Discourses · Chapter
That We Ought Not to Be Angry with the Errors (Faults) of Others explained
Epictetus argues that since all people act according to their own judgment of what is advantageous, anger at others for their errors is irrational.
What happens
Epictetus argues that since all people act according to their own judgment of what is advantageous, anger at others for their errors is irrational. Instead of anger, we should pity those who are mistaken about good and evil, and recognize that the things we lose (clothes, a lamp, a wife) are not truly ours. The only invincible person is one whose will remains undisturbed by externals.
Themes in this chapter
Dichotomy of Control
Epictetus emphasizes that we only lose what we possess, and that the will alone cannot be chained or taken away.
Desire and Aversion
Anger arises from valuing externals; by not admiring clothes or beauty, we cease to be angry at thieves or adulterers.
Characters to notice
- Epictetus
The speaker throughout the chapter, using personal anecdotes (the stolen lamp) to illustrate the lesson.
Key passages
“If what philosophers say is true, that all men have one principle, as in the case of assent the persuasion that a thing is so, and in the case of dissent the persuasion that a thing is not so, and in the case of a suspense of judgment the persuasion that a thing is uncertain, so also in the case of a movement towards any thing the persuasion that a thing is for a man's advantage, and it is impossible to think that one thing is advantageous and to desire another, and to judge one thing to be proper and to move towards another, why then are we angry with the many?”
If everyone acts according to what they believe is true and advantageous, then anger at others is irrational.
Epictetus grounds the argument in the Stoic psychology of action.
“Do not admire your clothes, and then you will not be angry with the thief. Do not admire the beauty of your wife, and you will not be angry with the adulterer.”
If you stop valuing external things, you stop being angry when they are taken.
A direct application of the dichotomy of control to everyday emotions.
“I also lately had an iron lamp placed by the side of my household gods: hearing a noise at the door, I ran down, and found that the lamp had been carried off. I reflected that he who had taken the lamp had done nothing strange. What then? Tomorrow, I said, you will find an earthen lamp: for a man only loses that which he has.”
When my lamp was stolen, I reminded myself that the thief acted naturally, and that I only lose what I possess.
Epictetus uses a personal story to model the correct response to loss.