Röttig, Stefan
Congratulations on passing the viva voce examination
on 20 July 2020.
Dissertation topic: "Emotion and Will. The psychological foundation of Seneca's Ethics" ("Affekt und Wille - Die handlungspsychologische Fundierung der Ethik bei Seneca")
Doctoral scholarship
of the German National Academic Foundation, 1 September 2016 to 31 March 2019.
Lectureship in the winter semester 2017/2018.
Contact address at the University of Würzburg:
Institute of Philosophy
Residence - South Wing
97070 Würzburg
First supervisor: Prof Dr Jörn Müller
Second supervisor:
Class in the graduate school: "Philosophy, Languages, Arts"
Doctorate in the Graduate School from WS 2015/2016.
Abstract:
English:
For a long time the Stoic Seneca (c. 4 BC - AD 65) has not been taken seriously as a philosopher. But in recent years the tide has turned. This is no coincidence: Some aspects of his philosophy still need to be examined more closely. One of them is the psychological foundation of his ethics. I want to claim that Seneca makes the realisation of an ethical ideal dependent upon the quality of several intrinsic action components. In the 89th letter of the Epistulae morales ad Lucilium he puts it in a nutshell: Only if an agent judges correctly what things are worth (quanti quidque sit iudicare), conceives a regulated and ordered impulse (impetum ordinatum temperatumque capere) and harmonises her impulse with her actions (impetum actionemque convenire), she can be consistent with herself and thus reach true happiness.
In the first part of my doctoral thesis I want to take a closer look at Seneca's reflections on how the several action components work. Then, I will ask how these components in his view can be brought into a permanent harmonic relationship. In both parts I will also focus on Seneca's concept of will.
German:
Research into the history of philosophy has paid increasing attention to the younger Seneca in recent years, and rightly so: some aspects of his ethics have not yet been sufficiently analysed. These include the subcutaneous psychology of action, which I would therefore like to analyse systematically as part of my dissertation.
Seneca's understanding of ethics marks the starting point in the 89th letter of the Epistulae morales ad Lucilium . There he argues that only those who make a correct value judgement (quanti quidque sit iudicare), develop an impulse bound to order and measure (impetum ordinatum temperatumque capere) and harmonise external action and impulse (impetum actionemque convenire) can fully agree with themselves. Seneca thus makes the realisation of an ethical ideal dependent in nuce on the nature of various intrinsic components of action. As I would like to show, this concept of an ethics based on the psychology of action is not only visible in the Epistulae morales, but also in the Dialogi. Seneca's tragedies also contain passages that can be interpreted in this direction.
I would like to develop my thesis in two large blocks: The aim of the first main section is to systematically analyse Seneca's reflections on the functioning of the various moments of action. The second main section, on the other hand, centres on the question of how, in his view, these moments can be brought into a lasting harmonious relationship. Furthermore, my research interest centres on Seneca's concept of will. For him, the will seems to fulfil both an action-psychological and an ethical function and will therefore be the focus of attention in both main sections.
