Short Works · Chapter
Chapter II explained
Epictetus instructs on managing desire and aversion to avoid unhappiness.
What happens
Epictetus instructs on managing desire and aversion to avoid unhappiness. He argues that desire for things outside our control leads to misfortune, and aversion to such things leads to unhappiness. The key is to limit desire and aversion only to matters within our power—our judgments and choices—and to withdraw desire entirely for the time being, focusing instead on a measured approach to our impulses.
Themes in this chapter
Dichotomy of Control
Core instruction to transfer desire and aversion exclusively to things 'in our power' (judgment, choice) and away from externals like health, wealth, or life, which are 'not in our power.'
Practical Ethics and Self-Discipline
Provides a concrete exercise: to destroy desire for the present and to employ the powers of pursuit and avoidance only slightly and with exceptions, as a discipline.
Characters to notice
- Epictetus
The narrator and teacher, delivering direct instructions on the proper use of desire and aversion.
Key passages
“he who fails in his desire is unfortunate; and he who falls into that which he would avoid, is unhappy.”
Unhappiness stems from two sources: not getting what you want, and encountering what you tried to avoid.
Defines the emotional consequences of misapplied desire and aversion.
“Take away then aversion from all things which are not in our power, and transfer it to the things contrary to nature which are in our power.”
Stop trying to avoid external events you can't control. Instead, focus your avoidance only on wrong judgments and choices within your control.
Directs the reorientation of a core emotional impulse (aversion) inward, to matters of character.
“But destroy desire completely for the present. For if you desire anything which is not in our power, you must be unfortunate...”
For now, eliminate desire entirely. Any desire for things outside your control guarantees misfortune.
A radical, temporary prescription to break the habit of desiring externals.