Marcus Aurelius’ Ten Commandments to Himself

Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic emperor

Stoicism is a type of virtue ethics. As such, the focus is on the improvement of one’s character, not on telling others what to do or not to do. Contrast this with a typical deontological (i.e., duty-based) system, like the famous Ten Commandments of the Old Testament recognized by the three Abrahamic faiths. I’m not enamored with deontological frameworks in ethics, and I don’t believe in the Abrahamic god…