Abstract
Abstract
This chapter considers what the Stoic philosophers might teach us about the nature of anxiety, along with some of the strategies and techniques by which they thought it could be eradicated, or at least more effectively managed. It also considers how Stoic wisdom about anxiety also figures prominently in various forms of psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance-commitment therapy (ACT). The chapter focuses on the ideas of three central Stoic philosophers from the Roman Imperial period: Seneca (tutor and advisor to Nero, the infamously extravagant fifth emperor of the Roman Empire who allegedly “fiddled” while Rome burned), Epictetus (the freed slave and Stoic teacher), and Marcus Aurelius (the last emperor of the Pax Romana).
Publisher
Oxford University PressNew York, NY