On the usefulness of basic principles
95:60
Book Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Book Description: The final volume of Seneca's moral letters. Common Stoic themes emerge again and again: the unreliability of fortune, the ability to form Stoic resolve, and the importance of virtue.
61.
There are certain matters in philosophy which need admonition; there are others which need proof, and a great deal of proof, too, because they are complicated and can scarcely be made clear with the greatest care and the greatest dialectic skill.
If proofs are necessary, so are doctrines; for doctrines deduce the truth by reasoning.
Some matters are clear, and others are vague: those which the senses and the memory can embrace are clear; those which are outside their scope are vague.
But reason is not satisfied by obvious facts; its higher and nobler function is to deal with hidden things.
Hidden things need proof; proof cannot come without doctrines; therefore, doctrines are necessary.
Book: Moral Letters Vol III
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the usefulness of basic principles
Location: Chapter 95, Section 60
Content:
61.
There are certain matters in philosophy which need admonition; there are others which need proof, and a great deal of proof, too, because they are complicated and can scarcely be made clear with the greatest care and the greatest dialectic skill.
If proofs are necessary, so are doctrines; for doctrines deduce the truth by reasoning.
Some matters are clear, and others are vague: those which the senses and the memory can embrace are clear; those which are outside their scope are vague.
But reason is not satisfied by obvious facts; its higher and nobler function is to deal with hidden things.
Hidden things need proof; proof cannot come without doctrines; therefore, doctrines are necessary.