[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":444},["ShallowReactive",2],{"stoic-topic-duty-and-society-llm_tag-all-relevance":3},{"id":4,"slug":5,"name":6,"shortDescription":7,"intro":8,"synthesis":9,"method":10,"runId":11,"passages":12},41,"duty-and-society","Duty, Friendship & Society","Our obligations to other people: social roles, justice, the common good, friendship, family, and the bonds between rational beings.","Stoicism is often read as a philosophy of detachment, and this topic is the correction. The Stoics held that rational beings are made for one another, that our obligations follow from the relationships we actually stand in - son, neighbour, citizen, friend - and that withdrawal from other people is a failure rather than an achievement.\n\nThe reach is deliberately wide: justice, the common good, gratitude, family, friendship, mercy in the exercise of power, and the claim that the human race is a single community.","Seneca supplies most of these passages, largely from his treatises on benefits and on clemency, which are the closest thing the corpus has to a sustained social ethics - how to give, how to receive, how to be owed something, how to hold power without cruelty.\n\nThe Stoic argument is not that you should serve others despite your own interest, but that the distinction is confused. You are a part of something; a part that works against the whole is malfunctioning, not sacrificing. Marcus states it flatly: we came into the world for the sake of one another.","llm_tag",15,[13,30,38,46,54,69,77,85,93,101,109,124,132,140,148,162,170,178,186,194,202,210,218,226,237,245,253,261,269,276,284,292,300,308,316,324,332,340,348,356,364,372,380,388,396,404,412,420,428,436],{"sectionId":14,"sectionLabel":15,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":18,"relevanceNote":19,"work":20,"author":24,"readingUrl":29},2208,"2.15",5,"llm_1_5","As the sum total of friendship consists in making our friends equal to ourselves, we ought to consider the interests of both parties; I must give to him that wants, yet so that I do not want myself; I must help him who is perishing, yet so that I do not perish myself, unless by so doing I can save a great man or a great cause.","Centrally about social obligations: friendship, helping those in need, justice in gift-giving, and proper conduct toward others.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},195,"On Benefits","on-benefits",{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},208,"Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger","Seneca","seneca","/seneca/on-benefits/2.15",{"sectionId":31,"sectionLabel":32,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":33,"relevanceNote":34,"work":35,"author":36,"readingUrl":37},2229,"3.01","NOT to return gratitude for benefits, my Æbutius Liberalis, is both base in itself, and is thought base by all men; wherefore even ungrateful men complain of ingratitude, and yet what all condemn is at the same time rooted in all; and so far do men sometimes run into the other extreme that some of them become our bitterest enemies, not merely after receiving benefits from us, but because they have received them.","The passage centrally discusses gratitude and ingratitude as fundamental social obligations and moral failings that affect community bonds.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.01",{"sectionId":39,"sectionLabel":40,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":41,"relevanceNote":42,"work":43,"author":44,"readingUrl":45},2374,"6.43","Those persons are much mistaken who regard it as a proof of a great mind to make offers to give, and to fill many men's pockets and houses with their presents, for sometimes these are due not to a great mind, but to a great fortune; they do not know how far more great and more difficult it sometimes is to receive than to lavish gifts.","The core of the passage concerns our obligations and proper conduct toward benefactors and friends—the social bonds and debts of gratitude that bind us.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.43",{"sectionId":47,"sectionLabel":48,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":49,"relevanceNote":50,"work":51,"author":52,"readingUrl":53},2301,"4.35","I shall be treacherous, and hear myself blamed for inconsistency, only if I do not fulfil, my promise when all conditions remain the same as when I made it; otherwise, any change makes me free to reconsider the entire case, and absolves me from my promise.","The passage is entirely about how to balance conflicting duties and keep promises honourably, with numerous examples of social obligations and when they may be overridden.