wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form
that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these
is De Constantia ('On Constancy') in which he advocated a
Stoic-inspired ideal of constancy in the face of unpleasant external
events, but also carefully distinguished those parts of Stoic
philosophy that the orthodox Christian should reject or modify. This
modified form of Stoicism influenced a number of contemporary
thinkers, creating an intellectual movement that have come to be known
as Neostoicism.
1. Background
Justus Lipsius's philosophical reputation rests upon his status as the
principal figure in the Renaissance revival of Stoicism. Stoicism was
one of the great Hellenistic schools of philosophy and dominated
ancient intellectual life for at least 400 years. Founded by Zeno of
Citium around 300 BC, the school developed under Cleanthes,
Chrysippus, Panaetius, and Posidonius. In the first century BC it
appealed to high-ranking Romans including Cicero and Cato. In the
first two centuries AD it reached its height of popularity under the
influence of Musonius Rufus and Epictetus. In the second century AD it
found its most famous exponent in the form of the Roman Emperor Marcus
Aurelius. However, after the second century Stoicism was soon eclipsed
in popularity by Neoplatonism.
Despite this decline in late antiquity, Stoicism continued to exert an
influence. Its ideas were discussed by Church Fathers such as St.
Augustine, Lactantius, and Tertullian. In the Middle Ages its impact
can be seen in the ethical works of Peter Abelard and his pupil John
of Salisbury, transmitted via the readily available Latin works of
Seneca and Cicero. In the fourteenth century Stoicism attracted the
attention of Petrarch who produced a substantial ethical work entitled
De Remediis Utriusque Fortunae ('On the Remedies of Both Kinds of
Fortune') inspired by Seneca and drawing upon an account of the Stoic
theory of the passions made by Cicero. With the rediscovery of the
works of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus by famous Humanists such as
Perotti and Politian in the fifteenth century, interest in Stoicism
continued to develop. However, the Renaissance revival of Stoicism
remained somewhat limited until Justus Lipsius.
2.Life
Justus Lipsius (the Latinized version of Joest Lips) was born in
Overyssche, a village near Brussels and Louvain, in 1547. He studied
first with the Jesuits in Cologne and later at the Catholic University
of Louvain. After completing his education he visited Rome, in his new
position as secretary to Cardinal Granvelle, staying for two years in
order to study the ancient monuments and explore the unsurpassed
libraries of classical literature. In 1572 Lipsius's property in
Belgium was taken by Spanish troops during the civil war while he was
away on a trip to Vienna (a trip that would later be used as the
backdrop for the dialogue in De Constantia over a decade later).
Without property, Lipsius applied for a position at the Lutheran
University of Jena. This was the first of a number of institutional
moves that required Lipsius to change his publicly professed faith.
His new colleagues at Jena remained sceptical of this radical
transformation and Lipsius was eventually forced to leave Jena after
only two years in favour of Cologne. While at Cologne he prepared
notes on Tacitus that he used in his critical edition of 1574.
In 1576 Lispius returned to Catholic Louvain. However after his
property was looted by soldiers a second time he fled again in 1579,
this time to the Calvinist University of Leiden. He remained at Leiden
for thirteen years and it is to this period that his two most famous
books – De Constantia Libri Duo (1584) and Politicorum sive Civilis
Doctrinae Libri Sex (1589) – belong. However, Lipsius was by
upbringing a Catholic and eventually he sought to return to Louvain,
via a brief period in Liège. In 1592 Lipsius accepted the Chair of
Latin History and Literature at Louvain. To this final period belong
his editorial work on Seneca and his two detailed studies of Stoicism,
the Manuductio ad Stoicam Philosophiam and Physiologia Stoicorum. The
two studies were published first in 1604 and the edition of Seneca in
1605. Lipsius died in Louvain in 1606.
Among Lipsius's friends was his publisher, the famous printer
Christopher Plantin, with whom he often stayed in Antwerp. Among his
pupils was Philip Rubens, brother of the painter Peter Paul Rubens who
portrayed Lipsius after his death in 'The Four Philosophers' (c. 1611,
now in the Pitti Palace, Florence). Among his admirers was Michel de
Montaigne who described him as one of the most learned men then alive
(Essais 2.12).
