What are the secrets to authentic happiness? What sorts of activities and experiences contribute to human flourishing? Tying together cutting-edge work in contemporary psychology and neuroscience with the profound writings of ancient philosophers, Professor Gendler will focus on the insights of five major Greek and Roman thinkers: Socrates on self-knowledge, Plato on self-harmony, Aristotle on habit, Epictetus on self-reliance, and Cicero on friendship.

1. THINK!
6August 2013, Budapest, Hungary
TamarGendler, Professor of Philosophy & Cognitive Science,Yale University

2. THINK!
6August 2013, Budapest, Hungary
TamarGendler, Professor of Philosophy & Cognitive Science,Yale University

3. Socrates
Ancient Greece
470-399 BCE
Plato
Ancient Greece
437-347 BCE
Aristotle
Ancient Greece
384-322 BCE
Cicero
Ancient Rome
106-46 BCE
Epictetus
Ancient Rome
c. 55-135 CE

4. Plato’s Academy. Mosaic floor from Pompeii, 1st century CE

5. “Roman School,” Marble Relief from a Roman Sarcophagus

6. Laurentius deVoltolina, "Henricus de Alemania Lecturing his Students" (c. 1350)
From Liber ethicorum des Henricus de Alemania

7. Yale University Dining Hall, c. 1948

8. Yale Students, c. 1978

9. Yale Students, c. 1988

11.  The human soul exhibits internal complexity
 It includes both reflective and non-reflective parts
 Flourishing occurs when these parts interact
appropriately
 This requires a proper understanding – both
reflective and non-reflective – of their roles and
relations

12.  The human soul exhibits internal complexity
 It includes both reflective and non-reflective parts
 Flourishing occurs when these parts interact
appropriately
 This requires a proper understanding – both
reflective and non-reflective – of their roles and
relations
Spiritual well-being
Eudaimonea

13.  The human soul exhibits internal complexity
 It includes both reflective and non-reflective parts
 Flourishing occurs when these parts interact
appropriately
 This requires a proper understanding – both
reflective and non-reflective – of their roles and
relations
Spiritual well-being
Eudaimonea
Practical Wisdom
Phronesis

14. • Develop appropriate self-knowledge [Socrates]
• Cultivate internal harmony [Plato]
• Foster virtue through habit [Aristotle]
• Pursue and appreciate true friendship [Cicero]
• Recognize what is and is not within your control
[Epictetus]

15. Jacques-Louis David, “The Death of Socrates” (1787)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

16. Temple of Apollo, c. 4th century BCE
Delphi, Greece (cf. Plato, Apology)
Chaerephon to Oracle: “Who is the wisest of men?”
Oracle to Chaerephon: “No one is wiser than Socrates.”

17. When I heard this, I said to myself: “What can
the oracle mean when it says that no one is
wiser than I am?…For I know that I have no
wisdom, small or great…”
Plato, The Apology (Ancient Greek, c. 400 BCE)

18. “…So I went to one who had the reputation of
wisdom, and when I began to talk with him, I
could not help thinking that he was not really
wise, although he was thought wise by many,
and wiser still by himself...”
Plato, The Apology (Ancient Greek, c. 400 BCE)

19. “…So I left him, saying to myself, as I went
away: ‘Well, although I do not suppose that
either of us knows anything really beautiful
and good, I am better off than he is - for he
knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I
neither know nor think that I know.’”
Plato, The Apology (Ancient Greek, c. 400 BCE)

20. “…So I left him, saying to myself, as I went
away: ‘Well, although I do not suppose that
either of us knows anything really beautiful
and good, I am better off than he is - for he
knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I
neither know nor think that I know.’”
Plato, The Apology (Ancient Greek, c. 400 BCE)

21.  One source of wisdom: knowing what one
does not know
 This includes our motivations and the sources
of (many of) our attitudes
 Self-knowledge requires humility: knowing
that one does not fully know oneself

22. (Dutton and Aron, 1974)

23. Bargh &Williams, 2008; Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004)

25.  “I am better off than he is - for he knows nothing,
and thinks that he knows. I neither know nor think
that I know” (Socrates)
 In many cases, we are unaware of the sources of our
emotions, our choices, our preferences, and our
pursuit of goals
 Self-knowledge includes knowledge of our own
ignorance

26. Raphael, “The School of Athens” (1510-11)
Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican City

27. “ Leontius was walking along the North Wall when he
saw some corpses lying at the executioner's feet. He
had an appetite to look at them, but at the same time
he was disgusted and turned away. For a time he
struggled with himself and covered his face, but
finally, overpowered by the appetite, he pushed his
eyes wide open and rushed towards the corpses
saying, ‘Look for yourselves, you evil wretches, take
your fill of the beautiful sight!’”
Plato, Republic 439e-440a

28. “ Leontius was walking along the North Wall when he
saw some corpses lying at the executioner's feet. He
had an appetite to look at them, but at the same time
he was disgusted and turned away. For a time he
struggled with himself and covered his face, but
finally, overpowered by the appetite, he pushed his
eyes wide open and rushed towards the corpses
saying, ‘Look for yourselves, you evil wretches, take
your fill of the beautiful sight!’”
Plato, Republic 439e-440a