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/4.35",{"sectionId":55,"sectionLabel":56,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":57,"relevanceNote":58,"work":59,"author":63,"readingUrl":68},2714,"XIIIA","But in marriage there must be above all perfect companionship and mutual love of husband and wife, both in health and in sickness and under all conditions, since it was with desire for this as well as for having children that both entered upon marriage.","Central: marriage is a fundamental social obligation and bond; the passage emphasizes mutual duty, companionship, and the shared life spouses owe each other.",{"id":60,"name":61,"urlSlug":62},207,"Lectures","lectures",{"id":64,"name":65,"shortName":66,"urlSlug":67},222,"Gaius Musonius Rufus","Musonius Rufus","rufus","/rufus/lectures/XIIIA",{"sectionId":70,"sectionLabel":71,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":72,"relevanceNote":73,"work":74,"author":75,"readingUrl":76},2292,"4.26","\"If,\" our adversary may say, \"you wish to imitate the gods, then bestow benefits upon the ungrateful as well as the grateful; for the sun rises upon the wicked as well as the good, the seas are open even to pirates.\" By this question he really asks whether a good man would bestow a benefit upon an ungrateful person, knowing him to be ungrateful.","Directly discusses our obligations to others through the example of bestowing benefits and imitating the gods' universal benevolence.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/4.26",{"sectionId":78,"sectionLabel":79,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":80,"relevanceNote":81,"work":82,"author":83,"readingUrl":84},2398,"7.24","\"I would,\" said he, \"have bought a cloak if I had had the money for it.\" After this, however eager any one was to give, he gave too late; for he had already been wanting in his duty to Socrates.","The passage is fundamentally about Socrates' gentleness in reminding friends of their duty to help, and how duty should be performed willingly rather than under harsh demand.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/7.24",{"sectionId":86,"sectionLabel":87,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":88,"relevanceNote":89,"work":90,"author":91,"readingUrl":92},2371,"6.40","Wait patiently; why are you unwilling to let my bounty abide with you?","Central to the passage: the social obligation to accept benefits graciously and repay gratitude in proper time and manner",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.40",{"sectionId":94,"sectionLabel":95,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":96,"relevanceNote":97,"work":98,"author":99,"readingUrl":100},2345,"6.14","I shall take no notice whatever of those whose benefits are bestowed in a mercenary spirit, who do not consider to whom, but upon what terms they give, whose benefits are entirely selfish.","The passage is centrally about our obligations to others: what we owe in gratitude for benefits received, and how the giver's intention affects our duty.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.14",{"sectionId":102,"sectionLabel":103,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":104,"relevanceNote":105,"work":106,"author":107,"readingUrl":108},2224,"2.31","When a man bestows a benefit, at what does he aim? clearly to be of service and afford pleasure to him upon whom he bestows it.","Central to the passage: the duty to give benefits, receive them with gratitude, and our obligations of reciprocal relationship and social bonds.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.31",{"sectionId":110,"sectionLabel":111,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":112,"relevanceNote":113,"work":114,"author":118,"readingUrl":123},590,"2.01","To work against one another therefore is to oppose Nature, and to be vexed with another or to turn away from him is to tend to antagonism.","Centrally argues that we are bound to others as parts of a unified whole, with a duty to work together rather than against one another.",{"id":115,"name":116,"urlSlug":117},2,"The Meditations","meditations",{"id":119,"name":120,"shortName":121,"urlSlug":122},217,"Marcus Aurelius Antoninus","Marcus Aurelius","aurelius","/aurelius/meditations/2.01",{"sectionId":125,"sectionLabel":126,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":127,"relevanceNote":128,"work":129,"author":130,"readingUrl":131},2339,"6.08","Some men may receive benefits without knowing it, but no man can bestow them without knowing it.","Centrally about the nature of benefits, gratitude, and our obligation to recognize genuine kindness versus accidental harm.