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Open Philosophy LibraryMeditationsMarcus Aurelius

Meditations

By Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius's Meditations is a twelve-book record of private Stoic reflection, composed during the later second century CE. In Meric Casaubon's historic 1634 English translation, Marcus examines judgement, duty, mortality, anger, social cooperation and attention to the present. The work shows philosophy being used as a repeated discipline of character rather than presented as a formal system.

Translator or editor
Meric Casaubon
Publication
c. 170-180 CE (Meric Casaubon English translation first published 1634)
Genre
Stoic philosophy; personal reflections; ethical notebook
Era
Ancient Philosophy

About this work

Meditations gathers the private philosophical reflections of Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor from 161 to 180 CE. Written in Greek and never intended as a finished treatise, its twelve books record a continuing effort to apply Stoic principles amid responsibility, conflict, illness and awareness of mortality. Book I acknowledges the people from whom Marcus learned particular virtues. The later books become an inward conversation in which he challenges distraction, anger, fear, ambition and dependence upon reputation. Repetition is part of the method: recurring habits require recurring correction. A central distinction separates external events from the judgements and intentions through which a person responds. Marcus argues that reputation, comfort and outcomes cannot guarantee a good life. Moral purpose remains located in the directing mind and in actions chosen for justice and the common good. The work repeatedly places individual concerns within the scale of nature. Bodies, empires and memories pass away, yet impermanence does not make action pointless. It makes the present use of character urgent. Death is approached as a natural change, while social duty follows from humanity's participation in a shared rational community. This edition presents Meric Casaubon's influential English translation, first published in 1634. Its early modern style preserves an important stage in the English reception of Stoicism and gives Marcus's practical exercises a distinctive historical voice.

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