ABSTRACT
Meditations return again and again to the idea that philosophy should provide a practical guide to the challenges and changes of everyday life. A recurring message of the work is the therapeutic power of reflecting in a careful and philosophically informed way on the vicissitudes of mortal existence. The work encourages its readers to uncover the irrational grounds for so much of our emotional and mental behavior—petty jealousies, angry quarrels, and excessive consumption. Marcus places great emphasis on the idea that the power of rationality is an almost-divine spark that can shape and guide our outlook and behavior— provided we take pains to exercise our capacity to reason. The idea that all human beings possess an intrinsic value comes to full fruition in the Stoic doctrine of cosmopolitanism, an idea with a rich pedigree in contemporary ethical and political philosophy.