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.08",{"sectionId":133,"sectionLabel":134,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":135,"relevanceNote":136,"work":137,"author":138,"readingUrl":139},680,"5.01","At dawn of day, when you dislike being called, have this thought ready: 'I am called to man's labour; why then do I make a difficulty if I am going out to do what I was born to do and what I was brought into the world for?","Centrally about fulfilling one's duty to society and living according to one's role and nature as a human being, with repeated emphasis on 'man's labour' and obligations.",{"id":115,"name":116,"urlSlug":117},{"id":119,"name":120,"shortName":121,"urlSlug":122},"/aurelius/meditations/5.01",{"sectionId":141,"sectionLabel":142,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":143,"relevanceNote":144,"work":145,"author":146,"readingUrl":147},2295,"4.29","The next condition, which is the most important of all, must necessarily be present, namely, that I should confer the benefit for the sake of him whom I wish to receive it, that I should judge him worthy of it, bestow it of my own free will, and receive pleasure from my own gift, none of which conditions are present in the cases of which we have just now spoken; for we do not bestow such things as those upon these who are worthy of them, but we give them carelessly, as trifles, and do not give them so much to a man as to humanity.","the passage centrally concerns our obligations to others: what makes a true benefit, the proper intention in helping, and the distinction between genuine help and mere trifles given without regard for the recipient's worth",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/4.29",{"sectionId":149,"sectionLabel":150,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":151,"relevanceNote":152,"work":153,"author":157,"readingUrl":161},1087,"7","So it is also in life: If there be given you, instead of a little bulb and a small shell-fish, a little wife and child, there will be no objection to that; only, if the Captain calls, give up all these things and run to the ship, without even turning around to look back.","The entire passage is structured around the obligation to answer the Captain's call, the paramount duty that supersedes all other attachments.",{"id":154,"name":155,"urlSlug":156},1,"The Enchiridion","enchiridion",{"id":158,"name":159,"shortName":159,"urlSlug":160},218,"Epictetus","epictetus","/epictetus/enchiridion/7",{"sectionId":163,"sectionLabel":164,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":165,"relevanceNote":166,"work":167,"author":168,"readingUrl":169},2340,"6.09","In order that I may be grateful, I must wish to do what my benefactor must have wished in order that he might bestow a benefit.","The passage is fundamentally about obligations: gratitude, justice, how we should treat others based on intention, and what creates moral obligation between people—core duties and bonds between rational beings.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.09",{"sectionId":171,"sectionLabel":172,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":173,"relevanceNote":174,"work":175,"author":176,"readingUrl":177},2253,"3.25","What a noble spirit it shows in a slave to have been willing to die for his master, at a time when few were faithful enough to wish their master to live! to be found kind when the state was cruel, faithful when it was treacherous! to be eager for the reward of fidelity, though it was death, at a time when such rich rewards were offered for treachery!","The passage centrally celebrates fidelity and duty to one's master as supreme, and contrasts it with the state's cruelty and treachery.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.25",{"sectionId":179,"sectionLabel":180,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":181,"relevanceNote":182,"work":183,"author":184,"readingUrl":185},910,"8.59","Men have come into the world for the sake of one another.","Directly states humans exist for each other's sake and outlines mutual social obligation.",{"id":115,"name":116,"urlSlug":117},{"id":119,"name":120,"shortName":121,"urlSlug":122},"/aurelius/meditations/8.59",{"sectionId":187,"sectionLabel":188,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":189,"relevanceNote":190,"work":191,"author":192,"readingUrl":193},2373,"6.42","I have noted in you, my Liberalis, and as it were touched with my hand a feeling of fussy anxiety not to be behindhand in doing what is your duty.","The passage is centrally about our duty to repay a benefactor and the relational obligations of gratitude within human society.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.42",{"sectionId":195,"sectionLabel":196,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":197,"relevanceNote":198,"work":199,"author":200,"readingUrl":201},2316,"5.10","A thing which is compared to another thing is unintelligible without that other thing; a thing which is joined to something else does not exist apart from it; so that which is given does not exist without the other person, nor can a benefit have any existence without another person.","The entire passage establishes that benefits, fidelity, and virtuous acts fundamentally require relationships and social bonds with others - making them central to our obligations and duties in society.