Aitia (Dec 2022)
Sur la philosophie comme askêsis (Entretiens, III, 2 et 12) : Épictète et la tradition stoïcienne
Abstract
Epictetus’ Discourse 3.12, entitled “On Asceticism”, is part of a tradition of Stoic treatises of the same title, including Lesson 6 by his master, Musonius Rufus. This tradition identifies philosophy with a training or exercise, distinct from the wisdom that these exercises strive to attain through putting dogmas into practice and the exercise of virtue. Epictetus introduces in this context his famous three topoi (desire, impulse, assent) seeking to limit the role of the exercise of assent reduced by contemporary philosophers to technical training in logic. He also seeks to limit the role of the ostentatious asceticism of the body, against certain tendencies of cynical asceticism, which was integrated by Musonius with his own imprint but without criticism. Even if the three topoi are proper to Epictetus, it is possible to find partial anticipations of them in the Latin Stoic tradition, reported by Cicero or endorsed by Seneca. Epictetus has an original conception of asceticism but he follows the path of this tradition and of the teaching of Musonius.
