English

How we May Discover Man’s Duties from his Nominal Functions

When reading this story one of the arguments Epictetus is making when he states, “But now because we do not know the future, it is our duty to stick to the things which are in their nature more suitable for our choice, for we were made among other things for this.” As a reader, I took great offense to what Epictetus was stating, I believe that there is no truth in this statement, we as individuals have a choice. It is true that we do not know what lies ahead in our future, but we do have the ability to dictate our destiny. Even though your ancestors before you were poor and struggled from a day to day basis does not mean it’s in your destiny to do the same. You have a choice to accept a situation or to rise above it. The author states that we should stick to our comfort zone, but life is all about taking chances, because you never know where your path in life will take you. Every individual’s life is like a story, it has a beginning, middle and an ending. As an author you have full control of how your story ends. You are going to encounter hardships and obstacles, as well as happiness and pain along the way and it is up to you, to change your story and make it a positive experience.

In this next quotation Epictetus states, “No man is bad without suffering some loss and damage.” As a reader I agree with this statement, an example to back up my argument is the study of child molesters. Ann Burgess of the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing says that 51% of male rapists have been sexually abused as children. These children now adults seem to be re-enacting their victimization (Brody, 1987). In my opinion this example ties to what Epictetus was stating in the article given. Children are not born evil; instead they are subjected to bad influences. As they grow into adolescence, he or she doesn’t understand that the bad things they are doing is actually bad because it was done upon them. So in...