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/5.10",{"sectionId":203,"sectionLabel":204,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":205,"relevanceNote":206,"work":207,"author":208,"readingUrl":209},2320,"5.14","Pay your debts in that kind in which you incurred them.","The entire passage is about the social obligation to repay debts and acknowledge benefits, treating this as a matter of duty regardless of the giver's character.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/5.14",{"sectionId":211,"sectionLabel":212,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":213,"relevanceNote":214,"work":215,"author":216,"readingUrl":217},2266,"3.38","By no force of words, by no power of genius, can one rightly express how desirable, how admirable, how never to be erased from human memory it is to be able to say, \"I obeyed my parents, I gave way to them, I was submissive to their authority whether it was just, or unjust and harsh; the only point in which I resisted them was, not to be conquered by them in benefits.\" Continue this struggle, I beg of you, and even though weary, yet re-form your ranks.","Centrally about filial obligation, obedience to parents, and the bonds between family members.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.38",{"sectionId":219,"sectionLabel":220,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":221,"relevanceNote":222,"work":223,"author":224,"readingUrl":225},2225,"2.32","\"A man,\" it is argued, \"who has received a benefit, however gratefully he may have received it, has not yet accomplished all his duty, for there remains the part of repayment; just as in playing at ball it is something to catch the ball cleverly and carefully, but a man is not called a good player unless he can handily and quickly send back the ball which he has caught.\" This analogy is imperfect; and why?","The passage is centrally about the duty of repayment in a relationship of benefactor and beneficiary, examining when an obligation is fulfilled.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.32",{"sectionId":227,"sectionLabel":228,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":229,"relevanceNote":230,"work":231,"author":235,"readingUrl":236},2526,"1.14","This which is the duty of a parent, is also that of the prince whom with no unmeaning flattery we call \"The Father of our Country.” Other names are given as titles of honour: we have styled some men \"The Great,\" \"The Fortunate,\" or \"The August\" and have thus satisfied their passion for grandeur by bestowing upon them all the dignity that we could: but when we style a man \"The Father of his Country\" we give him to understand that we have entrusted him with a father's power over us, which is of the mildest character for a father takes thought for his children and subordinates his own interests to theirs.","The passage is centrally about the duties and obligations of rulers and parents to their subjects and children, and the proper exercise of authority based on love and restraint.",{"id":232,"name":233,"urlSlug":234},198,"On Clemency","on-clemency",{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-clemency/1.14",{"sectionId":238,"sectionLabel":239,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":240,"relevanceNote":241,"work":242,"author":243,"readingUrl":244},2536,"1.24","Mercy, therefore, does more good than severity.","The passage argues that mercy is a sovereign's duty and social good, addressing our obligations and the bonds between rulers and ruled.",{"id":232,"name":233,"urlSlug":234},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-clemency/1.24",{"sectionId":246,"sectionLabel":247,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":248,"relevanceNote":249,"work":250,"author":251,"readingUrl":252},2279,"4.13","What difference does it make to me whether I receive benefits or not? even if I receive them, it is still my duty to bestow them.","Central theme: the duty to bestow benefits on others regardless of personal gain; social obligation and the common good.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/4.13",{"sectionId":254,"sectionLabel":255,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":256,"relevanceNote":257,"work":258,"author":259,"readingUrl":260},2255,"3.27","Caesar added: \"In future I will take care never to quarrel with you, for my own sake.\" Caesar acted honourably in pardoning him, and in being liberal as well as forgiving; no one can hear this anecdote without praising Caesar, but he must praise the slave first.","The slave's loyalty to his master and the social obligation to speak truth, along with Caesar's duty as a leader to be forgiving and just, are central to the narrative",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.27",{"sectionId":262,"sectionLabel":263,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":264,"relevanceNote":265,"work":266,"author":267,"readingUrl":268},2242,"3.14","\"Benefits, then, will be fewer, but more genuine: well, what harm is there in restricting people from giving recklessly?