Philodemus, writing about therapies for anger, explains that the furious and the chronically angry can not advance in philosophy. A commitment to themselves, to their ataraxia, and to cognitive therapy is necessary live a pleasant life.

One of the treatments used by Philodemus and other philosophers was called “seeing before the eyes”. In this technique, the Epicurean guide confronts the patient with the consequences of chronic fury in the form of a vivid vision where the impact and effects of anger in relationships and the ability to enjoy life every day are presented clearly as if they were present here and now. This is done using a verbal exercise, s guided visualization for the patient. The practice requires that we attribute a gruesome identity to our anger, so that it is seen as an enemy of the soul.

The physical features of fury were used in descriptions of symptoms by Greek philosophers as part of the art of vilifying vice. The master showed the patient the loss of support from friends, the removal of family, the possible loss of jobs and opportunities because of angry behavior, etc. Thus, the angry person can internalize the harm caused by their condition and increase their commitment to imperturbability.

Other treatments include reasonings, which may be seen as a form of preventive medicine, and rational arguments for change. This type of cognitive therapy can be used in creative contexts, like a diary, a dramatization or a (written or oral) imaginary conversation.

The idea that we should protect our heads is both metaphorical but also physical. One of the remedies used in African religions is washing the head with cool water in the crown, nape and temples to calm us when we’re irate. This they do with prayers, but we can adapt it to a pleasant secular practice and turn it into an Epicurean remedy, since we recognize the physical symptoms of anger, including the heating of the face and head.

Self-sufficiency is also a preventive remedy for anger. Philodemus said the less we care about externalities, the less anger we have. Fury depends on our vulnerabilities and what we expose ourselves to.

Losing our heads because of anger has always produced great difficulties for many people, and there are fables and stories in all cultures that warn of its dangers. Therefore, we must always keep a cool head and cultivate ataraxia.

“Let us completely rid ourselves of our bad habits as if they were evil men who have done us long and grievous harm”. – Vatican Saying 46

(Adapted from the book “Tending the Epicurean Garden”, from the French translation of the Philodeman text (La colère) in the book “Les Epicuriens” and from Elizabeth Asmis’ commentary in her article “The Necessity of Anger in Philodemus’ On Anger” in the book “Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition”).

Chronic Anger and Rage

Yesterday I dealt with the Epicurean idea of justified anger. The next two forms of anger are pathological and represent a loss of reason, that is, they are irrational (even if sometimes they have natural beginnings).

The second type of anger is chronic or addictive anger. This is not natural, but a disease of the soul. Its continuity shows how irrational it is, preventing one from enjoying the pleasures of life, and responsible for many evils.

Like depression (which is chronic sadness), chronic anger is a destructive disease of the soul. Obsessive anger is often about revenge – persistent, uncontrolled, intense and violent. One symptom of this form of anger is that it’s oftentimes carried to the grave; another is that parents often teach it to their children, and their children’s children, leaving a sad legacy of violence, miscommunication and lack of love.

The third type is rage, an excessive level of fury that deserves a name other than anger. In this case, the person enjoys imagining or enacting the punishment of the enemy. Philodemus describes this fury as wild and irrational: that is, its intensity is not deserved and doesn’t correspond with the initial pang of indignation, as we would expect with rational anger. This madness is temporary, yet the sufferer punishes himself in the worst way, so it deserves treatment.

However, Philodemus says that even the wise experience it sometimes as “a brief fury and, so to speak, aborted”. That is, the sage is a natural being subject to the natural conditions of mortality and pain, but does not become insane because of his or her anger or consider it a weakness. The important thing, again, is to subject these impulses of indignation and anger to reason and the hedonic calculus.

The wrath of the gods

In one passage, Philodemus talks about how some men mimic the wrath of the gods. It’s reminiscent of how modern preachers of fear-based religion still cite God’s anger to justify man-made and natural disasters. He is not exactly arguing that belief in mad gods produces neurosis (perhaps he sees a correlation, not a cause), but thinks that fables can legitimize evils. He therefore blames the poets (or the prophets) for having imagined the wrath of a grotesque god who sends pestilence, kills innocent children and orders genocide.

