The first two sections trace the key steps of Cicero’s argumentation, as he critically evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of various competing views in the Greek philosophical tradition. This chapter provides a critical account of Cicero’s discussion of the nature of the soul and the emotions in the Tusculan Disputations. This is an uncorrected pre-proof version. (There is a bit more on the erotic ἐπιβολὴ -Impulse in my paper 'Liebe als wohlbegründetes Bestreben: Wesen und Funktion des Eros-Impulses eines stoischen Weisen,' 2022: ) Tracing Seneca’s progressor friendship to a well known definition of ἔρως as an 'effort to make friend' (ἐπιβολὴ φιλοποιίας) also sheds new light on the conundrum of ‘will’ in Seneca. This innovation enables him to reconcile the of social values he maintains as a philosopher with his values as a member of the ruling class in Rome.

Seneca adapts ἔρως for the Roman taste and allows for a loving relation between equals – equals in their imperfection and in their shared determination to better themselves.

Solving the Stoic dilemma that fools cannot be friends, Seneca introduces a form of progressor friendship, which is an original adaptation of Stoic ἔρως (the friendship between a sage and a promising fool). Seneca’s brand of Stoic philosophy was shaped by and reacted to its socio-political context.

For windows instal Joplin 2.12.10