• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Philosophy Professor logo

PhilosophyProfessor.com

  • Philosophers
  • Philosophies

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius (121-180).

Table of Contents

  • 1 Major Ideas
  • 2 Biography
  • 3 Major Works of Marcus Aurelius
    • 3.1 Related:
  • 4 Videos
  • 5 Related Products
    • 5.1 Meditations: A New Translation
    • 5.2 Meditations
    • 5.3 How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius
    • 5.4 The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
    • 5.5 Meditations (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)
    • 5.6 Meditations
    • 5.7 The Essential Marcus Aurelius (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions)
    • 5.8 Marcus Aurelius (Loeb Classical Library)
    • 5.9 The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations
    • 5.10 Imperium - Vespasian: The Path to Power

Major Ideas

– The Universe is governed by reason, which is God.

– In a rational universe, everything that happens is not only necessitated but good.

– Human happiness consists in a life lived in accordance with nature and reason.

– Though his actions are necessitated, an individual becomes free by acting rationally.

– The bad acts of others do not harm us; rather we are harmed by our own opinions about those acts.

– All rational beings are subject to rational law and so are citizens of a world community.

– The rational individual should have no fear of death, because it is a natural event of life.

Biography

Marcus Aurelius was born in 121.

His early education was overseen by the Emperor Hadrian, and he was later adopted by the Emperor Antoninus Pius in 138. After an initial education in rhetoric undertaken by Fronto, Marcus later abandoned it in favor of philosophy.

Marcus became Emperor himself in 161, initially alongside Lucius Verus, becoming sole Emperor in 169. Continual attacks meant that much of his reign was spent on campaign, especially in central Europe. However, he did find time to establish four Chairs of Philosophy in Athens, one for each of the principal philosophical traditions (Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic, and Epicurean).

He died in 180.

Major Works of Marcus Aurelius

– Meditations

Related:

  • Epictetus
  • Stoicism
  • Plotinus
  • Alfred North Whitehead
  • William Godwin

  • Videos

  • Related Products

     
    Meditations: A New Translation

    Meditations: A New Translation

    • Modern Library
    • Aurelius, Marcus (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 256 Pages - 05/06/2003 (Publication Date) - Modern Library (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Meditations

    Meditations

    • George Long classic translation of Marcus Aurelius Meditations
    • Aurelius, Marcus (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 88 Pages - 04/25/2017 (Publication Date) - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

    How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

    • Hardcover Book
    • Robertson, Donald (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 304 Pages - 04/02/2019 (Publication Date) - St. Martin's Press (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

    The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

    • The Daily Stoic 366 Meditations on Wisdom Perseverance and the Art of Living
    • Hardcover Book
    • Holiday, Ryan (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 416 Pages - 10/18/2016 (Publication Date) - Portfolio (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Meditations (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)

    Meditations (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)

    • Hardcover Book
    • Aurelius, Marcus (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 202 Pages - 01/01/2018 (Publication Date) - General Press (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Meditations

    Meditations

    • Aurelius, Marcus (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 146 Pages - 11/01/2018 (Publication Date) - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    The Essential Marcus Aurelius (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions)

    The Essential Marcus Aurelius (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions)

    • Tarcher
    • Needleman, Jacob (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 144 Pages - 01/10/2008 (Publication Date) - TarcherPerigee (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Marcus Aurelius (Loeb Classical Library)

    Marcus Aurelius (Loeb Classical Library)

    • Marcus Aurelius
    • stoicism
    • Hardcover Book
    • Marcus Aurelius (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 448 Pages - 01/01/1916 (Publication Date) - Harvard University Press (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations

    The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations

    • The Emperor s Handbook A New Translation of The Meditations
    • Hardcover Book
    • Aurelius, Marcus (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 160 Pages - 11/05/2002 (Publication Date) - Scribner (Publisher)
    Check Price on Amazon
     
    Imperium - Vespasian: The Path to Power
    3 Reviews

    Imperium - Vespasian: The Path to Power

    • Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
    • Alun Armstrong (Actor)
    • Tony Bulley (Director) - Tony Bulley (Writer) - James Millar (Producer)
    • English (Playback Language)
    • English (Subtitle)
    Check Price on Amazon
  • Last update 2020-06-17. Price and product availability may change.

    William of Ockham

    Saint Augustine

    Baruch Spinoza

    Thomas Aquinas

    Francis Herbert Bradley

    • Contact
    • Facebook

    Copyright © 2021 · CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. “AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES.”