Review of “On Anger” (ca. 45 CE)
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (writer).
Read in 2024.
Centuries earlier, Anaximander and other philosophers had recognized the survival of the fittest, not the strongest, in each generation. However, the ancient world never made it to a basic theory of evolution by natural selection. The absence of such a theory deeply colours Seneca’s idealism in this series of essays. Because he wrote before evolution explained anger, Seneca is primarily moralistic and unable to fully reconcile the anger of humans with that of non-human animals. Still, he does try. His arguments for peace, and his conclusions, are greatly preferable to theological homilies. They even include some kindness to slaves, but no real criticism of slavery.
References here: Romans (ca. 57 CE).