Book 1
Chapter 1: On things in our power and things not in our power.
Of our faculties in general you will find that none can take cognizance of itself; none therefore has the power to approve or disapprove its own action.
Our grammatical faculty for instance: how far can that take cognizance? Only so far as to distinguish expression.
Our musical faculty? Only so far as to distinguish tune.
Does any one of these then take cognizance of itself? By no means. If you are writing to your friend, when you want to know what words to write grammar will tell you; but whether you should write to your friend or should not write grammar will not tell you.
And in the same way music will tell you about tunes, but whether at this precise moment you should sing and play the lyre or should not sing nor play the lyre it will not tell you. What will tell you then?
That faculty which takes cognizance of itself and of all things else. What is this? The reasoning faculty: for this alone of the faculties we have received is created to comprehend even its own nature; that is to say, what it is and what it can do, and with what precious qualities it has come to us, and to comprehend all other faculties as well.
Over the years, I have heard many different accounts as to what defines higher intelligence, what seems to make the human so distinct from the animal or the plant, even as the human has so very much in common with the animal or the plant.
Some will speak of the spark of imagination and creativity, or the gift of abstraction, or the complexity of calculation, or a mastery of language, or an ability to manipulate the environment into tools. I have often seen the simple assumption that the bigger the brain, the better the thinking.
These may all indeed have their roles to play, but Epictetus points to one specific property that rises above all the others, and therefore has a priority over all the others. It is the presence of reflective self-awareness, by means of which the human mind further has the capacity of being its own master.
The power of language judges about how to go about speaking and writing, but it does not judge about why I should go about speaking and writing.
The power of music judges about how to play and listen to music, but it does not judge about why I should go about playing and listening to music.
By being capable of turning back on itself, instead of merely turning outward to something other than itself, reason is empowered with providing ultimate measures of meaning and value.
I may have the ability to paint a picture, or to build a temple, or to reach out my hand, but only an understanding of who I am tells me why it is right and good for me to express beauty, or to pray to the Almighty, or to love my neighbor as myself.
Only this faculty allows me to discover myself at the same time as I go about discovering everything else around me, and as such it is the power that defines me most fully, and the one that is most fully my own.
Throw away the image I have made, or tear down the structure I have built, or slap aside the hand I have offered, but my estimation of my thoughts and actions remains entirely within my possession.
This is how I can slowly but surely begin to appreciate the beauty of Stoic self-reliance. The worth that is found within me is the foundation of the worth in any of my circumstances.
Written in 8/2000
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