29. Let us, then, liken the soul to the natural union of a
team of winged horses and their charioteer...One of
the horses is a lover of honor and is guided by verbal
commands alone; the other is companion to wild
boasts and indecency, and barely yields to the goad.
-- Plato, Phaedrus, 246b, 253d

30.  Three parts: Reason, Spirit, Appetite
 Conflict among parts often leads to
conflicted responses
 Our direct conscious access to the
motivations of the “horses” (and even the
“charioteer”) is limited

32. Belief: Safe
Alief: Yikes!
Belief: Movie
Alief: Watch out!
Belief: 10:00Belief: Undesirable
Alief: 10:05 -- hurry!Alief: Yummy -- caaake!
Belief: RerunBelief: Edible
Alief: Don’t run!!Alief:Yuccck!!

33. I hereby declare that my soul
belongs only to you, O Satan.
Signed,
____________________________
6 August 2013
Budapest, Hungary
This is not a legal contract.
It is simply a prop in a psychology experiment.

34. (Monica Bonvicini (2003), “Don’t Miss a Sec”)

35. (Evans (2008), 257)

37. (Dennis Proffitt, various)
 Verbal/perceptual reports show illusion
effects
 Grasping/walking behaviors do not
 Verbal report estimates 5 degrees as 20
degrees
 Haptic report is accurate

38. Baumeister, Bratslasky, Muraven, &Tice, (1998)

39. BlueYellow Green RedYellow Blue GreenYellow Red Blue
Sárga Kék Piros Sárga Kék Zöld Piros Sárga Piros Kék Zöld
(Richeson et al (2003))

40.  The soul is like “the…union of a team of
winged horses and their charioteer...”
 Reactions come from different “parts” of the
soul/brain
 Sometimes these reactions are in harmony;
sometimes they are in tension
 When they’re in unwanted tension, it takes
effort and energy to control behavior

41. Raphael, “The School of Athens” (1510-11)
Stanza della Segnatura,Vatican City

42.  “People become builders by building and harp-players by
playing the harp
 So too we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing
temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts
 States of character arise out of like activities
 It makes no small difference, then, whether we form habits of
one kind or of another from our very youth; it makes a very
great difference, or rather all the difference.”
-- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 1103

43. GRAVITY
It’s not just a
good idea…
It’s the LAW!

44.  Normative/prescriptive laws (“oughts”)
 Look both ways
 Do not eat in the library
 Speed limit: 100 km/hour
 Descriptive laws (“is-es”)
 If a car hits you, you will die
 Crumbs cause book-decay
 Speed limit: 186k miles/second

45.  Normative/prescriptive laws (“oughts”)
 Look both ways [You should look…]
 Do not eat in the library [You should not eat…]
 Speed limit: 100 km/hour [You should go <…]
 Descriptive laws (“is-es”)
 If a car hits you, you will die
 Crumbs cause book-decay
 Speed limit: 186k miles/second

46.  Normative/prescriptive laws (“oughts”)
 Look both ways [You should look…]
 Do not eat in the library [You should not eat…]
 Speed limit: 100 km/hour [You should go <…]
 Descriptive laws (“is-es”)
 If a car hits you, you will die [It’s a fact that if…]
 Crumbs cause book-decay [It’s a fact that crumbs…]
 Speed limit: 186k miles/second [It’s a fact that you go <…]

47.  Patterns of behavior initially under conscious
control become automatized
 Habits are tools for turning normative
commitments (“oughts”) into descriptive laws
(“is-es”)
 Before I cross the street, I habitually look both ways
 When you hands me an item, I habitually say “thank you”
 [When I turn on my computer, I habitually check facebook /
watchYouTube / play Angry Birds / visit index.hu]

48.  “Abstaining from pleasures makes us become
temperate, and once we have become
temperate we are most capable of abstaining
from pleasures.

49.  “Abstaining from pleasures makes us become
temperate, and once we have become
temperate we are most capable of abstaining
from pleasures. It is similar with bravery:
habituation in…standing firm in frightening
situations makes us become brave, and once
we have become brave, we are more capable
of standing firm” (1104)

50.  Habits are tools for turning “oughts” into “is-es”
 “We learn a craft by producing the same product that we
must produce when we have learned it: we become builders
by building, harpists by playing the harp.” (1103b)
 In the same way, “we become just by doing just actions,
temperate by doing temperate actions, brave by doing brave
actions.” (1103b)
 If you want to become something, act as if that’s what you
already were

51. “Cicero Denounces Cataline” Cesare Maccari, 1882-1888
Fresco, Palazzo Madama, Sala Maccari, Rome

52. “How can life be worth living…without the mutual
good will of a friend?...Is not prosperity robbed of half
its value if you have no one to share your joy?
Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by
the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief
In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a
second self.”
-- Cicero, On Friendship