3. Works
Lipsius was a prolific author, publishing his first work Variarum
Lectionum Libri IV ('Four Books of Various Readings') – a collection
of philological comments and conjectures – in 1569, while still in his
twenties. His reputation today is primarily as a Latin philologist and
stands upon his critical editions of Tacitus and Seneca. He also
produced a number of philological studies and a large correspondence,
some of which he published. His principal philosophical works are De
Constantia Libri Duo and Politicorum sive Civilis Doctrinae Libri Sex,
complementing his editions of Seneca and Tacitus respectively.
a. Politicorum sive Civilis Doctrinae Libri Sex
In his Politicorum sive Civilis Doctrinae Libri Sex ('Six Books on
Politics or Civil Doctrine') Lipsius drew upon a wide range of
classical sources, with a particular emphasis upon Tacitus, and the
work has been characterized, not unfairly, as not much more than a
compendium of quotations. In it he argued that no State should permit
more than one religion within its borders and that all dissent should
be punished without mercy. Experience had taught him that civil
conflict enflamed by religious intolerance was far more dangerous and
destructive than despotism.
The treatise is concerned with the creation of civil life, defined as
'that which we lead in the society of men, one with another, to mutual
commodity and profit, and common use of all' (Pol. 1.1). Such a life
has two necessary conditions, virtue (virtute) and prudence
(prudentia). Book One is devoted to an analysis of these two
conditions: virtue requires piety and goodness; prudence is dependent
upon use and memory. Book Two opens by arguing that government is
necessary for civil life and that the best form of government is a
principality. Civil concord requires all to submit to the will of one.
'Principality' (principatus) is defined as 'rule by one for the good
of all' (Pol. 2.3). For the Prince to achieve this he himself must
have both virtue and prudence. The remainder of Book Two is devoted to
princely virtues, the most important being justice and clemency. Book
Three moves on to consider princely prudence, and this remains the
theme for the rest of the work. There are two types of prudence, one's
own and the advice of others. Book Three focuses upon prudent advisors
in the form of counsellors and ministers. Book Four is concerned with
a Prince's own prudence, which must be carefully developed in the
light of experience. This itself may be divided into civil and
military prudence. The rest of Book Four outlines two types of civil
prudence, that concerned with matters divine and that concerned with
matters human. Military Prudence is the subject of Books Five and Six.
Book Five deals with external military prudence (war with foreign
powers), while Book Six deals with internal military prudence (civil
war).
The central theme of the work is clear from the outset. Lipsius –
pre-empting Hobbes – places order and peace far above civil liberties
and personal freedom. Individual political rights are little
consolation when surrounded by violent anarchy. The first task for
politics is to secure peace for all and this can only be done if power
is concentrated in one individual. It can also only be achieved if
only one religion is allowed in any particular State. If one has
concerns about such a concentration of power, the proper way to reduce
them is to educate the holder of power, to develop his virtue and
prudence, and to remind him that he holds power in order to secure
peace, not to create terror. If a Prince forgets this last point and
turns into a tyrant, there may be grounds to challenge his position.
However Lipsius emphasizes that there is nothing more miserable than
civil war which should be avoided at all costs.
b. De Constantia Libri Duo
Lipsius's principal philosophical work is De Constantia Libri Duo
('Two Books on Constancy'), published in 1584. The title is borrowed
from Seneca's dialogue De Constantia Sapientis. This work was
immensely popular and went through numerous editions. It was
translated into English four times between 1594 and 1670. It for this
work that Lipsius became famous in the succeeding centuries, inspiring
the intellectual movement that has come to be known as Neostoicism.
This work was conceived as an attempt to revive Stoic philosophy as a
living movement as it had been in antiquity and, in particular, as a
practical antidote to public evils.
i. Form
The work takes the form of a dialogue between Lipsius and his friend
Langius (Charles de Langhe, Canon of Liège). This no doubt fictional
conversation is set within the context of a visit to Langius by
Lipsius during the course of a trip to Vienna that Lipsius had
actually undertaken in 1572. While some distance from his troubled
homeland, the dialogue's character Lipsius reflects upon the nature of
public evils (mala publica) and is guided by the older and wiser
Langius into whose mouth the positive content of the dialogue is
placed.
