Video and Podcast Resources On Seneca's On Anger

One of the earliest treatises on anger we possess from the ancient world is the great Stoic philosopher Seneca’s work On Anger. It is a rich and complex text, full of teachings, arguments, distinctions, and practices concerned with that emotion. In my own research about understanding and managing anger, it has been an invaluable source. I had the intention of producing core concept videos (and then podcast episodes) focused on the key ideas contained in it.

Occasionally I teach a semester-long academic course focused on anger at Marquette University. That provided me with a good reason to get cracking on shooting those videos, to provide them as resources for my students, as well as making them available to the general public.

There are still a number of discussions bearing on anger in the work that I haven’t yet gotten to, but I intend to do so later on this year. Once I do produce those videos and podcast episodes, I’ll make sure to add them here. I hope that you check out Seneca’s On Anger, and that these videos and podcast episodes prove useful for you.

Book 1

• Definitions of Anger watch video | listen to podcast

• Is Anger In Accordance With Nature? watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger and Defending Others watch video | listen to podcast

• Is Anger A Useful Ally? watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger and Punishment watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger And Reason watch video | listen to podcast

Book 2

• Three Movements of Anger watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger and Nobility watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger, Brutality, and Cruelty watch video | listen to podcast

• Errors As A Cause For Anger watch video | listen to podcast

• Virtue, Wisdom, and Anger watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger and Self Awareness watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger, Temperament, and The Body watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger at Inanimate Things watch video | listen to podcast

Book 3

• Daily Self Examination, Judgement & Forgiveness watch video | listen to podcast

• Anger As The Worst Of All The Vices watch video | listen to podcast

• Envy, Anger, and Maintaining Perspective watch video | listen to podcast

• Ignoring & Reframing Information To Curb Anger watch video | listen to podcast

• Physical Stresses, Remedies, and Anger watch video | listen to podcast

• Choosing Companions To Avoid Anger watch video | listen to podcast

• Avoiding Occasions Of Anger watch video | listen to podcast

So for now, that is 21 core concept videos and 21 corresponding podcast episodes covering a number of the important ideas from Seneca’s On Anger. If you struggle with anger yourself - which is why I got into studying these sorts of works myself - you’ll likely discover quite a few helpful insights in this work. If you’re fortunate enough not to, you might still find his explorations of this complex emotion quite interesting.