On the other hand, Philodemus also imagines popular religion, possibly, as a poetic function, and therefore as art or form of self-expression, one that could have some therapeutic use and help diagnose the ills of the soul. This, he thinks, might be a valid way of understanding religion from a secular perspective.

This is rather long, but I thought some actual Epicurean teachings might be a change. (I have split it into three postings for the sake of digestability).

Phildemus was an Epicurean who wrote, among other things, about anger. There was a huge contrast between the Stoic and Epicurean schools. Stoics idealized apathy (or lack of emotion) and saw all anger as an evil that had to be repressed. Epicureans teach that it’s a bad idea to suppress human nature. Anger is seen as completely natural. Philosophy, the ancient Epicureans thought, would lack compassion if it didn’t allow us to experience “natural anger”.

Diagnosing an ailment of the soul

Epicurean therapeutic process has much in common with medicine, and is inspired by Hippocratic models: symptoms, diagnosis, therapies and cures. The scroll begins with symptoms of anger, which are physical, psychological and social.

Among the physical symptoms, we find that the face reddens and the heart quickens. The psychological ones include how one begins to plot revenge and takes delight in imagining that something bad happens to the enemy. Such anger is compared sometimes with dementia or madness, which can also be applied to furious people.

The angry person says reckless things that are impossible to take back, sometimes in the presence of bosses or powerful people, and this can cause physical danger, legal problems, and rejection by family and friends. It can destroy families and relationships with loved ones, and can even destroy a country.

Philodemus mentions the dynamics that arise whenever there are relationships based on exploitation and domination, such as slavery. In these cases, the animosities that may arise are huge. These dynamics are still seen between workers and employers today.

Rational and natural anger

The first type of anger that Philodemus discusses is natural anger, which does not need treatment other than the hedonic calculus, i.e. the long-term measurement of gains and losses with the goal of ensuring net pleasure. The purpose of the hedonic calculus is not to find the most pleasant way to get revenge, but to ensure the highest long-term stable peace of mind, which opens the door to creative techniques of non-violent conflict resolution.

The Stoics questioned whether anger was natural. But Philodemus said that anger was often unavoidable and compared the debt we owe to people who have hurt us voluntarily with the debt of gratitude we owe to people who have benefited us. Anger can be natural when other people voluntarily cause us harm. A good rule to determine whether anger is natural, is to measure whether the damage has the potential to destroy life or take away our safety, the health of the body or happiness.

There are three possible reactions to loss or damage we have sustained. The first is indifference (somewhat unrealistic). The second is hostility (natural). The third is to express friendship toward our abusers, which would be stupid.

The recognition of natural anger also important in understanding the potential dangers of other ethical philosophies such as Stoicism (which idealizes unqualified resignation as a virtue and teaches to repress the natural and healthy emotions, and Christianity (which says we should turn the other cheek). These ethical philosophies perpetuate social injustice that could be resolved through non-violent conflict resolution methods like the boycott, exposing our foes to shame and public scrutiny, and other tactics. Sometimes the remedies for social injustice have been somewhat violent, (such as the American civil rights movement in the case of Martin Luther King Jr).

Many other indignant voices (like current Black Lives Matter and Occupy) can be looked upon as rational, ennobling causes that channel anger and sometimes result in social change for the better. Philodemus spoke of these when he spoke of “virtuous dispositions” underlying our natural and rational anger. No social progress can happen if we don’t allow rational, natural anger to find expression and change the world.

Anger can be a good as long as it is brief and has its origin in a virtuous cause. Even wise and virtuous men experience natural anger, which is moderate, rational, calculated.

(Adapted from the books “Tending the Epicurean Garden”, “Les Epicuriens” and from Elizabeth Asmis’ commentary in her article “The Necessity of Anger in Philodemus’ On Anger” in “Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition”)