Happiness, remorse and the punitive power of the state: Does La Mettrie’s Anti–Sénèque fail to meet its objective?
Abstract
La Mettrie seems to comprehensively reject Seneca’s philosophy in Anti–Sénèque. The aim of this article is to prove that a more thorough reading of the text indeed shows that his position is less simple than it may appear at first. In other words, this paper strives to set forth the limits of the criticisms the physician from Saint‒Malo directed towards the philosophy and image of the Roman philosopher. This work, moreover, underscores certain tensions present throughout the text that jeopardize La Mettrie’s own purpose, namely, to improve men’s lives.
Downloads
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Revista Electrónica de Pensamiento Moderno y Metodología en Historia de las Ideas is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
