Abstract
Epictetus' Philosophy of Freedom and Will
Epictetus, who established a distinctive moral philosophy and doctrine of life, belongs to the group of philosophers called Roman Stoics or Last Stoics, which is the last period of the three periods of the Stoic philosophy. The first Stoics, including Zenon of Cyprus, which was the founder of the Stoic philosophy and lived in the 3rd century BC, and the Middle Stoics, which had a conciliatory attitude. Panaitios (180-110 BC) and Poseidonios (135-51 BC), represent the Middle Stoic period. Naturally, they were very distant from the views of Plato and Aristotle, as they were trying to reconcile the views of the founder of the Stoics with those of Zenon of Cyprus. They also established a more eclectic system under the influence of Hellenistic culture. The Roman Stoics represent a return to the first Stoic doctrine, opposing this conciliatory and eclectic attitude. In this article, the internal integrity of the concepts of will, action and freedom of Epictetus, one of the most important philosophers of the Roman Stoic, will be discussed by considering the historical processes of Stoic thought and the philosophy of life tradition. The main thesis of the article is that Epictetus's understanding of freedom is in direct contrast with the understanding of freedom of modern man.
Keywords
Epictetus, Stoic Philosophy, freedom, will, God.
