MED. 11.37Discipline of assent
George Long · 1862EN · Long

PERSONEpictetus also said, a man must discover an art with respect to giving his TERMassent; and in respect to his TERMmovements EXERCISEhe must be careful that they be made TERMwith regard to circumstances, that they be TERMconsistent with social interests, that they have TERMregard to the value of the object; and as to sensual desire, he should altogether keep away from it; and as to avoidance, DOGMAhe should not show it with respect to any of the things which are not in our power.1

Original · ancient Greek

Τέχνην, ἔφη, δεῖ περὶ τὸ συγκατατίθεσθαι εὑρεῖν καὶ ἐν τῷ περὶ τὰς ὁρμὰς τόπῳ τὸ προσεκτικὸν φυλάσσειν, ἵνα μεθ’ ὑπεξαιρέσεως, ἵνα κοινωνικαί, ἵνα κατ’ ἀξίαν, καὶ ὀρέξεως μὲν παντάπασιν ἀπέχεσθαι, ἐκκλίσει δὲ πρὸς μηδὲν τῶν οὐκ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν χρῆσθαι.1

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

The fullest statement of the three disciplines in the corpus — and it is a quotation. The Hadotian triad (TERMassentTERMaction — desire) is ordinarily reconstructed in Marcus out of scattered places; here it is named by section and ready-made, because it is taken down from PERSONEpictetus1. Cf. 9.6, where the same three are given in Marcus's own words and compressed into one line: ὑπόληψις καταληπτική, πρᾶξις κοινωνική, διάθεσις εὐαρεστική.

The first section — TERMassent. Τέχνηνδεῖεὑρεῖν — "one must discover an art" with respect to assent. Not "be careful," but set up a craft: assent should have rules, as any τέχνη has (cf. 11.5, where ἀγαθὸν εἶναι is itself called a τέχνη).

The second section — TERMimpulses, with three conditions attached. ἐν τῷ περὶ τὰς ὁρμὰς τόπῳ — "in the department concerning impulses": τόπος is the school's term for a heading of the course, and Epictetus speaks like a teacher enumerating the parts of a subject. What must be kept on guard is EXERCISEτὸ EXERCISEπροσεκτικόν, "the attentive faculty," and ἵνα is repeated three times: (1) TERMμεθ’ TERMὑπεξαιρέσεως — "with a reserve" (let it be, "if nothing prevents"); (2) TERMκοινωνικαί — social; (3) TERMκατ’ TERMἀξίαν — according to the worth of the object. The three conditions cover, respectively, dependence on outcome, direction toward others, and measure.

The third section — desire, and it is asymmetrical. ὀρέξεως μὲν παντάπασιν ἀπέχεσθαι — "from craving abstain altogether"; ἐκκλίσει δὲ πρὸς μηδὲν τῶν οὐκ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν χρῆσθαι — "and DOGMAuse aversion toward none of the things not up to us." The asymmetry is deliberate: ὄρεξις is cancelled entirely (for the beginner), while ἔκκλισις is not cancelled but confined to the region of what is up to us. The logic is Epictetan: not to desire is safer than to desire wrongly — but averting is necessary, or aversion from vice would disappear too.

What Rogovin does not have. He renders the first section as "to establish rules determining when one should give one's assent" — but for Epictetus the question is not "when" but how: what is sought is a τέχνη, a skill, not a schedule of cases. The governing discipline is assent, the sustaining one action.

DisciplineDiscipline of assent
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished
Discipline of assent

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

PERSONEpictetus also said, a man must discover an art with respect to giving his TERMassent; and in respect to his TERMmovements EXERCISEhe must be careful that they be made TERMwith regard to circumstances, that they be TERMconsistent with social interests, that they have TERMregard to the value of the object; and as to sensual desire, he should altogether keep away from it; and as to avoidance, DOGMAhe should not show it with respect to any of the things which are not in our power.1

Original · ancient Greek

Τέχνην, ἔφη, δεῖ περὶ τὸ συγκατατίθεσθαι εὑρεῖν καὶ ἐν τῷ περὶ τὰς ὁρμὰς τόπῳ τὸ προσεκτικὸν φυλάσσειν, ἵνα μεθ’ ὑπεξαιρέσεως, ἵνα κοινωνικαί, ἵνα κατ’ ἀξίαν, καὶ ὀρέξεως μὲν παντάπασιν ἀπέχεσθαι, ἐκκλίσει δὲ πρὸς μηδὲν τῶν οὐκ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν χρῆσθαι.1

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Marginalia1
Related8
Commentary

The fullest statement of the three disciplines in the corpus — and it is a quotation. The Hadotian triad (TERMassentTERMaction — desire) is ordinarily reconstructed in Marcus out of scattered places; here it is named by section and ready-made, because it is taken down from PERSONEpictetus1. Cf. 9.6, where the same three are given in Marcus's own words and compressed into one line: ὑπόληψις καταληπτική, πρᾶξις κοινωνική, διάθεσις εὐαρεστική.

The first section — TERMassent. Τέχνηνδεῖεὑρεῖν — "one must discover an art" with respect to assent. Not "be careful," but set up a craft: assent should have rules, as any τέχνη has (cf. 11.5, where ἀγαθὸν εἶναι is itself called a τέχνη).

The second section — TERMimpulses, with three conditions attached. ἐν τῷ περὶ τὰς ὁρμὰς τόπῳ — "in the department concerning impulses": τόπος is the school's term for a heading of the course, and Epictetus speaks like a teacher enumerating the parts of a subject. What must be kept on guard is EXERCISEτὸ EXERCISEπροσεκτικόν, "the attentive faculty," and ἵνα is repeated three times: (1) TERMμεθ’ TERMὑπεξαιρέσεως — "with a reserve" (let it be, "if nothing prevents"); (2) TERMκοινωνικαί — social; (3) TERMκατ’ TERMἀξίαν — according to the worth of the object. The three conditions cover, respectively, dependence on outcome, direction toward others, and measure.

The third section — desire, and it is asymmetrical. ὀρέξεως μὲν παντάπασιν ἀπέχεσθαι — "from craving abstain altogether"; ἐκκλίσει δὲ πρὸς μηδὲν τῶν οὐκ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν χρῆσθαι — "and DOGMAuse aversion toward none of the things not up to us." The asymmetry is deliberate: ὄρεξις is cancelled entirely (for the beginner), while ἔκκλισις is not cancelled but confined to the region of what is up to us. The logic is Epictetan: not to desire is safer than to desire wrongly — but averting is necessary, or aversion from vice would disappear too.

What Rogovin does not have. He renders the first section as "to establish rules determining when one should give one's assent" — but for Epictetus the question is not "when" but how: what is sought is a τέχνη, a skill, not a schedule of cases. The governing discipline is assent, the sustaining one action.

DisciplineDiscipline of assent
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished