Stoicism

Stoicism is a Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome.[1] The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, i.e. by a God which is immersed in nature itself.[2] Of all the schools of ancient philosophy, Stoicism made the greatest claim to being utterly systematic.[3]

The Stoics provided a unified account of the world, constructed from ideals of logic, monistic physics, and naturalistic ethics.[4] These three ideals constitute virtue, which is necessary for 'living a well-reasoned life', seeing as they are all parts of a logos, or philosophical discourse, which includes the mind's rational dialogue with itself.[5] Its logic focuses on reasoning through propositions, arguments, and the differentiation between truth and falsehood. Its ethics centers on virtue as the highest good, cultivating emotional self-control and rational judgment to attain eudaimonia, while viewing passions as misguided judgments to be mastered.

Stoicism was founded in the ancient Agora of Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE, and flourished throughout the Greco-Roman world until the 3rd century CE. Stoicism emerged from the Cynic tradition and was popularized through public teaching at the Stoa Poikile, a painted colonnade. Among its adherents was Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Along with Aristotelian term logic, the system of propositional logic developed by the Stoics was one of the two great systems of logic in the classical world. It was largely built and shaped by Chrysippus, the third head of the Stoic school in the 3rd century BCE. Chrysippus's logic differed from term logic because it was based on the analysis of propositions rather than terms. Stoicism experienced a decline after Christianity became the state religion in the 4th century CE.

Since then, it has seen revivals, notably in the Renaissance (Neostoicism) and in the contemporary era.[6] Its influence extended to Roman thinkers like Seneca and Epictetus and later influenced Christianity and the Renaissance Neostoicism movement. Stoicism shaped subsequent developments in logic and inspired modern cognitive therapies.

  1. ^ Jason Lewis Saunders. "Stoicism". Britannica. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  2. ^ Shenefelt & White 2013, p. 74
  3. ^ Long & Sedley 1987, p. 160.
  4. ^ Aetius, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, 2.35
  5. ^ Long & Sedley 1987, p. 161.
  6. ^ Becker, Lawrence C. (2001). A New Stoicism. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1400822447. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.