The Importance of Avoiding Anger, According to Seneca

Get Ready to Dive Into Some Millennia-Old Wisdom on Anger Management

Anger is one of the few things that is truly universal. As humans, we’ve all experienced it, and due to its universality, every human on earth has their own way of dealing with it as well.

Today’s post will feature some ideas from the Stoic philosopher Seneca. Specifically, we’ll be diving into his thoughts on anger, including why he thought anger was harmful and what he recommended we do about it. I’ll be drawing on the ideas mentioned in the text On Anger, which was a letter that he wrote for his older brother.

Get ready to dive into some millennia-old wisdom on anger management.

---

A quick note from me before today’s post begins; I really appreciate your support and readership of my publication. The ability to share my writing and my love of philosophy with the world is only made possible by supportive readers such as yourself. An easy (and free) way for all of you to support my publication is by sharing this post (or my publication in general) and helping me grow the community.

Thank you!

---

Before I get into Seneca’s thoughts on anger, I want to highlight a bit about his background. Seneca, also known as Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, was a Roman philosopher who made significant contributions to the philosophical school of thought known as Stoicism. In addition to being a philosopher, Seneca was also a statesman, dramatist, and writer.

Born in 4 B.C. in Hispania Baetica (present-day Spain) but raised in Rome, Seneca was educated in rhetoric and philosophy from an early age. He had a rocky and eventful life - he was exiled by the emperor Claudius, served as an advisor to Nero, was involved in numerous scandals, and was eventually forced to commit suicide by the very same emperor which he served as an advisor. His death in 65 AD was ordered on claims that were probably false (he was accused of conspiring to kill Nero).

In addition to making significant philosophical contributions to the school of Stoicism, Seneca wrote a variety of plays - all tragedies - and wrote 124 letters and 12 essays. His work is well documented and is still widely accessible today, making him one of the most influential Roman philosophers to ever live.

Today, we’ll be analyzing Seneca’s approach to anger through his essay, On Anger. The essay was written for his older brother, and is split into three books. The text as a whole can be categorized in two parts, with part one containing a more theoretical theme and focusing on the harms of anger, and part two focusing on practical advice.

Anger, according to Seneca

Within his essay, Seneca describes anger as being a “plague” that has cost the human race dearly. He also goes on to define anger as “a desire to avenge a wrong”. Seneca had a strong dislike for anger, and for good reason. He viewed it as a useless emotion, and he believed that we should all strive to minimize our interaction with it as well as aim to reduce its effects on us. This was in contrast to his fellow philosopher Aristotle, who thought that anger should be regulated, rather than avoided entirely.

A key point within Seneca’s argument against anger is that the emotion often does more harm than the source of the anger itself.

“The anger I feel is more likely to do me harm than any wrong you may do me. And why should it not do more? Because its limit is fixed, whereas there is no telling to what lengths anger may carry me.” - On Anger 3.25

For example, let us imagine a person named Billy. Billy is driving to work, and gets cut off in traffic. Billy, having a huge temper, flies into a fit of rage and begins honking and driving aggressively.

If any of you drive a car, I’m sure you’ve had an experience with someone who’s like Billy. Seneca would highlight the fact that the source of his anger, which is in this case being cut off in traffic, has a fixed limit on the harm it can cause. At most, it can scratch the side of Billy’s car or cause him to swerve into a median, which in most cases, probably would still result in a scratch but little injury. Billy’s anger, however, has virtually no limit to the harm it may cause him or others. His erratic and aggressive driving, which stems from his anger, may go on to cause worse harm to himself or others on the road if he gets into an accident. Seneca would also highlight that Billy could potentially go on to harm other drivers who weren’t even involved in the original incident. Additionally, if Billy were to get out of his vehicle and somehow try to fight the driver who cut him off, it would arguably result in more bodily injury than being cut off in the first place. Lastly, if Billy has extreme anger issues, he might carry this anger home or to his workplace, which would result in more people being harmed - many of which that have no connection to the original incident.

Seneca’s point is simple; anger is simply not worth it, because it has the potential to create more harm than the original catalyst for the anger in the first place.

Seneca also argues that anger is oppositional to human nature, thus it should be avoided.

“Mankind is born for mutual assistance, anger for mutual ruin: the former loves society, the latter estrangement.” - On Anger 1.5

According to Seneca, and many other Stoics at the time, a key part of human nature is our ability to reason. Anger is not connected in any way to reason, as reason and logic usually goes out the window when someone is angry. It’s for this reason that Seneca viewed anger as “unnatural” or something which goes against human nature, as it blocks our ability to reason, a key part of what it means to be human.

With all of this being said, Seneca also wants to make it clear that avoiding anger does not mean that we cannot or should not make correct choices or do the right thing.

