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Musonius Rufus — Lecture XII: On sexual indulgence
Stoicism is one of the most ancient and useful philosophies of life, and the first century Roman Stoic Musonius Rufus was one of its most influential interpreters. Musonius taught the great Epictetus, who in turn was a major influence on Marcus Aurelius.
I think Musonius got quite a few things right even from the point of view of us denizens of the 21st century, which is why I am writing this series of essays based on his lectures. However, inevitably, sometimes he went terribly astray, and perhaps the most clear example is his 12th lecture, on sexual indulgence. He begins reasonably enough:
“Not the least significant part of the life of luxury and self-indulgence lies also in sexual excess.”
One of the four cardinal virtues is temperance, and indeed — for Musonius just as for Plato — temperance is the most fundamental of the virtues. It follows that it is perfectly sensible to warn people against excesses of all sorts, and there are few areas where human beings are more prone to excess than sex. (We will soon discuss lecture 18, on food…) The tricky bit is what exactly counts as “excess.” Apparently, for Musonius, much of what we would consider well within the range of normal sexual activity is excessive:
“Men who are not wantons or immoral are bound to consider sexual intercourse…
