Meditations

What the English translator calls the “directing mind” is in the Greek text hegemonikon. A hegemon is one who leads or guides, which Stoic philosophers apply to the soul. The hegemonikon is the authoritative aspect of the soul, not reason itself but the soul’s capacity for reason. Marcus’s “directing mind” refers to the (for him) unique capacity humans have to control and direct their thoughts.

The translator alternately uses “imagination” and “sense impressions” for the Greek word phantasia, which can refer to how things appear to the conscious mind, whether accurate or illusory. Marcus seems especially concerned with the illusory, in particular with the way judgements can shape sense impressions—hence the appropriateness of the word “imagination” as a translation. His “stripping” process is designed to interrogate the relationship between judgement and impression, in order to strip away the artifice and reveal the true essence of a thing.

The translator uses the word “motives” for the Greek word dogmata, whose literal meaning is “opinion or decree.” Like imagination, motives can be tied up with judgements. One is motivated to pursue something that is deemed valuable. Motives can disguise immoral acts in fancy dress, making things appear noble, or justified, while the “stripping” process may reveal that they are anything but.