| Abstract: | "Elizabeth Carter's version of Epictetus has outlived every English prose translation of its day, and has admirably held its ground with readers. I hesitated for some time, whether to call this book simply a revision of Elizabeth Carter's translation, or a new one based on hers. The latter alternative was finally chosen, less in order to claim for myself any credit of hers, than to save her from sharing any discredit of mine. Epictetus limits himself strictly to giving a code of practical ethics. Not ignoring metaphysics in their proper place, he directs his aims elsewhere. His essential principles are very simple. All things (he holds) receive their character from our judgment concerning them; all objects, all events, are merely semblances or phenomena, to be interpreted according to the laws which nature gives us. An obvious classification at once occurs; all things are either controllable by will, or uncontrollable"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved). |
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