Ethics and Values / Unit 6 Ethics 261 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Epictetus: The Dichotomy of Control
Captions available
The idea
Epictetus' dichotomy of control: opinion, aim, desire, and aversion are up to us; body, property, reputation, and office are not — virtue lives entirely in the first list.
In practice
A pilot canceled by weather rages or re-plans. The weather was never hers; the response was never anything else. Stoic practice is keeping the lists straight.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Ethics and Values