On Old Age: A Relational Account of Agency and Meaning in Later Life

TL;DR

The paper explores how aging can be a meaningful and valuable stage of life, emphasizing the importance of social relationships in supporting agency and well-being in later years.

Contribution

The paper presents a relational account of agency and meaning in later life, challenging views that reduce old age to health risks.

Findings

Old age can be a stage of flourishing when supported by social relationships.

Agency and meaning are central to later life and should not be overlooked.

Cicero's work provides insights into valuing old age beyond health metrics.

Abstract

Cicero's treatise On Old Age offers an optimistic account of aging and responds to the prejudiced arguments of those who might otherwise ridicule older members of Roman society. While Cicero's rhetoric is, at times, scientifically naive and moralistic, this article argues that there are important insights that can be gained from carefully theorizing later life as a distinct and valuable stage of human existence—a stage of life that ought not be reduced to a mere proxy for health risk. A careful analysis provides insight into the conditions for flourishing in later life notwithstanding a more pronounced expression of the aging process. Some scholars downplay possibilities for agency and meaning in later life and foreground dignity as an overarching value for old age. We argue, however, that agency and meaning are not only possible but also central in later life but must be supported by social relationships that enhance well‐being and the pursuit and realization of life goals.