Cicero H1

Group 2: Applez 2 Applez

Today our group talked about Cicero. Cicero had many views that were similar to his fellow Philosophers Epictetus and Seneca. The biggest idea these Philosophers talked about was the emotions that humans experience.

            We discussed the fixation Cicero had with ageing. At some point, every person has to die; therefore, ageing is a natural part of life. Epictetus defined being Philosophical as, “Accepting what you can’t change.” This idea can be linked to how Cicero viewed ageing. He said that in order to get over ageing, we must make the most out of our time. Many things happen to a person as they begin ageing. Some of these include, a weaker body, it gets harder to work, and one knows that death is close. Even though this may seem pretty harsh, Cicero explains that it is a natural part of everyday life. He discussed the use of mental exercises to strengthen your attitude toward death. Death and ageing also have a very large impact upon our emotions.

            Kailey presented the question, “Can we choose our emotions, or do they act like the weather, always changing?” We decided that it was a mix of both. Our emotions change every day without us choosing to feel that way. We can sometimes also choose to be happy despite the sadness going on around us. We can choose how we feel by accepting our world and the things we can’t change. Something we can’t change is the ageing process and death. Both are inevitable so we must accept it and move on. Trevor told us that he believed it is impossible to feel no emotion. Even though some people hide their emotions on the outside, they will always feel some kind of emotion on the inside. We discussed serial killers. They do not feel a sense of remorse after killing; they simply have the wrong emotions linked toward killing someone. Emotions are a very important part of everyone’s life. Being in control of each emotion is important.

D.Q.: Is the thought of ageing a type of enslavement for our minds?