ABSTRACT
Epictetus’s work is an example of the tradition of Greek and Roman ethical thought called the “Stoic” tradition. His writings are often included in modern textbooks on ethics as an example of this tradition. Epictetus hardly mentions such rules or laws. While Epictetus’s picture of the nature of ethics is quite different from the modern picture, his conception of how the ethical life, as he conceives it, can be justified is a good deal clearer than it is in many modern theories. As philosophical works go, the Handbook of Epictetus is relatively straightforward. A lot of what Epictetus recommends seems to have a pretty direct connection with personal well-being, what he says sounds more like moralistic preaching than like consoling advice. Epictetus hardly mentions rules or laws. People turn to moral philosophers for help in solving problems, which they see as matters of deciding what is the right thing to do.
