''De Providentia'' (''On Providence'') is a short
essay
An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...
in the form of a
dialogue
Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
in six brief sections, written by the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
Seneca (died AD 65) in the last years of his life. He chose the dialogue form (as in the well-known
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's works) to deal with the problem of the co-existence of the
Stoic design of
providence with the evil in the world—the so-called "
problem of evil
The problem of evil is the philosophical question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an Omnipotence, omnipotent, Omnibenevolence, omnibenevolent, and Omniscience, omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ...
."
Dating and title
The work cannot be precisely dated, but since it is addressed to
Lucilius, who is the addressee of some of Seneca's final works including his ''
Letters'', and since the essay has similarities to letters 106, 108, and 109
then the work is usually considered a late one dating to around 64 AD.
The full title of the work is ''Quare bonis viris multa mala accidant, cum sit providentia'' ("Why do misfortunes happen to good men, if providence exists"). This longer title reflects the true theme of the essay which is not so much concerned with
providence but with
theodicy
In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...
and the question of why bad things happen to good people.
Contents
The dialogue is opened by
Lucilius complaining with his friend Seneca that adversities and misfortunes can happen to good men too. How can this fit with the goodness connected with the design of providence? Seneca answers according to the Stoic point of view. Nothing actually bad can happen to the good man (the wise man) because opposites don't mix. What looks like adversity is in fact a means by which the man exerts his virtues. As such, he can come out of the ordeal stronger than before.
So, in perfect harmony with the Stoic
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, Seneca explains that the truly wise man can never surrender in the face of misfortunes but as he will always go through them and even if he should fall he will continue fighting on his knees ("''si cecidit de genu pugnat''").
The wise man understands
destiny
Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...
and its design, and therefore he has nothing to fear from the future. Neither does he hope for anything, because he already has everything he needs—his good behaviour.
The conclusion is that actually nothing bad happens to good men. One just has to understand what ''bad'' means: ''bad'' for the wise man would be to have bad thoughts, to commit crimes, to desire money or fame. Whoever behaves wisely already has all the good possible.
Text
Translations
* John Davie (2007), ''Seneca: Dialogues and Essays''. Oxford World Classics.
*
Elaine Fantham
Elaine Fantham (born Elaine Crosthwaite, 25 May 1933 – 11 July 2016) was a British-Canadian classicist whose expertise lay particularly in Latin literature, especially comedy, epic poetry and rhetoric, and in the social history of Roman women. ...
, Harry M. Hine, James Ker, Gareth D. Williams (2014). ''Seneca: Hardship and Happiness''. University of Chicago Press.
* Peter J. Anderson (2015), ''Seneca: Selected Dialogues and Consolations''. Hackett Publishing.
References
External links
*
*
*
''De Providentia''– Latin text at gmu.edu
''De Providentia''– Latin text at thelatinlibrary.com
''De Providentia''– English text translated by Lamberto Bozzi (2016)
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Philosophy essays
Philosophical works by Seneca the Younger