Musonius Rufus

Lectures and Sayings

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Cynthia King: Musonius Rufus (2011, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform)

paperback, 102 pages

Published Jan. 22, 2011 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

ISBN:
978-1-4564-5966-6
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4 stars (8 reviews)

1 edition

Review of 'Musonius Rufus' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

From the editor's preface:

"Musonius measured the success of a philosophy lecture not by how much applause it generated but by whether it reduced its audience to silence. The silence in question would be the result of the lecture revealing to the members of the audience their shortcomings as human beings. And this, according to Musonius, should be one of the primary objectives of philosophy: to reveal to us our shortcomings so we can overcome them and thereby live a good life."

That's pretty cool. Musonius covers similar principles that you'll find in the other 3 great Roman stoics, just with a different lens, and maybe more brevity. He's adamant about straightforwardness: practice what you preach, respect yourself, exhibit self-control, and take part in honest labor. Speak plainly and truthfully, show compassion, endure pain, want little, etc. It's a great short read.

Review of 'Musonius Rufus' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Disappointment not with the translation, which was easy to read along with a careful introduction and footnotes, but with the content. Some of Rufus's arguments didn't make a lot of sense, compared with the rigor of Epictetus or even Marcus Aurelius (the latter shared the informal tone of this book).
For example, one lecture makes the perfectly good point that if a person is willing to suffer to achieve something harmful or empty - such as wealth, adultery, celebrity, or intoxication - then surely we should be willing to sacrifice to achieve virtue and live the right kind of life. So far so good. Stoicism is all about valuing or shunning things based on their real value, not on how popular they are. But then in later lectures, he appeals to social conventions and common behavior to justify his positions. e.g. When asked if it's good to have a large …

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