53. “If you want to predict how happy someone is, or
how long she will live … you should find out about
her social relationships.
Having strong social relationships strengthens the
immune system, extends life (more than does
quitting smoking), speeds recovery from
surgery, and reduces the risk of depression and
anxiety disorders.”
-- Jonathan Haidt (Yale 1985),The Happiness Hypothesis (2005), 133

56. When a wild elephant is to be tamed and trained, the best way
to begin is by yoking it to one that has already been through
the process.
By contact, the wild one comes to see that the condition it is
being led to is not wholly incompatible with being an elephant
– that what is expected of it heralds a condition that does not
contradict its nature.
The constant, immediate and contagious example of its yoke
fellow can teach it as nothing else can.
Training for the life of the spirit is no different…
-- Smith & Novak, Buddhism: A Concise Introduction

58.  “Friendship doubles our joy and...divides ...our
grief.” (Cicero)
 Positive social contact magnifies emotional pleasure and
tempers emotional pain
 “In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a
second self.” (Cicero)
 In the presence of others, we can develop new patterns of
perception and response

60. “Some things up to us and some things are not up to us.
Our opinions are up to us and our impulses, desires,
aversions – in short, whatever is our own doing.
Our bodies are not up to us, nor are our possessions, or
our public reputations…

61. If you suppose that things not up to you are up to
you … you will lament, you will be disturbed, and
you will find fault both with gods and men.
But if you think that only what is yours is yours, and
that what is not your own is not your own, then no
one will ever coerce you, no one will hinder you, you
will blame no one, you will accuse no one, and you
will do not a single thing unwillingly…”

63.  “Some things up to us and some things are not
up to us.” (Epictetus)
 We cannot directly control many things in the
world; we can directly (and indirectly) control
many things in ourselves
 To do so effectively requires… self-knowledge

64. Admiral James B. Stockdale
1923-2005

65. -- James B. Stockdale, “Courage under Fire:Testing Epictetus's
Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior” (1993)
 “On September 9, 1965, I flew at 500 knots right into a flak
trap, at tree-top level, in a little A-4 airplane which I couldn’t
steer after it was on fire, its control system shot out.

66. -- James B. Stockdale, “Courage under Fire:Testing Epictetus's
Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior” (1993)
 “On September 9, 1965, I flew at 500 knots right into a flak
trap, at tree-top level, in a little A-4 airplane which I couldn’t
steer after it was on fire, its control system shot out.
After ejection I had about thirty seconds to make my last
statement in freedom before I landed in the main street of
the little village ahead.

67. -- James B. Stockdale, “Courage under Fire:Testing Epictetus's
Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior” (1993)
 “On September 9, 1965, I flew at 500 knots right into a flak
trap, at tree-top level, in a little A-4 airplane which I couldn’t
steer after it was on fire, its control system shot out.
After ejection I had about thirty seconds to make my last
statement in freedom before I landed in the main street of
the little village ahead. And so help me, I whispered to
myself: ‘Five years down there, at least. I’m leaving the world
of technology and entering the world of Epictetus.’”

68. -- James B. Stockdale, “Courage under Fire:Testing Epictetus's
Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior” (1993)
 “On September 9, 1965, I flew at 500 knots right into a flak
trap, at tree-top level, in a little A-4 airplane which I couldn’t
steer after it was on fire, its control system shot out.
After ejection I had about thirty seconds to make my last
statement in freedom before I landed in the main street of
the little village ahead. And so help me, I whispered to
myself: ‘Five years down there, at least. I’m leaving the world
of technology and entering the world of Epictetus.’”

69. -- James B. Stockdale, “Courage under Fire:Testing Epictetus's
Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior” (1993)
 “In my thoughts as I ejected from that airplane was the
understanding that I would keep separate files in my mind
for (A) those things that are ‘up to me’ and (B) those things
that are ‘not up to me.’

70. -- James B. Stockdale, “Courage under Fire:Testing Epictetus's
Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior” (1993)
 “In my thoughts as I ejected from that airplane was the
understanding that I would keep separate files in my mind
for (A) those things that are ‘up to me’ and (B) those things
that are ‘not up to me.’ … All in category B are ‘external’,
beyond my control, ultimately dooming me to fear and
anxiety if I covet them. All in categoryA are up to me and
properly subjects for my concern and involvement.

71. -- James B. Stockdale, “Courage under Fire:Testing Epictetus's
Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior” (1993)
 “In my thoughts as I ejected from that airplane was the
understanding that I would keep separate files in my mind
for (A) those things that are ‘up to me’ and (B) those things
that are ‘not up to me.’ … All in category B are ‘external’,
beyond my control, ultimately dooming me to fear and
anxiety if I covet them. All in categoryA are up to me and
properly subjects for my concern and involvement. They
include my opinions, my aims, my aversions, my own grief,
my own joy, my judgments, my attitudes about what is
going on.”

72. Socrates
Ancient Greece
470-399 BCE
Plato
Ancient Greece
437-347 BCE
Aristotle
Ancient Greece
384-322 BCE
Cicero
Ancient Rome
106-46 BCE
Epictetus
Ancient Rome
c. 55-135 CE