Mengzi and Epictetus

Undergraduate / Graduate

How to cultivate excellence in human life and leadership, justice in human communities, and benevolent kindness in human relationships? These always timely questions were concerns shared by two ancient teachers of inherited wisdom in established philosophical schools: the Confucian Mengzi (Mencius), in third-century BCE China, and the Stoic Epictetus, in the second-century CE Greco-Roman Mediterranean. While working in very different cultural contexts and conceptual models, the two thinkers shared a deep optimism about human goodness and potential, together with a rigorous insistence on the highest ethical commitment. While their theories are richly and fascinatingly complex, the teaching style of both Mengzi and Epictetus (as recorded by their students) is conversational, vividly colorful, and often hilariously satirical. This course is a literary and philosophical comparative study of Mengzi's writings alongside the Handbook and Discourses of Epictetus. Readings will be in English translation, but optional additional meetings will be available for students wishing to read some Mengzi in classical Chinese or some Epictetus in classical Greek.