Epictetus, The Handbook 29: Keeping Our Aim

As a mark is not set up for men to miss it, so there is nothing intrinsically evil in the world.

—Epictetus, The Handbook, Chapter 27 (tr Matheson)

It is far too easy for me to say that a person, or a thing, or a circumstance is evil. This permits me to transfer my own responsibility onto others. It is not a person who is evil, but thoughts, choices, and actions may be evil. It is not a thing that is evil, but how I understand it may be evil. It is not a circumstance that is evil, but how I respond to it may be evil.

At the heart of a Stoic view rests the awareness that each and every thing, by its very being and purpose, exists as a part within the whole of Nature, and by doing so is good. We speak of evil only when something becomes out of harmony with other things, and thereby lacks what it should rightly have. In this way, the Stoic can agree with the wisdom of St. Augustine, that evil is never the presence of something, but the absence of what should be present.

If I can remember these truths, I need never fear failing in my purpose to live well, to lose my aim, to miss the mark. Each and every circumstance can always be an opportunity to practice what is right. The target is never out of my sight, though there are times when I may refuse to see it.

Let us say that I feel wronged. Perhaps another has chosen to act contrary to his nature, but this does not mean that I must act contrary to mine. The good life is still within range.

Let us say I believe I have suffered a misfortune. That situation will only be as good or bad I choose to make it, because my own estimation and action remain within my power. The good life is still within range.

I should not think of the “bad man” as some perverse blob of evil that has infected my world. I should rather think of him as a creature sharing in the same nature as mine. I can always still meet a wrong with a right, and I can try to help him do just the same.

My goal is never lost to me, because I can always choose to bring myself back into harmony with things around me. It was Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic school, who is credited with saying:

Happiness is a good flow of life.

And,

The end may be defined as a life in accordance with Nature, that is, in accordance with our own human nature as well as that of the whole Universe.

I have at times acted in such a way, sometimes without even quite knowing what I was doing, where I lash out at something I see as bad, or shun and condemn someone I think is evil. It may seem a quick cure, but it only compounds my problem.

First, it was never that thing or person that was the problem, but rather my judgment, and second, I am adding even further disharmony. The way to remove an imbalance is to add a counterweight, and the way to fix something is hardly to break it even more.

When I allow myself to be convinced that someone or something is irrevocably evil, I have already thrown in the towel. I am closing my eyes to the target, and I am doing so only out of my own malice and stubbornness. As long as I still live, it is always within my power to restore the good to something that has gone wrong.

Written in 6/2007

Image: Japanese Archer with Targets (ink drawing, late 19th c.)