I have always been a fan of learning from great wise men that have left their mark on history. Men of great intellect, integrity and wit. I am currently reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and also Epictetus’s The Art of Living, and I have stumbled upon an interesting but conflicting thought.
For some reason, many great men that lived long ago and possessed a wide range of skills and vast amounts of knowledge and wisdom seem to advocate chastity. Chastity can be defined in simple terms as sexual abstinence (usually before marriage), or aversion to promiscuity or casual sex.
Benjamin Franklin was one of United States’s Founding Fathers. He was a true polymath, having skills that ranged from scientific areas to even political and social ones. A scientist, inventor, writer, diplomat, Benjamin Franklin was truly a great man that we should all use as an example.
In his autobiography, Benjamin shares a list of virtues that he created and he deemed necessary. In this post, the last virtue from the list, chastity, is the one we shall focus on.
CHASTITY: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
The above excerpt is taken directly from Franklin’s autobiography. We can clearly see that this paradigm goes against casual sex and promiscuity, something very common today, and I am sure that in ancient times as well, under different circumstances.
Of course, it is not possible to agree in all ways of thinking even with great wise men, but it intrigues me how and why these men viewed sex this way? In his autobiography, sex is a very rare topic, and Benjamin rarely mentions it even less so during his youth days, which we all know, it is when our sex drive is basically through the roof.
Now, I don’t expect men like Benjamin to actually promote casual sex or promiscuity, since this is obviously a very wrong move in times like those, his reputation would never be the same. But one thing is to not encourage casual sex, and one thing is to encourage against it.
Epictetus was a Greek philosopher that taught philosophy as a way of life. Epictetus’s philosophy is that we should accept all the things that happen and which are not in our control, as they are, dispassionately. This is a philosophy I strongly agree with and that I have slowly learned to adopt since my teenage years. However, this is a philosophy that is truly easier said than done.
His teachings were written down by one of his pupils, and is titled Discourses.
While reading one of his works, The Art of Living, I could not help but to agree and really feel close to what he preaches, which describes my attitude towards the world and life itself. This was until I stumbled upon the following:
Avoid Casual Sex
Abstain from casual sex and particularly avoid sexual intercourse before you get married. This may sound prudish or old-fashioned, but it is a time-tested way by which we demonstrate respect for ourselves and others. Sex is not a game. It gives rise to very real enduring emotional and practical consequences. To ignore this is to debase yourself, and to disregard the significance of human relationships.
While Epictetus raises some important points like practical and emotional consequences that arise from sex, he is strongly against sex before marriage, which is quite strange for someone who actually never got married in the first place. He even goes to say that avoiding intercourse before marriage “may sound prudish or old-fashioned”, this is coming from someone that wrote this around the year 100 AD.
Analyzing The Reasons
Now let’s stop for a moment and ponder why so wise men had ways of thinking such as these. Reasons can vary between social ones, health-related, taboo-related, among others. The following reasons are not written in order of importance.
1. Compliance With Society Standards
We all know that one of the most prominent society standards existing even today is marriage. It is possible that for Benjamin Franklin adhering to these standards was of vital importance if one was to obtain and build a reputation, something that still applies today, yet today there are more ways to get around this for men. On the contrary, say Benjamin Franklin refused to adhere to these constructs and do whatever he pleases sexually whether publicly or privately, society would not take him seriously and labels like homosexual, eunuch, pervert, pederast, and other exaggerations would arise and no matter how wise Benjamin was or how many contributions he already gave to society, nothing of that would matter. It is a possibility.
On the other hand we have Epictetus, which as I mentioned before, was never married. Yet in his writing he rejects casual sex and sex before marriage. Additionally, Epictetus lived in Rome, which was very known for its open views and practices on sex including homosexual and bisexual intercourse, and orgies. This could actually have worked as a product of a possible hatred against Roman society, in which he was a crippled slave.
Nowadays social dynamics between men and women and society as a whole are changing. Even women that decide not to marry or have children are slowly being accepted and it is slowly no longer being something that is frowned upon. Could it be possible that we are entering times where Modern Renaissance Men do not have to adhere to such standards of society and still project themselves with positive response?
2. Prevention of Unwanted Pregnancies and Bastards
Jon Snow from Game of Thrones
Naturally, promiscuous sex has a high statistical rate to yield unwanted pregnancies provided that no methods of contraception are being used. Unwanted pregnancies outside of marriage would lead to bastards, something that is seen as tainted in most ancient societies. This is another issue that correlates with reputation. What would have changed if Benjamin Franklin had one, two, three or even four bastard children? Still, contraception methods like the condom were in existence during this time, so this makes reason #2 probably unlikely.
With Epictetus, there isn’t really much to say. It is possible that he didn’t really care about sex at all, yet recognized it as something important and vital to the human being. Moreover, contraception methods during ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman times are said to be more female-oriented in terms of responsibility.
3. Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Another point of view would be that chastity was supported as a way to prevent the contraction or spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Both of these men were great advocators of the proper nourishment of the body when it came to food and drink. Promiscuity being a behavior that might disrupt this balance makes this seem like a good reason, it makes sense. However, promiscuity and casual sex are not synonyms, and like with reason #2, condoms were already in existence which also serve to help prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
4. Religion
Most wise men were religious or at least spiritual in some way or another. In the case of Benjamin Franklin, he occasionally declares himself as a Deist, though he also states that he writes and recites prayers daily and still considered himself a Christian. One of Franklin’s notable characteristics was that he respected all the churches despite having personal averse opinions about them, which he kept to himself.
Is it possible that like with many cunning and powerful men behind religion, like many popes that ruled in the past, chastity was nothing but a facade in men like Benjamin Franklin?
As for Epictetus, in The Art of Living he occasionally mentions the Divine Order. For Epictetus, the Divine Order, nature, and fate are all related. He believed that the essence of God is goodness. So, since casual sex sometimes produces emotional instability in some people, hence why his views towards it.
Closing Thoughts
Not all wise and great men were in favor of chastity of course, but is still interesting why, how, and if men who possess great intellect, social skills, diplomacy skills, and virtues like Benjamin Franklin and men who seem to be on a whole other level spiritually and philosophically like Epictetus could really overcome a powerful urge and emotion that is the male sex drive and all the elements that surround it. Furthermore the real question could actually be if this possible fact is somehow related to their genius.
I want to emphasize that the reason I am making this post it’s because I believe that sex plays a very important role in order to transcend as a human being, we are, after all, sexual beings. Specially in men, sex is often a huge reason and catalyst to achieve greatness, provided it is used correctly.
I believe that a man should constantly satisfy his sexual needs and desires in order to stay focused and motivated in his Work. This statement can go completely against chastity, forbearance of promiscuity, and forbearance of sex before marriage. Fortunately we live in times where such acts will not have tremendous repercussions on ourselves like in ancient times. We must take advantage of the times we live in.
The Modern Renaissance Man 