What It Really Means To Be A Slave

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Mar 18, 2019

Epictetus, once a slave, found freedom in his thoughts despite physical bondage. His teachings highlight how true power lies in mental resilience and the ability to choose one's mindset. The discussion contrasts the genuine liberty of the mind against the shackles of ambition and external desires. It draws parallels between his life and those of others, showing that many, even the seemingly free, can be enslaved by their own anxieties and ambitions. The essence of Stoic philosophy is revealed through these compelling narratives.

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ANECDOTE

Epictetus's Enslavement and Inner Freedom

Epictetus, born a slave, endured physical enslavement and a permanent limp due to his owner's cruelty.
Despite this, he maintained control over his mind and cultivated inner freedom.

ANECDOTE

Seneca's Self-Imposed Bondage

Seneca, born free, became enslaved by ambition and his ties to Nero, ultimately leading to his demise.
This contrasts with Epictetus, highlighting how external freedom doesn't guarantee true freedom.

INSIGHT

Internal vs. External Freedom

A. A. Long's insight is that external freedom can coexist with internal slavery, and vice-versa.
True freedom lies in internal liberation, as exemplified by Epictetus.

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Epictetus was born a slave. Quite literally, his name means, in Greek, acquired. Ultimately, he came to be the property of a man named Epaphroditus, who kept Epictetus chained up long enough that he became disabled by it and walked with a limp for the rest of his life.

His body and his time and his labor were controlled by someone else. That’s what slavery is. But what’s remarkable is that even in this state, Epictetus retained freedom in one important sense, and it would be this that his teachings would later revolve around: People could do whatever they wanted to his body, but his mind always remained his to control. No one had the power to make him bitter, to make him lose his desire for life, to take away his power to choose to think a certain way. (You may recall the Hurricane Carter story in The Obstacle is the Way, along similar lines)

Compare that to say, Seneca, who was perfectly free to live and do whatever he wished from the day he was born yet was driven by his own ambition willingly into the arms of Nero...an embrace that only death was able to sever. Or more dramatically, look at the rich and powerful Romans mocked by Seneca and Marcus and Epictetus alike who were free on paper but in truth were wrapped around the finger of a mistress or wine or a desire for fame. Or more ordinarily, the regular people who are enslaved to their anxieties, insecurities, or false impressions.

It was this, AA Long writes, that is really the core of Epictetus’s understanding of Stoicism: “You can be externally free and internally a slave...conversely you could be externally obstructed or even in literal bondage but internally free from frustration and disharmony.”

It’s really a remarkable insight and one we must think of always. Yes, every person is entitled to physical freedom. No one, thankfully, is legally enslaved basically anywhere in the civilized world anymore. And yet plenty of us are not truly free, not nearly as free as Epictetus was when he was still in chains.

And that is a real crime against humanity.

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