Man in the Face of Passing and the Transitory Nature of the Moment in Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations

Abstract

The Polish version of the article was published in “Roczniki Humanistyczne,” vol. 56 (2008), issue 3.

In his Meditations, the Stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius very often resorts to the motif of passing and transitory nature of human life. On the one hand, this permanent and pessimistic motif may be interpreted as a certain kind of spiritual exercise, practised not only by Stoics. On the other hand, we cannot exclude that this is a manifestation of the author’s personal views and experiences. Marcus often touched upon the topic of death, a fact that was not necessarily an expression of his fear of what was inevitable since, according to the Stoic doctrine, death belongs to the immutable order of the world and is congruous with nature, hence it is completely ac­ceptable. Marcus Aurelius is rather afraid of the transitory nature of the moment that we are given. He stresses that life “is passing away” each day and, at the same time, he is tormented with the lack of time that must be filled with good and respectable behaviour, with life in conformity with reason, or the deity. Marcus Aurelius is not frightened by death itself, but by the possibility to lose control over one’s life, loss of consciousness, and the ability to reflect (in case of an illness or old age). He also firmly stresses the importance of favours that we may and should render to others, which besides properly forming one’s soul, are the goal of human life.