proposition meanwhile being left<br />
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