In week 11 of the humanities crash course, I revisited one of the most influential philosophies of the ancient world: Stoicism. I was already familiar with this material, so I also took the opportunity to revisit another text: the Book of Job. Heavy stuff – and I paired it with an even heavier movie: a modern classic which I’d not yet seen but has become a new favorite.

Readings

Gioia recommended two readings: Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations and Epictetus’s Enchiridion, a short manual of advice. I’d read Meditations twice before and was familiar with several of Epictetus’s aphorisms. Both are central works of Stoicism, an ancient philosophy that remains highly relevant.

Because I was familiar with the material, I chose to also go beyond the bounds of Gioia’s syllabus by revisiting one of my favorite books of the Bible, the Book of Job. Not only did I read Job itself, but also Mark Larrimore’s The Book of Job: A Biography.

The selection wasn’t accidental. Job deals with similar questions as the Stoics, but arrives at different answers. In this section, I’ll provide an overview of the readings, and will get into the parallels and differences in the reflections below.

Meditations was written between 161 and 180 CE by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. The book wasn’t meant for publication. Instead, it’s a series of notes-to-self: Marcus is nudging himself to stay on the path of virtue. It’s the same path Epictetus (who was at one point a slave – a very different status from emperor!) lays out in the Enchiridion.

Namely, we’re responsible for our experiences of reality. Some things we can control, either fully or partially, and some we can’t control. Trying to control things that are out of our control leads to unhappiness.

The Stoics saw the universe as rationally ordered; they aspired to alignment with nature. We must embrace things as they come. This can be very painful – e.g., the death of a loved one. The Stoics saw challenges as opportunities to refine our character, and prescribed exercises such as negative visualization, journaling and reflection, and voluntary discomfort.

The Book of Job also focuses on suffering. Job is a rich man blessed with a great life and a thriving family. He worships God. But Satan suggests that God test him: perhaps Job is a fair weather friend. God allows Satan to take everything from Job: his wealth, his family, and ultimately, his health.

Three friends come to comfort him, but instead default to the traditional interpretation of suffering: that it must be divine punishment. They insist Job must’ve done something wrong to merit such treatment. Job denies it; they argue in a long poem that forms the bulk of the book. A fourth friend suggests another take: perhaps the suffering is a means for instruction.

Eventually, God addresses Job from a whirlwind. His message: as a mere man, Job can’t grok the mysteries of divine will. God is all-powerful; his ways unknowable. So there is no point in asking why. Job takes back his complaining and questioning in one of the book’s most famous passages:

Then Job answered the LORD and said:
“I know that you can  do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

After this follows an awkward prose epilogue where God restores Job’s riches and even gives him a new family. I say ‘awkward’ because it feels different in tone and intent from the rest of the book. (Isn’t this a regression to the ‘divine punishment’ view?) In the Biography, I learned that Job might be the work of several authors. Whether that’s true or not, the prose frames certainly feel different to the rest of the book.

Audiovisual

Music: Three Haydn symphonies: 45 (Farewell), 94 (Surprise), and 104 (London). I’d heard 94 and 104 before, but 45 was new to me. Of all the major classical composers, Haydn is one I’ve not paid much attention to; these listenings were an invitation to dig deeper.

Art: Gioia suggested looking at ancient Roman art and architecture. During my architectural studies, I spent two semesters in Rome and spent time living among these works, so I didn’t dwell much on this subject now. That said, I watched this episode of Rick Steve’s Europe, which is a short and engaging overview:

Cinema: I asked Perplexity for movies inspired by the Book of Job. First on its list was Terence Mallick’s THE TREE OF LIFE. I’d never seen a Mallick movie, and this was already on my to-watch list. But what pushed me over the top was seeing it mentioned in The Book of Job: A Biography as a movie that explored these themes.

THE TREE OF LIFE is a slow, poetic, and impressionistic meditation on suffering via a portrait of a small-town American family in the 1950s. The movie is relatively recent, so I won’t spoil it. Suffice it to say, family members experience joy and suffering – and like Job, wonder about the meaning of the latter. The intimate documentary style and gorgeous cinematography make for a highly emotional experience – especially for parents.

I felt strong echoes of one of my favorite movies, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, which is also a slow, poetic, and impressionistic meditation on philosophical themes. There are scenes of astronomical events in THE TREE OF LIFE that could’ve easily been in 2001. Still, I was surprised to learn that Douglas Trumbull (SFX lead for 2001) also worked on THE TREE OF LIFE. Both films also feature transcendent classical music soundtracks.

Reflections

This week’s works focused on one of the central questions of the human experience: how do we deal with suffering? This isn’t the first time we grapple with this question; suffering is central in Buddhism, and we’ve already read the Dhammapada. The Stoics and Job provide answers from a Western perspective.

In many ways, Stoic teachings parallel Buddhism:

  • Both aspire to a clear understanding of reality by accepting what is happening without judgment.
  • Both aim to alleviate suffering by transcending it.
  • Both identify suffering with desire: yearning for things to be different than they are.
  • Both emphasize the dynamic nature of reality – we can’t hold on to things, since everything is in flux.
  • Both advocate dealing with events (either positive or adverse) with equanimity, composure, and dignity.

One major difference: Stoicism places more emphasis on becoming the best possible version of oneself, whereas Buddhism emphasizes reducing suffering for all beings.

The Book of Job also explores these ideas. But while Stoicism and Buddhism advocate developing tolerance for suffering, Job emphasizes its unknowability. To put it crudely: shit happens; the Stoics and Buddhists prescribe personal development whereas Job prescribes surrender to divine will – i.e., transcending the ego.

Mallick’s film is saturated with the latter. The film opens with a quote from Job:

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation… while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Its two central characters – the parents – have different approaches: the father is driven by nature/will and the mother is driven by grace. Left unchecked, both cause suffering; balance seems the best path. But neither provides definitive answers to the question “Why do we suffer?” Rather, the answer seems to be: suffering and joy come with the package. As Job puts it when he learns of the death of his children,

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD  gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

It’s pointless to ask why. A better question is: how do we deal with suffering? These works provide important answers.

Notes on Note-taking

As with previous weeks, I took notes in Obsidian. Since this was my third reading of Job and Meditations, I expanded already-existing notes for both books. I also started a separate note for Stoicism itself, since this philosophy has ideas that relate to many other works.

In all cases, I used GPT-4o (both via the chat interface and through the Text Generator plugin) to expand on my understanding. I asked the LLM for feedback on my summaries, comparisons between these works and each other, and between the ideas in these works and the Buddhist tradition.

The results were often pithy and clarifying. Here’s an example:

While both Stoicism and Buddhism offer paths to transcend suffering through acceptance and detachment, their ultimate goals differ: Stoicism emphasizes personal virtue and rationality, whereas Buddhism focuses on universal compassion and enlightenment.

Up Next

Gioia recommended Suetonius’s The Twelve Caesars for week 12; standard Ebooks has a beautiful free edition. Check out Gioia’s post for the full syllabus. Again, there’s a YouTube playlist for the videos I’m sharing here. I’m also sharing these posts via Substack if you’d like to subscribe and comment. See you next week!