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pascalibrary's review against another edition
3.0
I am ultimately glad that I read this, and mostly gave it the attention I think it deserved. Meditations is a short book, and could easily be breezed through in a day or so, but I think it is best if read over the course of a couple weeks. None of the ideas within are overly complicated or counter-intuitive, in my opinion, they just need time to truly sink in and actually influence your outlook and behavior.
The three stars I gave are due to the very positive attitude I had about the ethical/personal philosophy within. The dichotomy of control, the priority of acceptance and authenticity, the withholding of judgements, the emphasis on social goodness, these are all very useful precepts that I have been trying to integrate into my daily life. I certainly think they have already had a positive impact on me and hopefully those people I have encountered.
I take off two stars because a lot of this book is mired in teleological reasoning. This isn’t surprising, given Aurelius’s religious outlook and stoicism’s Aristotelian ancestry, it just makes much of this book a little hard to take seriously for someone who sees the universe as largely chaotic and (somewhat) meaningless, personal meaning aside. Frequent mentions of man’s purpose and function, along with moral judgements on natural processes, don’t sit well with me and might not sit well with many people in our day. Aurelius was a product of his time, and this is also the man’s personal notebook, so the two stars I take off may be unfair but whatever it is my rating.
In the end, I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend this too. It certainly isn’t a must-read, but it is a book that everyone can probably grab something from.
The three stars I gave are due to the very positive attitude I had about the ethical/personal philosophy within. The dichotomy of control, the priority of acceptance and authenticity, the withholding of judgements, the emphasis on social goodness, these are all very useful precepts that I have been trying to integrate into my daily life. I certainly think they have already had a positive impact on me and hopefully those people I have encountered.
I take off two stars because a lot of this book is mired in teleological reasoning. This isn’t surprising, given Aurelius’s religious outlook and stoicism’s Aristotelian ancestry, it just makes much of this book a little hard to take seriously for someone who sees the universe as largely chaotic and (somewhat) meaningless, personal meaning aside. Frequent mentions of man’s purpose and function, along with moral judgements on natural processes, don’t sit well with me and might not sit well with many people in our day. Aurelius was a product of his time, and this is also the man’s personal notebook, so the two stars I take off may be unfair but whatever it is my rating.
In the end, I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend this too. It certainly isn’t a must-read, but it is a book that everyone can probably grab something from.
berryberryberry's review against another edition
4.5
What a slog! I'm not someone who is particularly interested in stoicism or ancient history; I only have a little bit of the context to understand this text. However, I still got a lot out of my read of a stoic primary source.
At first I was sort of split between appreciating the stoic takes and wisdom (natural order, acceptance, priorities) and being frustrated with the intensity and high-key spiritualism that backs it (that seems unbending and overly simplistic).
Further in though I started to get a sense of Marcus Aurelius under immense pressure in a horrible job (after losing 7 of his 14 children!), and these writings as those late at night cope-diaries of a guy struggling to hold it together. It sort of reads as almost delusionally disconnected from emotions and valorising of reason. However, I also needed that empathic vulnerability to humanise the writing a bit and see how this stuff was really working for Marcus Aurelius (to some degree). I highlighted a million take-aways.
I think I'm finishing the book feeling as though stoicism is more of an action that can be taken, that is a vice in too-little (being so vulnerable to distess and incapable of valued commitment) or too-much use (being a perfectionistic overcontrolled mess denying felt emotions) but virtuous when used just enough.
At first I was sort of split between appreciating the stoic takes and wisdom (natural order, acceptance, priorities) and being frustrated with the intensity and high-key spiritualism that backs it (that seems unbending and overly simplistic).
Further in though I started to get a sense of Marcus Aurelius under immense pressure in a horrible job (after losing 7 of his 14 children!), and these writings as those late at night cope-diaries of a guy struggling to hold it together. It sort of reads as almost delusionally disconnected from emotions and valorising of reason. However, I also needed that empathic vulnerability to humanise the writing a bit and see how this stuff was really working for Marcus Aurelius (to some degree). I highlighted a million take-aways.
I think I'm finishing the book feeling as though stoicism is more of an action that can be taken, that is a vice in too-little (being so vulnerable to distess and incapable of valued commitment) or too-much use (being a perfectionistic overcontrolled mess denying felt emotions) but virtuous when used just enough.