Exploring Philosophers' Views on Longevity: History Assignment

This essay explores the diverse perspectives on longevity held by ancient philosophers. It examines the views of Aristotle, who emphasized the importance of a happy mind for a long life, and contrasts them with the Chinese philosophers' focus on physical wellness. The essay further analyzes Seneca's emphasis on the quality of life over its length, and Pliny's reliance on census data to assess life expectancy. Finally, it discusses St. Augustine's Biblical perspective, highlighting the role of faith in extending life. The essay draws on scholarly references to support its arguments and provides a comprehensive overview of the historical and philosophical discourse on longevity.

Running head: HISTORY
History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY
The ancient philosophers had varieties of opinion on the longevity of life. Philosophers
like Aristotle have always presented their views on the ideas of longevity and ageing in different
ways, The subjects of life and death, sorrow and happiness, old age and youth age have been
discussed in the worldview of Aristotle. As per the views of Aristotle, happiness of mind is the
key to the longevity of life (Burstein and Finch 2018). On the other hand, the Chinese
philosophers have also focused on the wellness of body. This can be achieved by the regular
physical exercise. These are the ways in which the human beings can live long by maintaining
their wellness of body and being happy. Otherwise, longevity of life will be a big problem for
human beings to sustain their lives for a long time (Burstein and Finch 2018).
As per the logic of Seneca, the qualitative aspect of the life is always more important than
the quantitative aspect. Life expectancy is a very crucial thing in course of physiology (Ker
2015). Therefore, Seneca believes that a person should live in happiness and being busy in his
life. Otherwise, his life would become dull and valueless. Seneca had written his treatise named
On the Shortness of Life almost 2000 years ago. In the words of Seneca, it can be said “It is not
that we have a short time to live, but we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently
generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested”
(Ker 2015) Thus, Seneca has stressed on the quality of spending the life than living for a long
period of time in a dull manner,
On the other hand, Pliny has shifted his focus on the census data regarding the longevity
of life. In his research work Pliny, a rationalist has found out that the overall life expectancy of
the human beings has risen well enough than the previous years (Robert and Fulop 2014). As per
the census data gathered by the United Nation, a man born in 1960 would live for around 52
years on an average. That number has evidently increased to 72 in the current times. According

2HISTORY
to Pliny, the mythical traditions on the longevity of life are basically useless and they have
nothing worthy to trust (Robert and Fulop 2014). This is all possible because of the
developments of medical science and public health initiatives of the governments.
It must be said from the Biblical point of view that St,. Augustine has used the Biblical
references to point out the importance of longevity of life (McInerney 2017). These Christian
believers have always put te stress on the importance of faith healing on the extension of life.
They do not entertain the developments in the biomedical interventions in the modern times.
Rather they only believe that having faith in Jesus and words of Bible will make the human
beings live longer (McInerney 2017). St. Augustine has preached such kind of belief in his
followers. The Christians also believe that believers of faith can be immortal as well.

3HISTORY
References List
Burstein, S.M. and Finch, C.E., 2018. Longevity examined: an ancient Greek's very modern
views on ageing. Nature, 560(7718), pp.430-431.
Ker, J., 2015. Seneca and Augustan culture. The Cambridge Companion to Seneca, pp.109-21.
McInerney, J., 2017. Greatness of Humility: St Augustine on Moral Excellence. James Clarke
Company, Limited.
Robert, L. and Fulop, T., 2014. Longevity and its regulation: centenarians and beyond.
In Aging (Vol. 39, pp. 198-211). Karger Publishers.