Description
What should a committed Stoic do when asked to serve in an autocratic government? Should they stay and try to mitigate harm, risking their own character, or withdraw to preserve their virtue?
In the final keynote address from Stoicon 2025, James Romm, the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College, tackles this profound ethical dilemma through the lens of one of history's most controversial figures: Seneca the Younger.
Romm explores the complex life of Seneca, who served as tutor and chief minister to the infamous Emperor Nero. He contrasts the arguments Seneca himself made in key texts:
* In "On the Tranquility of Mind," Seneca uses a military metaphor, urging the wise person to "stand and shout" in the political phalanx, even if it's dangerous.
* In "On Leisure," he presents a very different view, suggesting that in a corrupt state, the only sensible option is to "seek a safe harbor" in philosophical contemplation.
Was Seneca a "philosopher in politics" or a "politician in philosophy"? Drawing on these essays, the ambiguity of Socrates's example, and even Seneca's dark tragedy Thyestes, Romm presents a fascinating portrait of a man whose life and writings embody the "messy middle ground" of Stoic engagement, where choices are not guided by simple dogma but are contingent on circumstance, influence, and survival.
About the Speaker:
James Romm is an author, reviewer, and the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College. His reviews and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The London Review of Books. He is the author of several books, including Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero and Plato and the Tyrant.
0:00 Introduction of James Romm
2:40 The Stoic's Dilemma: Serving an Autocratic Government
4:10 The Case Study: Seneca the Younger and Emperor Nero
6:30 Stoicism vs. Epicureanism on Civic Engagement
7:10 Analysis: On the Tranquility of Mind (The Military Metaphor)
10:15 The Ambiguous Example of Socrates and the 30 Tyrants
11:30 The "Less Flexible" State: The Nautical Metaphor
13:30 Analysis: On Leisure (The Case for Disengagement)
17:00 The "Two Republics": Serving the Cosmos vs. The State
23:30 "Contemplation Entails Action": Reconciling the Views
28:00 Seneca's Biography: Collusion with Nero
30:15 Interpreting the Tragedy Thyestes as Political Commentary
36:30 Did Seneca Try to Resign and Give Away His Wealth?
43:00 The Pisonian Conspiracy: Did Seneca Want to Be Emperor?
47:00 Final Conclusion: A "Messy Middle Ground"