\" Even those who would have no legislation upon the subject follow this rule, that we ought to be somewhat careful in giving, and in choosing those upon whom we bestow favours.","Centrally about our social obligations: giving benefits thoughtfully, choosing recipients, and proper conduct toward others",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.14",{"sectionId":270,"sectionLabel":111,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":271,"relevanceNote":272,"work":273,"author":274,"readingUrl":275},2194,"I think that I can point out the shortest way to this; let us give in the way in which we ourselves should like to receive.","The passage is fundamentally about how to give benefits to others and our obligations in social relations; the golden rule encapsulates duty to others.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.01",{"sectionId":277,"sectionLabel":278,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":279,"relevanceNote":280,"work":281,"author":282,"readingUrl":283},2202,"2.09","Accordingly, all writers on ethical philosophy tell us that some benefits ought to be given in secret, others in public.","The passage is fundamentally about ethical duties in giving and social obligations—how to benefit others appropriately in public and private contexts.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.09",{"sectionId":285,"sectionLabel":286,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":287,"relevanceNote":288,"work":289,"author":290,"readingUrl":291},2364,"6.33","You do not know how great is the value of friendship, if you do not understand how much you give to him to whom you give a friend, a commodity which is scarce not only in men's houses, but in whole centuries, and which is nowhere scarcer than in the places where it is thought to be most plentiful.","Passage centers on the duties and obligations of friendship, its rarity and true value in relating to others.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.33",{"sectionId":293,"sectionLabel":294,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":295,"relevanceNote":296,"work":297,"author":298,"readingUrl":299},2514,"1.02","Yet it is not right to pardon indiscriminately; for when no distinction is made between good and bad men, disorder follows, and all vices break forth; we must therefore take care to distinguish those characters which admit of reform from those which are hopelessly depraved.","Directly addresses justice and social order, and the obligations of those in authority to distinguish characters and maintain order—central to duty and social bonds.",{"id":232,"name":233,"urlSlug":234},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-clemency/1.02",{"sectionId":301,"sectionLabel":302,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":303,"relevanceNote":304,"work":305,"author":306,"readingUrl":307},2342,"6.11","It will become his duty to be grateful to me; I shall have begun the interchange of benefits; the series must be counted from my act.","Centrally about obligations, gratitude, friendship, and the reciprocal duties that bind people together in society",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/6.11",{"sectionId":309,"sectionLabel":310,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":311,"relevanceNote":312,"work":313,"author":314,"readingUrl":315},2233,"3.05","In the same way, my Liberalis, as some things remain in our memory as soon as they are learned, while to know others it is not enough to have learned them, for our knowledge slips away from us unless it be kept up--I allude to geometry and astronomy, and such other sciences as are Hard to remember because of their intricacy-- so the greatness of some benefits prevents their being forgotten, while others, individually less, though many more in number, and bestowed at different times, pass from our minds, because, as I have stated above, we do not constantly think about them, and do not willingly recognize how much we owe to each of our benefactors.","The passage is centrally concerned with our obligation to remember and acknowledge the benefits we receive from others, a key social duty.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.05",{"sectionId":317,"sectionLabel":318,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":319,"relevanceNote":320,"work":321,"author":322,"readingUrl":323},2200,"2.07","In all ways you should make your benefit as acceptable as possible by presenting it in the most attractive form; but the method of Tiberius is not to confer benefits, but to reproach.","The passage is centrally about how to properly confer benefits and treat others with respect—a fundamental duty to society and the bonds between people.