"The person who has practiced philosophy as a cure for the self becomes great of soul, filled with confidence, invincible-and greater as you draw near."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 111.2
("자신을 치유하는 수단으로 철학을 연습한 사람은 영혼이 위대해지고, 자신감으로 가득 차며, 무적이 되며, 가까이 다가갈수록 더 위대해집니다." - 세네카, 도덕적 서신, 111.2)
What is "a cure for the self"? Perhaps Seneca means that, through some positive and some negative. When those negative characteristics begin to have consequences in our lives, some of us turn to therapy, psychoanalysis, or the help of a support group. The point? To cure certain selfish, destructive parts of ourselves.
But of all the avenues for curing our negative characteristics, philosophy has existed the longest and helped the most people. It is concerned not just with mitigating the effects of a mental illness or a neurosis, but it is ...