''De Constantia in publicis malis'' (On constancy in times of public evil) was a philosophical dialogue published by

Justus Lipsius Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; 18 October 1547 – 23 March 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible w ...

in two books in 1583. The book, modelled after the dialogues of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

, was pivotal in establishing an accommodation of

Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting that ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

which became known as

Neostoicism Neostoicism was a philosophical movement that arose in the late 16th century from the works of Justus Lipsius, and sought to combine the beliefs of Stoicism and Christianity. Lipsius was Flemish and a Renaissance humanist. The movement took on t ...

. ''De Constantia'' went through over eighty editions between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

Themes

Unlike his later books which synthesised the basic principles of

(albeit in Christianised form), in ''De Constantia'' Lipsius focuses on Stoicism's value in strengthening the mind against external troubles and anxieties. In an age of religious disputes and persecutions Lipsius intended the book to be both a consolation and a solution to the calamities which he and his contemporaries were enduring.Jan Papy
Justus Lipsius
''

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...

''. Accessed 9 February 2013. The result is a handbook for practical living, and as such is focused more on moral rules than rigorous philosophical argument. Lipsius emphasises that the mind and the inner life is the site of true goodness. The central theme of the book is the need to cultivate voluntary and uncomplaining endurance of all human contingencies.

Legacy

''De Constantia'' was Lipsius' most popular work. Between the 16th and the 18th centuries, it went through more than eighty editions, of which over forty were in the original Latin and the rest were translations into vernacular European languages.

English translations

* ''Two bookes of constancie'', translated by Sir John Stradling, London, 1595 ** ed. with an introduction by Rudolf Kirk, notes by Clayton Morris Hall, 1939 ** ed. with an introduction & revised translation by John Sellars, Bristol Phoenix Press, 2006 * ''A discourse of constancy: in two books'', translated by R. G., Master of Arts Sometimes Of Christ Church In Oxen, 1654 * ''A discourse of constancy in two books chiefly containing consolations against publick evils'', translated by Nathaniel Wanley, 1670

References

External links

''On Constancy''
at the Stoic Therapy eLibrary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantia, De 1583 books Dialogues Ethics books Medieval philosophical literature Stoicism Works of the Dutch Golden Age 1580s in the Dutch Republic Philosophy and thought in the Dutch Republic Religion in the Dutch Republic