Living according to nature: Seneca’s and Epicurus’ case

Abstract

To  live   according   to  nature  in   the   former  Greece   appeared,   as  Jano,  with  a  double  aspect.  On  the  one  hand  the  dionisiac   orgiastic   religion,   and, on   the   other,   such   ascetic   philosophies   as   the   Stoicism   and   Epicureanism.   Stoicism   and  Epicureanism appeal  both  to  freedom  as  a fundamental   ingredient   for   the   autoconfiguration   of   the   human   life.   Nevertheless,   inside   their unit   of   sense   they   present   also   notable  differences which, to  our  judgment,  they  are  due to   the  utopian  character  of  stoicism in  contrast  with  the  vision   without   exit   of   Epicureanism. Furthermore,   both   philosophies  constitute  two  conceptions  of  the  world,  which   implies two different   psychologies   and nevertheless   only   one  method   for   the   apprehension   of   the   psychological  life.   This   differs   from   the   way   in   which modern   psychiatry,   based  on  features  and  functions, study personalities.