ii. Analysis of Contents
The dialogue is divided into two books. However a single structure
operates throughout the entire work. The opening chapters of Book One
introduce the idea that in order to escape public evils one must
change one's mind, not one's location (Const. 1.1-3). The concept of
constancy is introduced as that which must be cultivated in the mind
in order to achieve such a change (Const. 1.4-7). After a brief survey
of the enemies of constancy (Const. 1.8-12), the four central
arguments of the work, concerning the nature of public evil, are
introduced (Const. 1.13). The first two of these arguments occupy the
remainder of Book One (Const. 1.14 and 15-22). After a brief interlude
at the beginning of Book Two on the nature of the philosophical
project at hand (Const. 2.1-5), the remaining two arguments follow
(Const. 2.6-17 and 18-26). The final chapter functions as a summary
(Const. 2.27).
iii. Definition of constantia
The central concept in this work is, not surprisingly, constancy
(constantia). It is introduced in Const. 1.4 and defined as a right
and immovable strength of mind, neither elated nor depressed by
external or chance events. The mother of constancy is patience
(patientia), defined as a voluntary endurance without complaint of all
things that can happen to or in a man.
However key to both of these concepts is the distinction between
reason (ratio) and opinion (opinio). While opinion leads to
inconstancy, it is reason that is able to form the foundation for
constancy. Cultivating reason is thus the way in which one can reach
the goal of constancy. Here Lipsius draws upon relatively common Stoic
ideas concerning the passions or emotions (affectus; in Greek, pathê).
Emotions are the product of mere opinions and lead to distress and
imbalance. Analysing and rejecting those opinions in favour of
rational understanding will free one from emotions and thus the
inconstancy that they create. The wise man who enjoys constancy will
be free from emotions such as desire (cupiditas), joy (gaudium), fear
(metus), and sorrow (dolor).
iv. Four Arguments Concerning Public Evils
The core of De Constantia is the series of four arguments concerning
the nature of public evils. These are outlined in Const. 1.13 and then
developed, in turn, in Const. 1.14, 1.15-22, 2.6-17, and 2.18-26. It
is argued that public evils are (a) imposed by God; (b) the product of
necessity; (c) in reality profitable to us; (d) neither grievous nor
unusual.
The first argument claims that all public evils form part of God's
divine plan. They derive form the same source as all those profitable
parts of nature and it would be impious to take only part of God's
creation and criticise Him for the remainder. We are born into God's
creation and it is our duty to obey Him by accepting all of His works.
In any case, even if one does not follow God's will freely, one will
nevertheless be drawn along forcibly (echoing the famous Stoic donkey
and cart analogy reported in Hippolytus Refutatio 1.21). Thus the only
option is to obey God (deo parere).
The second argument claims that the continual cycle of creation and
destruction are the inevitable consequence of the necessary laws of
Nature. If even the stars in the heavens are subject to the processes
of creation and destruction, then it is only natural that man-made
cities will rise and fall, for "all things run into this fatal
whirlpool of ebbing and flowing" (Const. 1.16). However Lipsius is
careful here to distance himself from Stoic materialism and outlines
four points where Stoic doctrine must be modified in the light of
Christian truth (see the next section).
The third argument is merely a variation upon traditional Christian
responses to the problem of evil. Those terrible things that happen
must in some sense be good if they are part of God's divine plan and
Lipsius attempts to show this by claiming that public evils constitute
exercise (exercendi) for the good, correction (castigandi) for the
weak-willed, and punishment (puniendi) for the bad.
The fourth argument focuses upon the particular public evils that
Lipsius wanted to avoid, namely the religious civil wars in the Low
Countries. He argues that these wars are neither particularly grievous
nor uncommon. In order to place these present conflicts into
perspective Lipsius, drawing upon his extensive classical learning,
cites numerous examples of wars, plagues, and acts of cruelty from
Jewish, Greek, and Roman history. The conflict from which Lipsius has
fled is neither excessively brutal nor particularly unusual. What
would be unusual would be an individual insulated and exempted from
the cycles of birth and death, creation and destruction. It is the
human lot to suffer at the hands of this continual change; the
philosophical task, however, is to decide how one will face that
suffering. One can do so either with sorrow (dolor) or with constancy
(constantia).
v. Four Modifications of Ancient Stoicism
During the course of the second argument concerning the nature of
public evils, Lipsius outlines four points where Stoicism and
Christianity diverge. He is careful to distance himself from these
parts of Stoic philosophy and the modification of Stoicism that he
makes here (Const. 1.20) in order to reconcile it with Christianity
forms the basis for the intellectual movement that has come to be
known as Neostoicism. The four points in question are the Stoic claims
that (a) God is submitted to fate; (b) that there is a natural order
of causes (and thus no miracles); (c) that there is no contingency;
(d) that there is no free will. All four of these points derive from
the Stoic theory of determinism and it is this to which Lipsius
primarily objects.
