Sage (philosophy)
A sage (Ancient Greek: σοφός, sophós), in classical philosophy, is someone who has attained wisdom. The term has also been used interchangeably with a 'good person' (Ancient Greek: ἀγαθός, agathós), and a 'virtuous person' (Ancient Greek: σπουδαῖος, spoudaîos). Among the earliest accounts of the sage begin with Empedocles' Sphairos. Horace describes the Sphairos as "Completely within itself, well-rounded and spherical, so that nothing extraneous can adhere to it, because of its smooth and polished surface."[1] Alternatively, the sage is one who lives "according to an ideal which transcends the everyday."[2]
"Sage philosophy" redirects here; for another use, see African philosophy#Ethnophilosophy and philosophical sagacity. "Sages" redirects here; for sages in Confucianism, see Four Sages; for SAGES, see Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and Study of the Astrophysics of Globular clusters in Extragalactic Systems; for other uses, see Sage (disambiguation).Several of the schools of Hellenistic philosophy have the sage as a featured figure. Karl Ludwig Michelet wrote that "Greek religion culminated with its true god, the sage"; Pierre Hadot develops this idea, stating that "the moment philosophers achieve a rational conception of God based on the model of the sage, Greece surpasses its mythical representation of its gods."[3] Indeed, the actions of the sage are propounded to be how a god would act in the same situation.
In Epicureanism[edit]
Epicurus believed that one would achieve ataraxia by intense study and examination of Nature. This sage would be like the gods and would "[watch] the infinity of worlds arising out of atoms in the infinite void"[3] and because of this nothing ever disturbs the peace of his soul. Certainly, they would be "unconcerned by mundane affairs in their bright, eternal tranquility, they spend their time contemplating the infinity of space, time, and the multiple worlds."[7]
According to Seneca the Younger, Epicurus believed that the sage rarely gets married, because marriage is accompanied by many inconveniences.[8]
Léon Robin, in his commentary on Lucretius, writes "the sage places himself within the immutability of eternal Nature, which is independent of time."[9]