Moral

Epictetus is a handbook to life; it is a compiled rulebook to influence our lives. It’s a list of advises for our lives, which have to do with all the aspects of it. Its souls purpose is to influence our lives try to make us live them the best we can and make us happy through them. These moral and essential guidelines are his perspective of a good life. By giving life examples he tries to teach us values of selfishness, sharing, abusing and others like a parent would. He also goes deeper into situations and more controversial matters of our perseverance of life, judgments, desires, and many others.

Such as #7 and others he talks about getting attached to things whether it be objects or other things we must be joyful for them when you should only be “joyful for the good of your own” (pg. 13 #6). He also clearly states we must be ready to have things “ given back” (pg.14 #11) and also to preserve ourselves and not get attached in case we loose them. We need to know we can loose thing and we must get accustomed to the idea to “never hold anything contemptible” ( pg 16 #21) when you encounter the situation. He tries to teach us in many aspects of life what should happen and what to do in many occasions.

Epictetus intro.

I had never studied the Stoic philosophy but I rather enjoy and support their principals. Like when a person says that all religions can lead to heaven I also believe that must philosophers are connected and have each found ways of happiness and well being. Epictetus said that “ do not seek events to happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they happen” (pg 2), this is a great belief which in term can make any person happy because it means you are enjoying and appreciating your life.

Epictetus probably wasn’t the fist to explain this principle and most likely wont be the last. As they dictate is Stoic philosophy that by understanding the past we can tell the future in a way. If this was true wouldn’t it be correct to say that people in the future also want to be happy and enjoy their life’s, which takes us again to the connection between philosophers that is that most (cant generalize) will think and have though similar ideas in terms of humanity. Everybody should enforce this principle since this is the same reason we study history for, teachers say it is for us not to make the same mistakes that have been made in the past. I think a little differently, I think history is more than a study of the past because it also is a set of events that have already bean experienced and are their for us to use them and to learn from them. If we can understand the world and its humans then it is deductable that we could now their reactions and acts before they are done.

Stoic philosophy also dictates there can never be full determinism. Fate is not something that we should believe in, we need to know that we are constantly making our own decisions and that they were not chosen for us. If everything was prefabricated no one would take any effort in doing anything because there would be no point. I agree with Sartre in his definition of existentialism in which we are made by our actions, which are in term made by our experiences and knowledge. We could believe in predictions and deductions but we need to understand that they aren’t always right and that there will never be anyone with all the knowledge who could predict the future.

Justice is Served

Call it fate or call it karma, justice is always served. Everybody must be held accountable for their acts and we pay for them in one way or another. In Macbeth he and his wife die, they were paying for what they had done. They could only lie for so long and the people around them had to come for revenge. Lady Macbeth’s conscience was stained and it couldn’t keep up with her knowing the people they had murdered. They were both regretting what they had done but not yet accepting that the power they earned wasn’t there’s, this is exactly why they both had to die. Lady Macbeth died of her sickness caused by her acts and concience. Macduff and Malcom wanted to make things right and they brought an army to fight Macbeth eventually defeating him and his confidence.

It has always been said that we must treat each other like the way weed like to be treated. And from the beginning of time there has always been belief of justice and revenge in many ways, it could be and eye for an eye or cause and effect. In the end Macbeth and his wife had to pay for there atrocities committed and you know what they say, “Revenge is a dish best served cold” (Marie Joseph Eugène Sue).

Your Acts Precede Your Future (act 4)

Macbeth is an insecure person but more than that he is very worried of ever loosing his crown. Macbeth finds reassurance in the witches and an apparition that says he shall be king until “ Great Birman Woods (be moved) to High Dusdaine hill” (pg 127 line 106). No matter stable his power is he doesn’t stop worrying about losing it, his power has become practically the meaning of his life. He again sets out to reassure it and he goes after Macduff and his family who pose a threat to him.

As Macbeth gets consumed for his power he loses sense of the reality and his morality is lost killing women and children unrelated to his power. As Macbeth tries to reassure his power he only weakens it by making himself more rivals including “ten thousand warlike men” (pg 147 line 53) sent to overthrow him by the king of England. Macbeth chooses his own future by his acts, he dooms himself when trying to reassure himself.

The Corruption of Power

Power is an addiction, it is a corrupting feeling that can make a person greedy and evil. “Know Banquo as your enemy” (pg 89 line 130) says Macbeth to his murderers as he instructs them to kill Banquo. He only wants to kill him because Banquo is suspicious that Macbeth killed the king and fears that his children will not be kings. Once the power of king is given to Macbeth how can it be taken away how can a man not want his own well being and power. It is sad to know that human nature is one of greed and selfishness. Humans have fought, stole, and killed since the beginning of time for power and money, and that many humans only care for themselves. Through time we have seen how power can be addicting and how humans have done terrible things to obtain it. Know that Macbeth has tasted the glory of kings it will only give him more reason to kill anyone that threatens his position.

To thrive for his power Macbeth becomes compulsive and obsessive. I would say his flaw is his ambition and because of it he wants power and this clouds his morality and judgment. It can be deduced that Macbeth is good person, not by his act but he does show repentment and even delusional for committing acts of murder. He is blinded by his power and even though he has a clear perception of right and wrong, he still commits acts of murder for which he even repents even though he might not accept it. The other characters can also se this and his inconsistence of explanations of the murders and even start to wonder and question Macbeth.

Some Dreams Do Come True

More than once I have daydreamed, everyone pictures themselves doing something or something happening and most of us can’t control this happening it just does. Students are accused to do it in class every now and then. I’ve always done it, I think I do it every time I think about the future thinking im going to receive something or picturing an event or place. Macbeth does it to an the beginning of act 2, “a false creation” (pg 53 line 50) in his mind that he was already sting out for his very controversial murder yet he hadn’t even drawn his dagger. We do this oftenly and sometimes subconsciously when we think about something even if we don’t want to we picture it. It is like a dream, yet we are awake therefore its name but the difference with a dream is that we can construct it to our own will.

This dream did get carried out in real life; Macbeth did kill Duncan and start his plan to become king. When we do such an act of great importance we get nervous or scared and we can’t think strait. This happens to some people on test since they know they are so important they get nervous and aren’t able to think. In the book Macbeth couldn’t think strait his head was thinking of to many things at once ruining his plan and not caring it out properly. Even though this happened he is still announced king after a series of events that were planed so the murder was framed leading him to be king “the sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth” (pg 75 line 42).

Murder Conscience

It must be terrifying to kill a man or want to kill them. Even thou you must have great reason and determination it is still very difficult to carry out the murder. Lady Macbeth seeks help from spirits and evil to “poses” her and “fill me to the crown.. of direst cruelty” ( pg. 33 line 50). Everybody will think twice before taking a life and Lady Macbeth thinks she cant do it on their own and tries to ask for determination from spirits.

Macbeth almost instantly got cold feet and told Lady Macbeth to “proceed in this business no further”. But he was influenced by Lady Macbeth who even offers him a plan of how they will do the murder. Nobody should have to go through this it is unthinkable to take a life and the saddest part is there is no going back. If you could ask everybody in jail what would they do differently they would probably say the same thing, not commit their crime or murder.

Its not just the act of killing someone but also your conscience and the guilt that you will maintain forever. Macbeth can’t ignore the fact that Duncan has friends, family, and people who appreciate him. Everybody gets hurt in murder not just the people involved, the ripples and repercussion of murder cannot be foreseen and never the less started countlesly every day.