Stoic determinism is itself built upon Stoic materialism, which
affirms that only bodies exist. These bodies act as causes and so
anything that acts, including the soul, must be corporeal. Aulus
Gellius reports that the Stoic Chrysippus defined fate as a natural
and everlasting order of causes in which each event follows from
another in an unalterable interconnection (Noctes Atticae 7.2.3).
Thus, as Cicero notes, the Stoic doctrine of fate, conceived as an
order and sequence of material causes, is "not the fate of
superstition but rather that of physics" (De Divinatione 1.126). By
rejecting this doctrine, Lipsius attempts to disengage the Stoic
ethical ideas to which he is drawn from their foundations in Stoic
physics. This is absolutely essential if he is to be able to present
Stoic ethics in a form acceptable to a Christian audience.
vi. Summary
The central theme of De Constantia – that public evils are the product
of the mind and thus must be treated rather than fled – contrasts
sharply with Lipsius's own earlier behaviour when faced with the
religious wars then raging. Perhaps experience had taught him that, no
matter how many geographical moves he made, he would not be able to
escape the evils surrounding him until he examined himself. Only
wisdom and constancy – the products of philosophical reflection – can
bring true peace of mind.
c. Later Stoic Works
De Constantia was not Lipsius's only work devoted to Stoicism. He also
produced two studies of Stoic philosophy during the course of the
preparation of his 1605 edition of Seneca; the Manuductio ad Stoicam
Philosophiam ('Digest of Stoic Philosophy') and the Physiologia
Stoicorum ('Physics of the Stoics'), both published in 1604. These
works offer an interpretation of every aspect of Stoic philosophy and
draw together under subject headings large numbers of quotations and
doxographical reports preserved in a wide range of ancient authors.
These two works may be seen as the precursors to the, now standard,
edition of the fragments of the early Stoics compiled by Hans von Arnm
(Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, 1903-24).
These later studies of Stoicism – based upon a more systematic survey
of the surviving sources – are marked by two features which
distinguish them from De Constantia. The first is a more developed
awareness of the systematic inter-relation between ethics and physics
in Stoic philosophy; the second is a revised and more positive
attitude towards the Stoic theory of determinism. In Phys. 1.12, for
instance, Lipsius demonstrates a more thorough understanding of the
Stoic theory of fate, and on the basis of this he suggests that it can
in fact be reconciled with Christian doctrine without modification. In
order to do this, he draws upon St. Augustine's discussion of Stoic
definitions of fate in De Civitate Dei 5.8 where it is argued that
fate does not impinge upon the power of God but rather is the
expression of the will of God.
While De Constantia was a popular and highly readable dialogue, these
later studies were primarily works of classical scholarship. They were
conceived as supplementary volumes designed to complement – and
perhaps even justify – Lipsius's final great work, his 1605 critical
edition of the philosophical works of Seneca. This handsome folio
edition included all of Seneca's prose works, detailed summaries for
each, commentary, and a biography of the great Roman Stoic. In this
final publication, Lipsius's admiration of Stoic philosophy and his
talents as a classical philologist are united so as to form a highly
appropriate culmination to his intellectual career.
4. Conclusion
Lipsius has been described as the greatest Renaissance scholar of the
Low Countries after Erasmus. The role that he played in the revival of
interest in Stoicism during the late Renaissance was similar to that
performed by Marsilio Ficino with regard to Platonism and Pierre
Gassendi with regard to Epicureanism. As such, he stands as a key
figure in the history of Renaissance philosophy and the Renaissance
revival of ancient thought.
5. References and Further Reading
a. The Works of Justus Lipsius
All of Lipsius's works are gathered together in his Opera Omnia of
1637. Another edition appeared in 1675. Full bibliographical details
for all of his works can be found in F. Van Der Haeghen's
Bibliographie Lipsienne: Oeuvres de Juste Lipse, 2 vols (Ghent:
Université de Gand, 1886).
i) Politicorum sive Civilis Doctrinae Libri Sex
* Politicorum sive Civilis Doctrinae Libri Sex (Leiden: Plantin,
1589) – the first edition.
