Peter Jones

Ancient & modern – 27 November 2004

A classicist draws on ancient wisdom to illuminate contemporary follies

issue 27 November 2004

Old age is in the news at the moment because people may not be financially prepared for retirement. But old age has much more interesting questions to consider, and none more interesting than its conclusion. The Roman philosopher-statesman Seneca (ad 1-65) makes some most interesting observations on the matter.

Seneca, being a Stoic, takes the view that death is no evil, and therefore suicide is a rational act.

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