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.07",{"sectionId":325,"sectionLabel":326,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":327,"relevanceNote":328,"work":329,"author":330,"readingUrl":331},2516,"1.04","For this reason we need not wonder that princes, kings, and all other protectors of a state, whatever their titles may be, should be loved beyond the circle of their immediate relatives; for since right-thinking men prefer the interests of the state to their own, it follows that he who bears the burden of state affairs must be dearer to them than their own friends.","Centrally about obligations to the state, the common good, and the social role of leaders as servants of the commonwealth.",{"id":232,"name":233,"urlSlug":234},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-clemency/1.04",{"sectionId":333,"sectionLabel":334,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":335,"relevanceNote":336,"work":337,"author":338,"readingUrl":339},2205,"2.12","\"Well,\" say they, \"what disgrace can there be in a man of consular rank kissing gold and pearls, and what part of Caesar's whole body was it less pollution to kiss?\" So, then, that man, the object of whose life was to change a free state into a Persian despotism, was not satisfied when a senator, an aged man, a man who had filled the highest offices in the state, prostrated himself before him in the presence of all the nobles, just as the vanquished prostrate themselves before their conqueror!","The passage is fundamentally about the destruction of the commonwealth, the bonds between citizens, the violation of the senator's dignity and social role, and justice—all central to duty and society.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.12",{"sectionId":341,"sectionLabel":342,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":343,"relevanceNote":344,"work":345,"author":346,"readingUrl":347},2217,"2.24","One ought to proportion one's thanks to the importance of the benefit received, and to use the phrases, \"You have laid more of us than you think under an obligation,\" for everyone likes to find his good actions extend further than he expected.","Centrally about our obligations to express gratitude and proper conduct toward benefactors—core duties in social relationships.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.24",{"sectionId":349,"sectionLabel":350,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":351,"relevanceNote":352,"work":353,"author":354,"readingUrl":355},2523,"1.11","But I do not call it clemency to be wearied of cruelty; true clemency, Caesar, is that which you display, which has not begun from remorse at its past ferocity, on which there is no stain, which has never shed the blood of your countrymen: this, when combined with unlimited power, shows the truest self-control and all-embracing love of the human race as of one's self, not corrupted by any low desires, any extravagant ideas, or any of the bad examples of former emperors into trying, by actual experiment, how great a tyranny you would be allowed to exercise over his countrymen, but inclining rather to blunting your sword of empire.","The passage centrally concerns the ruler's duty to the people: clemency, justice, and love of humanity as obligations to the common good and social order.",{"id":232,"name":233,"urlSlug":234},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-clemency/1.11",{"sectionId":357,"sectionLabel":358,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":359,"relevanceNote":360,"work":361,"author":362,"readingUrl":363},2402,"7.28","Consider within yourself, whether you have always shown gratitude to those to whom you owe it, whether no one's kindness has ever been wasted upon you, whether you constantly bear in mind all the benefits which you have received.","Central to the passage: gratitude to benefactors and fair treatment of friends are core social obligations.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/7.28",{"sectionId":365,"sectionLabel":366,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":367,"relevanceNote":368,"work":369,"author":370,"readingUrl":371},2327,"5.21","There is no law forbidding us to divulge our friend's secrets; there is no law which bids us keep faith even with an enemy; pray what law is there which binds us to stand by what we have promised?","Core topic: the passage argues that social obligations (friendship, faith, promises, gratitude) bind us regardless of legal enforcement, rooted in duty to others.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/5.21",{"sectionId":373,"sectionLabel":374,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":375,"relevanceNote":376,"work":377,"author":378,"readingUrl":379},2243,"3.15","To help, to be of service, is the part of a generous and noble mind; he who gives acts like a god, he who demands repayment acts like a money-lender.","The passage fundamentally concerns our obligations to others: whether to help generously or to demand security, and the bonds of trust and justice between people.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.15",{"sectionId":381,"sectionLabel":382,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":383,"relevanceNote":384,"work":385,"author":386,"readingUrl":387},2241,"3.13","It may be argued that \"we render men less willing to confer benefits by not supporting the claim of those which have been bestowed to meet with gratitude, and by not punishing those who repudiate them.