* Sixe Bookes of Politickes or Civil Doctrine, Done into English
by William Jones (London: Richard Field, 1594) – there is also a
facsimile reprint of this edition (Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum,
1970).
ii) De Constantia Libri Duo
* De Constantia Libri Duo, Qui alloquium praecipue continent in
Publicis malis(Antwerp: Plantin, 1584) – the first edition.
* Traité de la constance, Traduction nouvelle précédée d'une
notice sur Juste Lipse par Lucien du Bois (Brussels & Leipzig:
Merzbach, 1873) – still the most recent edition of the Latin text,
with a facing French translation.
* Two Bookes of Constancie Written in Latine by Iustus Lipsius
, Englished by Sir John Stradling, Edited with an Introduction
by Rudolf Kirk (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1939) – the
most recent edition in English, reprinting a translation first
published in 1594.
iii) Later Stoic Works
* Manuductionis ad Stoicam Philosophiam Libri Tres, L. Annaeo
Senecae, aliisque scriptoribus illustrandis (Antwerp:
Plaintin-Moretus, 1604) – extracts reprinted and translated into
French in Lagrée (below) – extracts also translated into English in J.
Kraye, ed. Cambridge Translations of Renaissance Philosophical Texts
1: Moral Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997),
200-09.
* Physiologiae Stoicorum Libri Tres, L. Annaeo Senecae, aliisque
scriptoribus illustrandis (Antwerp: Plantin-Moretus, 1604) – extracts
reprinted and translated into French in Lagrée (below).
* Annaei Senecae Philosophi Opera, Quae Existant Omnia, A Iusto
Lipsio emendata, et Scholiis illustrata (Antwerp: Plantin-Moretus,
1605) – Lipsius's 'Life of Seneca' and his summaries are translated by
Thomas Lodge in his The Workes of Lucius Annaeus Seneca (London:
William Stansby, 1620), which is based upon Lipsius's edition.
b. Studies
* ANDERTON, B., 'A Stoic of Louvain: Justus Lipsius', in Sketches
from a Library Window (Cambridge: Heffer, 1922), 10-30.
* GERLO, A., ed., Juste Lipse (1547-1606), Travaux de l'Institut
Interuniversitaire pour l'étude de la Renaissance et de l'Humanisme IX
(Brussels: University Press, 1988)
* LAGRÉE, J., Juste Lipse et la restauration du stoïcisme: Étude
et traduction des traités stoïciens De la constance, Manuel de
philosophie stoïcienne, Physique des stoïciens (Paris: Vrin, 1994)
* ___ 'Juste Lipse: destins et Providence', in P.-F, Moreau, ed.,
Le stoïcisme au XVIe et au XVIIe siècle (Paris: Albin Michel, 1999),
77-93.
* ___ 'La vertu stoïcienne de constance', in P.-F, Moreau, ed., Le
stoïcisme au XVIe et au XVIIe siècle (Paris: Albin Michel, 1999),
94-116.
* LAUREYS, M., ed., The World of Justus Lipsius: A Contribution
Towards his Intellectual Biography, Bulletin de l'Institut Historique
Belge de Rome LXVIII (Brussels & Rome: Brepols, 1998)
* LEVI, A. H. T., 'The Relationship of Stoicism and Scepticism:
Justus Lipsius', in J. Kraye and M. W. F. Stone, eds, Humanism and
Early Modern Philosophy (London: Routledge, 2000), 91-106.
* MARIN, M., 'L'influence de Sénèque sur Juste Lipse', in A.
Gerlo, ed., Juste Lipse: 1547-1606 (Brussels: University Press, 1988),
119-26.
* MORFORD, M., Stoics and Neostoics: Rubens and the Circle of
Lipsius (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991)
* ___ 'Towards an Intellectual Biography of Justus Lipsius –
Pieter Paul Rubens', Bulletin de l'Institut Historique Belge de Rome
68 (1998), 387-403.
* OESTREICH, G., Neostoicism and the Early Modern State, trans. D.
McLintock (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982)
* SAUNDERS, J. L., Justus Lipsius: The Philosophy of Renaissance
Stoicism (New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1955)
* ZANTA, L., La renaissance du stoïcisme au XVIe siècle (Paris:
Champion, 1914)
References to further works dealing with Neostoicism may be found at
the end of the IEP article Neostoicism.
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