“‘What, then,’ asks our adversary, ‘is a good man not to be angry if he sees his father murdered or his mother outraged?’ No, he will not be angry, but will avenge them, or protect them. Why do you fear that filial piety will not prove a sufficient spur to him even without anger?” - On Anger 1.12

Seneca highlights the fact that anger has little to do with making correct or right choices. In the quote above, he conveys the fact that if someone is hurting your family, avoiding anger doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything. He states that the person can go on to avenge or protect them, but these two things have little to do with anger. In fact, he would probably argue that when anger is removed from a situation, it makes it easier for someone to concentrate on making correct choices. In the case within the quote above, if an individual avoids anger, he is then able to direct 100% of his energy towards either avenging or protecting his family, rather than being blinded by the emotion in the first place. Now, I have to say, the example of “avenging your father’s death” is probably a bit outdated and I definitely don’t condone murder, but I’m sure you get Seneca’s point.

“While you are angry, you ought not to be allowed to do anything. “Why?” do you ask? Because when you are angry there is nothing that you do not wish to be allowed to do.” - On Anger 3.12

How To Deal With Anger, According to Seneca

In part two of On Anger, Seneca provides some advice on how to deal with anger. One thing I really like about Seneca’s philosophy and work is that much of it contains practical and applicable advice. If any of you are enjoying today’s post, please be sure to let me know by commenting below or by emailing any thoughts or comments to thephilosophyofthings@substack.com. Seneca’s other works touch on a variety of topics, including grief, happiness, morality, leisure, and more, and I would be more than happy to cover more of his philosophy within future posts.

Now, let’s explore some of Seneca’s thoughts on how we can deal with anger.

Make An Effort to Understand What Pisses You Off

“It is useful for a man to understand his disease, and to break its strength before it becomes developed.” - On Anger, 3.10

Seneca states that it’s important to understand precisely what sets off our tempers. The best way to avoid anger is to understand the nature of it in relation to us, and once we are able to understand what triggers it, we’re also able to identify when anger is brewing. It’s impossible to avoid something if you don’t know how it comes about.

Take Some Time to Cool Off

“The cause of anger is the belief that we are injured; this belief, therefore, should not be lightly entertained. We ought not to fly into a rage even when the injury appears to be open and distinct: for some false things bear the semblance of truth. We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth.” - On Anger, 2.22

“The greatest remedy for anger is delay: beg anger to grant you this at the first, not in order that it may pardon the offense, but that it may form a right judgment about it: if it delays, it will come to an end.” - On Anger, 2.29

Seneca also notes the healing and reparative nature of time when it comes to being angry. Time heals in two ways; it allows us to see the truth in things, and it allows us to make right judgements. Seneca would argue that when we’re angry, our sense of reason and logic becomes severely obstructed. This then makes it virtually impossible to see the truth in things, and as the quote above mentions, it’s easy to view false things as the truth. Moreover, when we take some time to cool off, it allows our reason and logic to return, which in turn results in the ability to make correct judgments about things. Seneca makes it clear that he advocates for using time as a way to deal with anger not so that we forget about the source of our anger, or that it “pardons the offense”, but rather, so that we can make correct judgements in dealing with the offense.

Avoid Assumptions and Stay Grounded in Reality

“Very many men manufacture complaints, either by suspecting what is untrue or by exaggerating the unimportant. Anger often comes to us, but more often we come to it” - On Anger, 3.12

Seneca highlights the fact that, when we’re angry, we often bend the truth in order to fuel our anger. We may make assumptions about what is true, or exaggerate certain things, in order to support our flawed logic and allow us to continue our anger. As Seneca states, anger often comes to us, but more often we come to it. When we’re angry, it’s important to recognize this and avoid bending our logic in order to continue being angry. As hard as it is, it’s worth trying to remember these ideas when we succumb to anger, as it may just allow us to stay grounded in reality rather than continuing to use the distorted framework of logic that our emotionally-charged selves create.

Remember That Our Time on Earth is Short

“Fate stands above our heads and numbers our days as they go by, drawing nearer and nearer to us; that hour you mark down for another man’s death is perhaps near your own…Why do you not instead gather up your short life and present it in a peaceful state to yourself and everyone else?” - On Anger, 3.42

“Let us rather spend the brief span we have left in rest and peace; let no man regard us with hatred when we lie a corpse.” - On Anger, 3.43

Lastly, Seneca wants to remind us all that our lives are finite. Due to this finiteness, being angry simply isn’t worth it. Seneca remarks that when people are extremely angry, they may sometimes wish death upon others, but it’s important to remember that death is an aspect of life that spares no one. Death will get us all one day, so wishing it upon others is useless. If anything, all that anger does is bring us closer to our own death. Our lives are short, and we should remember the following question when we’re angry - is this state of mind really how we want to spend our precious time?

All in all, the ideas brought forward by Seneca in On Anger are timeless and still applicable today. We all live in some tumultuous times, no doubt, and this can lead to people being very high strung. Seneca’s philosophy, as well as the ideas of other ancient thinkers, serve as an important reminder that when we’re in need of guidance, especially when it comes to things as universal as human emotions, it can be helpful to turn to the philosophy of the past. The beauty in universal problems is that they’ve practically existed since the start of our species, which also means that our approaches on how to solve them have been developing since time immemorial. In other words, you’ve got a lot of material to draw from whilst formulating your own solution.