Discourses · Chapter
How We Must Adapt Preconceptions to Particular Cases explained
Epictetus argues that the first task of philosophy is to discard self-conceit, because one cannot learn what one thinks one already knows.
What happens
Epictetus argues that the first task of philosophy is to discard self-conceit, because one cannot learn what one thinks one already knows. He explains that while everyone has natural preconceptions of good, bad, and the like, these must be properly adapted to particular cases through careful analysis. Without this adaptation, people remain unhappy and hindered, desiring what is not in their power and avoiding what is unavoidable. He criticizes those who study philosophy for mere intellectual elegance rather than for practical transformation, and urges the student to align desires and aversions with the will of God, using Medea as an example of misdirected desire leading to ruin.
Themes in this chapter
Rationality and Self-Examination
The chapter centers on discarding self-conceit and properly adapting preconceptions through rational analysis, a core Stoic practice.
Desire and Aversion
Epictetus emphasizes that unhappiness arises from misdirected desire and aversion, and that aligning them with the divine will brings freedom.
Characters to notice
- Epictetus
The speaker and primary philosopher in this chapter, instructing on the adaptation of preconceptions.
- Plato
Mentioned as an example of someone who subjects definitions to the preconception of the useful, and criticized by Theopompus for defining everything.
- Medea
Used as an example of someone with a just opinion about the failure of desire, but who misdirected her energy and suffered.
- Chrysippus
Referenced as a philosopher whose works on the Pseudomenos some students vainly wish to understand without first mastering practical philosophy.
- Hippocrates
Mentioned to illustrate that even though everyone has a preconception of health, proper adaptation requires skill, as in medicine.
Key passages
“What is the first business of him who philosophizes? To throw away self-conceit (οἴησις). For it is impossible for a man to begin to learn that which he thinks that he knows.”
The initial step in philosophy is to abandon the arrogance of thinking you already know something, because you cannot truly learn what you believe you already understand.
Epictetus establishes the foundational requirement for philosophical learning: humility and the recognition of ignorance.
“Do not desire the man (Jason, Medea’s husband), and nothing which you desire will fail to happen. Do not obstinately desire that he shall live with you, do not desire to remain in Gerinth, and in a word desire nothing than that which God wills.”
If you stop wanting what is not in your power—like a specific person or situation—then you will never be disappointed. Instead, desire only what God wills, and you will be free from frustration.
Epictetus uses Medea's story to illustrate the Stoic principle of aligning desire with what is within one's control and with divine providence.