When discussing these things, Seneca seems to be following the thoughts of an earlier Roman Stoic philosopher, Panaetius (c. 185–c. 110 BC). In his writings, Panaetius described the “four roles” (or four personae) that contribute to a person’s place in society, including our work and career choices.6 Rather than calling these “roles,” though, let’s call them factors.
The first factor that influences us is our universal nature as human beings, which, for a Stoic, means the fact that we’re rational beings, which allows us to understand the world and act in good ways. The second factor that influences us are all the qualities that nature assigns to us as individuals, which vary widely. As Seneca noted, the qualities given to us by birth will tend to stick with us throughout life.7 People vary enormously in their physical differences. For example, some people are athletic by nature, and others aren’t. But there are even greater differences in people’s psychological dispositions, personality traits, and the wide range of talents we all possess.8 As Seneca notes,
Some people are too shy for politics, which requires a bold appearance. Others are too arrogant for the royal court. Some cannot keep their anger in check, and any feeling of irritation leads them to say reckless things. Others cannot control their humor and refrain from dangerous jokes. For all such people, retirement is more useful than public employment: an arrogant and impatient nature should avoid provocations to outspokenness that will only bring harm.9
In addition to understanding our individual traits and capacities, a third factor that affects us is chance, which is beyond our controclass="underline" for example, the facts of our upbringing, whether our parents were wealthy or poor, whether we had good or bad teachers, and many other things of that kind. The fourth and final factor is our own will or personal agency: our intention and decision-making. What we decide to apply ourselves to, and the energy with which we pursue our intentions, will all make a significant impact on our careers and how we contribute to society.
In the Stoic view, we must understand our traits so that we don’t struggle against nature and try to pursue something beyond our capabilities. It’s just not possible to live authentically, with self-awareness, if you don’t understand who you are. Finally, it’s impossible to live authentically or happily if you try to copy someone else while ignoring your own nature.10
As we can see, the Roman Stoics emphasized our universal nature as human beings, or what is common to everyone. But they also recognized the importance of our traits as individuals, which are also given to us by nature. To live happy and fulfilling lives in society, we need to pay attention to both. In this way, the Stoics extended the idea of “following nature” to include our personal traits.
SELF-CONSISTENCY
Above all, strive to be consistent with yourself.
—Seneca, Letters 35.4
For Seneca, living with authenticity implies being one person with a stable personality. Without that solid sense of self, a person changes his or her intentions like the shifting winds. “I don’t mean,” Seneca explains, “that a wise person should always walk in the exactly same way, but that he should follow a single path.”11 This idea relates strongly to Seneca’s metaphor that, when traveling, it’s important to have a real destination rather than just wandering about randomly.
Consistency, and having some kind of “destination,” is a by-product of having a real philosophy of life. A person with a solid character will be one person instead of many, have an aim in life, and a corresponding sense of intention. But many people aren’t sure what they really want until the moment they desire it. As Seneca puts it, many people are not guided by their intentions, just “driven by impulse.”12 Elsewhere, he illustrates this idea with a funny account of what we today might call neurotic behavior:
There isn’t anyone who doesn’t change his plans and desires every day. One minute he wants a wife, the next moment only a girlfriend. One minute he wants to rule like a king, then he acts more obliging than the lowest servant. One minute he acts so grandly that he attracts envy, then he acts more humble than the most self-effacing. At one moment he scatters money grandly, and the next moment he steals it.
This is the clearest sign of a mind that lacks awareness: it constantly changes its identity. In my view, there is nothing more shameful than a mind that is inconsistent with itself. Consider it a great accomplishment to act as one person. But only the wise play a single role. The rest of us wear many masks. One minute we will seem frugal and serious, the next moment wasteful and silly. We keep changing our characters, taking on a new role that is its opposite. You should, then, demand this of yourself: play a single character until the curtain falls.13
One mark of a good character is that “it is content with itself and thus endures over time. But a bad character is unreliable: it often changes, not for the sake of the better, but just for the sake of being different.”14 Because of this, Seneca urges Lucilius to “adopt, once and for all, a single norm to live by, and make your entire life conform to this standard.”15
Another way to live with authenticity and consistency is to present yourself to the world as you really are. Seneca writes about how people wear masks in public and engage in acting: once in public and before an audience, we present ourselves in a different way than we’d normally behave at home. This often involves a bit of pretense and display. The problem is that once someone constructs a false persona, adjusted for public display, it creates anxiety due to the likelihood of one’s image being discovered as false. That could result in a shock for some, like photos of well-known Hollywood actresses shown without their makeup on. As Seneca notes, “life cannot be happy or free from anxiety for those who constantly live behind a mask,” and “it is better to be scorned for one’s natural state than to be tormented by constant pretense.”16
Finally, to live with authenticity, our actual deeds should match our words and our beliefs. As our modern sayings go, “Walk the talk” and “Practice what you preach.” Seneca was especially critical of professional philosophers in this regard because they often talk a good game but don’t live their lives accordingly. “Philosophy is not a trick to catch the public eye,” Seneca wrote, “nor is it devised for show. It’s not about words but actions.”17 In short, “Let us say what we feel and feel what we say. Let our words be in harmony with our actual lives. A person fulfills his promise when the person we see and the person we hear are one and the same.”18
INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM
We should not, like sheep, simply follow the herd that has gone before us.
—Seneca, On the Happy Life 1.3
One of the ways that Seneca himself lived with authenticity was through his deep embrace of intellectual freedom. This quality made him one of the best thinkers of his time. It also makes him feel entirely modern. While many people today embrace intellectual freedom in a slightly defiant or arrogant way, Seneca’s approach was different: he embraced intellectual freedom out of humility. In other words, he realized that human knowledge is limited and uncertain. He realized that, over the centuries, new discoveries will allow us to understand the world and the universe much more deeply. Because scientific understanding evolves, we need to be open-minded. Also, through critical thinking, we ourselves can contribute to the expansion of human knowledge. As he notes, we and future ages will add knowledge to what we have inherited from those who lived before us.19 For example, writing about scientific discovery, Seneca observes: