Abstract

This article takes a further step towards recovering the Stoic dimension of Shaftesbury's philosophical project and contributes to recent scholarly work uncovering the Stoic elements that specifically shape his poetics and aesthetics. I propose that Shaftesbury's famous rehabilitation of enthusiasm may be further reconsidered in light of his strong reliance on late Roman Stoic philosophical exercises for managing impressions and training the imagination. I begin by surveying the main imaginative exercises exemplified in Shaftesbury's writings and foreground his specific understanding of affective harmony, with the purpose of highlighting his hospitable views around imagination and extravagant passion. My main argument is that, in light of these features, enthusiasm becomes an essential ingredient in various practical exercises that Shaftesbury proposes towards the ethical transformation of the self, particularly the well-known Stoic exercise seeking alignment with the point of view of the cosmos. Not only is reasonable enthusiasm a sign of the inner harmony needed to grasp the perfect and orderly design of the cosmos, but it allows the contemplative mind to redirect attention from partial beauty to the beauty of nature as a whole, thus exercising the right Stoic perspective required in order to accept the will of the universe.