XXX.Our duties are universally fixed by the relations in which we find ourselves. Is such a man your father? Then your duty is to bear dictation from him, to take care of him, to yield to him in all things, to be patient with him when he chides you, when he beats you. But if he be a bad father? Is there then a natural law that you should be related by kin to a good father? No, but simply to a father. And does your brother do you wrong? Then guard your own proper position towards him, and do not consider what he is doing, but rather what you may do in order that your will may be in accordance with Nature. For no other can ever harm you if you do not choose it yourself, but you are harmed then, when you imagine yourself to be so. Thus then you may discover your duties by considering those of a neighbour, of a citizen, of a general,—if you will accustom yourself to observe the relationships.
uses it somewhat in the sense of 'layman,' one who is of the world, not of the philosophic guild; the distinction being that the ἱδιώτης looks for happiness, not in the things of the soul, but in relations with the external world established by means of the senses. On this distinction I venture to found my translation of the word.
