Seneca und die griechisch-römische Tradition der Seelenleitung (review)

86 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY For as the chariot anecdote makes plain (SVF II 975), man's only choice, on Chrysippus' view, is to go along willingly with the causal nexus exhibited in the unfolding of reality or to be dragged along by i,t. So, while one wouldn't wish to deny that Chrysippus made a valiant effort to maintain both determinism and a doctrine of human responsibility, one can only conclude that he failed, as indeed he was bound to. The two doctrines, pace soft determinists from Hume to Stevenson, cannot be held together. If I have chosen two aspects of Rist's book to criticize, it is not because I have not learned a great deal from it. And I think that because of the emphasis Rist places upon philosophical issues with which the Stoics dealt, his is one of the most philosophically interesting accounts of Stoic philosophy we have. JOSIAH B. GOULD State University o[ New York at Albany Seneca und die griechisch-rOmische Tradition der Seelenleitung. By Ilsetraut Hadot. Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Philosophic, Band XIII. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1969. Pp. ix+232. DM 38,) To the contemporary mind "philosophy" and "psychotherapy" signify two fields of scientific research which are clearly separate. In antiquity, however, both were very closely related. The book to be reviewed here was accepted as a doctoral dissertation by the philosophical faculty of the Freie Universit/~t Berlin in 1965. The author has undertaken to present the younger Seneca's views on what we would call "psychological guidance." In order to achieve this goal it was necessary to set his views in the context of the older Graeco-Roman philosophical traditions about "psychological guidance." Seneca's importance lies in the fact that in his writings more than in other ancient philosophers the lines of these traditions merge, and that it was mainly this philosopher through whom these doctrines were handed down to the European Geistesgeschichte. In her first part the author provides us with a survey of the historical and philosophical presuppositions of Seneca's theories. A brief summary of the dogmatic background of his views is followed by a very informative survey of the history of "psychological guidance" from the 7th century B.c. down to Seneca. As the author shows, scientific "psychological guidance" begins when the older aristocratic ethics and folk-wisdom were replaced by new ethical norms which were derived from philosophical insights and conclusions. This change determined what the way of the future would be. First of all, ancient "psychological guidance" is different from its modern analogy in that the former is not informed by the psychic structure of the individual patient, but by certain norms for human behavior which were derived from or founded upon conventional or philosophical concepts (cf. p. 28). Furthermore, the question of the nature of the human soul was approached by way of philosophical speculation (of. p. 31). Therefore, "psychological guidance" amounts to the method of placing the individual, his body and soul, within the supra-individual framework of his nature and its norms. The question arises at this point whether this system in its structure is really so different from a religious system of ethical norms set within a mythological BOOK REVIEWS 87 framework. Noteworthy is also the author's comment that in this tradition of "psychological guidance" man's individuality was seen, but that because of the rather narrow frame of reference it could not develop very much (pp. 29 ft.). The second part of the investigation is devoted to Seneca's doctrines of "psychological guidance" in particular. He is found to be more or less in agreement with the rest of ancient philosophy. For him the highest goal was the "eudaimonia." More for practical than for theoretical reasons he emphasized the partial goals as leading to the "eudainomia." "True knowledge" must not only be known, but must be firmly acquired through "exercise" and "regular practice." As such it becomes "knowledge as habitus," and leads to "securitas" and "tranquillitas animi" which are the two most important aspects of the "vita beata.'" How much of a chance is there for a man who sincerely wishes to achieve these goals? An...