\" But you would find, on the other hand, that men would be far less willing to receive benefits, if by so doing they were likely to incur the danger of having to plead their cause in court, and having more difficulty in proving their integrity.","Central to the passage: discusses obligations regarding benefits, gratitude, social justice, and the nature of beneficence.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.13",{"sectionId":389,"sectionLabel":390,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":391,"relevanceNote":392,"work":393,"author":394,"readingUrl":395},2245,"3.17","Such a man has no wish to become bankrupt, but only to make the fullest and most copious return for benefits, and that not only to parents and friends, but also to more humble persons; for even if he receives a benefit from his own slave, he does not consider from whom he receives it, but what he receives.","Centrally addresses our obligations to repay benefits to parents, friends, teachers, and even humble persons, embodying social bonds and reciprocal duty.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/3.17",{"sectionId":397,"sectionLabel":398,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":399,"relevanceNote":400,"work":401,"author":402,"readingUrl":403},703,"5.22","What is not injurious to the city does not injure the citizens either.","Central: the passage grounds personal injury in the welfare of the city, arguing that we are bound to the common good and must not harm it.",{"id":115,"name":116,"urlSlug":117},{"id":119,"name":120,"shortName":121,"urlSlug":122},"/aurelius/meditations/5.22",{"sectionId":405,"sectionLabel":406,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":407,"relevanceNote":408,"work":409,"author":410,"readingUrl":411},2319,"5.13","But, though this be so, yet even a bad man can receive some things which resemble benefits, and he will be ungrateful if he does not return them.","Central theme: the obligation to repay gifts and the duty of gratitude, even regarding external things.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/5.13",{"sectionId":413,"sectionLabel":414,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":415,"relevanceNote":416,"work":417,"author":418,"readingUrl":419},1110,"30","Our duties are in general measured by our social relationships.","The passage is centrally about duties arising from social relationships and roles—father, brother, neighbor, citizen, commanding officer.",{"id":154,"name":155,"urlSlug":156},{"id":158,"name":159,"shortName":159,"urlSlug":160},"/epictetus/enchiridion/30",{"sectionId":421,"sectionLabel":422,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":423,"relevanceNote":424,"work":425,"author":426,"readingUrl":427},2304,"4.38","Go, let men see how sacred a thing is the table of hospitality; show them your face, that upon it they may read the decree which prevents its being a capital crime to give refuge to the unfortunate under one's roof.","The passage is centrally about duty to others: hospitality, justice, protecting the unfortunate, and the obligations of rulers to uphold moral law for the common good.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/4.38",{"sectionId":429,"sectionLabel":430,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":431,"relevanceNote":432,"work":433,"author":434,"readingUrl":435},789,"7.13","Reasonable beings, constituted for one fellowship of co-operation, are in their separated bodies analogous to the several members of the body in individual organisms.","Centrally about our bonds to other rational beings and cooperation as social members, with emphasis on moving beyond mere duty to genuine care for others",{"id":115,"name":116,"urlSlug":117},{"id":119,"name":120,"shortName":121,"urlSlug":122},"/aurelius/meditations/7.13",{"sectionId":437,"sectionLabel":438,"score":16,"scoreScale":17,"pullQuote":439,"relevanceNote":440,"work":441,"author":442,"readingUrl":443},2196,"2.03","To cure your friend of being slow to ask a favour of you, you may join to your gift the familiar rebuke, \"I am angry with you for not having long ago let me know what you wanted, for having asked for it so formally, or for having made interest with a third party.\" \"I congratulate myself that you have been pleased to make trial of me; hereafter, if you want anything, ask for it as your right; however, for this time I pardon your want of manners.\" By so doing you will cause him to value your friendship more highly than that, whatever it may have been, which he came to ask of you.","Passage is centrally about social obligations, friendship, and how to treat friends with kindness and grace.",{"id":21,"name":22,"urlSlug":23},{"id":25,"name":26,"shortName":27,"urlSlug":28},"/seneca/on-benefits/2.03",1785969084393]