Roman Philosophy

. Topic: If the paper is not handed out in class, download and read “Book Two” of Marcus Aurelius’ The Meditations Preview the documentView in a new window (this text is a translation by Martin Hammond) and write a 800-950 word paper on:

(1) Where and how Aurelius’ Stoicism appears in the text, giving, and explaining, several examples, and (2) What you like most and least about what Aurelius says. Give philosophical reasons for your choices.

2. Again, If the paper is not handed out in class, download and print the material from Aurelius before you read and study it. Do not attempt this sort of study from a computer screen. You can print from any computer lab on campus..

3. Note: this is a classic text of Roman philosophy and requires the same careful reading as did Midgley, Plato, and Aristotle. Therefore, it will take several careful readings of the paper to get a sense of what Aurelius is up to. That is normal, and do not be surprised or frustrated if the text doesn’t make sense the first time through.

4. Review the Material On All Papers page before you begin to write.

5. Start early and stick with it.

6. Remember, you will receive five extra points on your paper if you present written evidence that you used the Language Hub to help proofread your paper prior to submission.

7. Canvas will accept only papers in one of the following formats: MS Word, Acrobat PDF, Postscript, Text, HTML, WordPerfect (WPD) and Rich Text Format.

8. You may use the video we saw in class on Marcus Aurelius as a source for the paper. It must be cited when quoted or paraphrased. Use the following format in your “Works Cited” page: “Michael Sugrue, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: The Stoic Ideal. The Teaching Company. Video download.” The video can be found hereView in a new window