Le dieu de Seneque
Optimisme rationnel et pessimisme tragique
by Cecile Merckel
Hardback (Published)
(August 2024)
ISBN: 9782503610139
Price: $144.00
On back order
This volume concludes that there is such a thing as a unified Senequian theology, which forms a system despite the necessary duality of its philosophical and literary approaches. This quest for a definition of the Stoic god is achieved through multiple literary forms, which provide as many perspectives on the divine. Seneca’s religious views offer the individual growing in wisdom to develop a knowledge of the god which is inductive rather than deductive, experimental and not only theoretical, sensitive and not purely rational – all within the context of a pagan and philosophical monotheism. Thus all the originality of Seneca’s theological undertaking lies, paradoxically, in a refocusing on Man, who must be freed from his existential fears and led to the heroic acceptance of the divine plan. Indeed, Seneca’s carefully thought out theodicy goes beyond the Stoic’s traditional optimism – which considers the rational god to be inherently provident – and positively confronts the question of the existence of Evil, which culminates in tragedies. Ultimately, the center of gravity of Seneca’s religion, which is based on an exaltation of human interiority, shifts from the god to the sage, a true hero who has managed to overcome the vicissitudes of life and whose glorification constitutes the supreme degree of piety.
This volume concludes that there is such a thing as a unified Senequian theology, which forms a system despite the necessary duality of its philosophical and literary approaches. This quest for a definition of the Stoic god is achieved through multiple literary forms, which provide as many perspectives on the divine. Seneca’s religious views offer the individual growing in wisdom to develop a knowledge of the god which is inductive rather than deductive, experimental and not only theoretical, sensitive and not purely rational – all within the context of a pagan and philosophical monotheism. Thus all the originality of Seneca’s theological undertaking lies, paradoxically, in a refocusing on Man, who must be freed from his existential fears and led to the heroic acceptance of the divine plan. Indeed, Seneca’s carefully thought out theodicy goes beyond the Stoic’s traditional optimism – which considers the rational god to be inherently provident – and positively confronts the question of the existence of Evil, which culminates in tragedies. Ultimately, the center of gravity of Seneca’s religion, which is based on an exaltation of human interiority, shifts from the god to the sage, a true hero who has managed to overcome the vicissitudes of life and whose glorification constitutes the supreme degree of piety.
- By (author) Cecile Merckel
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