Blog 15: Using Ancient Philosophies to Help Us Manage Tricky Emotions: Seneca

Following on from my previous blog about using ancient philosophers to help us manage our emotions, I have also learnt much from Seneca, whose full name was Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger. Although slightly less famous than Marcus Aurelius, Seneca imparts much wisdom on the management of emotions—especially anger. One of his most famous essays is On Anger, in which Seneca argues that anger is a destructive and irrational emotion that harms both the individual experiencing it and society at large. He argues that anger is not natural or unavoidable, but rather a voluntary response that arises from false judgments. Unlike instinctive reactions, anger involves the mind’s judgment and can therefore be controlled. This is very important to understand: by changing your judgment, you can control your anger.

Seneca warns that anger leads to cruelty, violence, and moral decline because it frequently undermines reason. By undermining your reason and logical judgments, you become unreasonable and impulsive. The ability to maintain our reason and sound judgment is what distinguishes us as human beings from creatures that cannot control themselves.

Seneca rejects the idea that anger is useful for courage or justice, insisting that it is better to act with logic and reason rather than with emotion and passion. The wise person, he argues, strives to prevent anger through foresight, self-discipline, and reflection. And when anger does arise, we must manage it through rational examination. Ultimately, Seneca promotes a Stoic ideal of calm self-mastery, where true strength lies not in rage but in restraint.

These principles of managing anger are still applicable today, more than 2,000 years later, for the following reasons:

1. Anger comes from how we interpret events, not the events themselves

Seneca argued that anger arises from judgment. This means that when we believe we have been wronged, dishonoured, or disrespected, we feel angry. Knowing this allows you to explore your judgments about being wronged, dishonoured, or disrespected when you notice yourself becoming angry.

Being able to do this is not automatic—it is very difficult to move away from passionately ruminating about something that made us angry. But if you can ask yourself: "Why did I feel wronged, dishonoured, or disrespected?" you may get to your value judgments and then decide whether they are worth holding onto.

This understanding is very much in line with modern psychological theories such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which propose that external events do not directly cause emotions; rather, our thoughts about those events do.

2. Anger is harmful to ourselves and others

Seneca repeatedly emphasises the destructive effects of anger—on relationships, health, rational thinking, and justice. It harms the angry person as much as, or sometimes more than, the target of the anger. This aligns with therapy techniques that highlight consequences to increase motivation for change, such as cost–benefit analysis.

3. Anger is a choice—not a reflex

Seneca insists that anger includes assent or agreement from the mind. The initial physiological response may be involuntary, but anger is sustained by thoughts and beliefs we choose to accept. Modern CBT also distinguishes between primary automatic emotional responses and secondary responses fuelled by thoughts and rumination.

In summary

There are several overlaps between Seneca’s teachings and CBT anger-management techniques, including:

Seneca’s Stoic Advice	CBT Equivalent
Examine your beliefs and challenge mistaken judgments	Cognitive restructuring / identifying thinking errors
Pause before reacting; anger grows quickly and blinds reason	Stop–Think–Act techniques, impulse control strategies
Anticipate triggers so you can prepare mentally	Trigger awareness and coping planning
Look at situations from another person’s perspective	Cognitive reframing, empathy training
Reflect daily on your behaviour and evaluate progress	Thought records, journaling, self-monitoring
Avoid fuelling anger with internal dialogue and storytelling	Reducing rumination, thought stopping
Use reason to counter emotional intensity	Using logic to challenge distorted thinking
Cultivate calmness as a disciplined habit, not a mood	Relaxation training, mindfulness, emotional regulation

Enjoy delving into the ancient and the modern!