Application
Epictetus’ Handbook is unusual compared to its peer texts as it more suggests a way of thinking versus how a society and community should be run. Of the primary doctrines that Epictetus and the Stoics provides is that one should “want [events] to happen as they do happen”, and ultimately should “detach [his or her] aversion from everything that is not up to [him or her] (12- 13). This effectively states that one assign little value to things that happen outside of one’s control.
In the context of a terrorist attack that kills a family member or friend, Epictetus would be rather unsympathetic is teaching that it is not really different than anyone else that perishes in the attack. Because one has a particular attachment with the victim, he or she is more prone to feelings of sadness or discomfort. Epictetus believes that treating the event as if it had happened to anyone else would help make the tragic event more manageable.
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