Epictetus (and the Epicureans and the Stoics more generally) are thought to be one of the sources of a belief in the equality of all men. What would be the argument to defend that?
(17 p 16)
Epictetus seems to believe that everyone is born with a specific predetermined role already assigned to him. In this way, everyone is “equal” because no one had the choice in the role that they are expected to play even though the roles themselves are unequal. “Different people are naturally suited for different things,” We are just expected to play with the hand we’re dealt. He writes: “Remember that you are an actor in a play, which is as the playwright wants it to be; short if he wants it short, long if he wants it long. If he wants you to play a beggar, play even this part skillfully, or a cripple, or a public official, or a private citizen. What is yours is to play the assigned part well. But to choose it belongs to someone else” (16). This type of thinking helps him cope with his own oppression as a slave by removing the concept of accountability.
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