Stoic Virtues: Chrysippus and the Theological Foundations of Stoic Ethics (Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy) PDF
Preview Stoic Virtues: Chrysippus and the Theological Foundations of Stoic Ethics (Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy)
Stoic Virtues Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy Series Editor: James Fieser, University of Tennessee at Martin, USA Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy is a major monograph series from Continuum. The series features fi rst-class scholarly research monographs across the fi eld of Ancient Philosophy. Each work makes a major contribution to the fi eld of philosophical research. Aristotle and Rational Discovery, Russell Winslow Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Jeremy Kirby Aristotle’s Theory of Knowledge, Thomas Kiefer The Enduring Signifi cance of Parmenides, Raymond Tallis Happiness and Greek Ethical Thought, M. Andrew Holowchak The Ideas of Socrates, Matthew S Linck Parmenides and To Eon, Lisa Atwood Wilkinson Plato, Metaphysics and the Forms, Francis A. Grabowski III Plato’s Stepping Stones, Michael Cormack Pleasure in Aristotle’s Ethics, Michael Weinman Pythagoras and the Doctrine of Transmigration, James Luchte The Socratic Method, Rebecca Bensen Cain Stoic Ethics, William O. Stephens Stoic Virtues Chrysippus and the Religious Character of Stoic Ethics Christoph Jedan Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London SE1 7NX New York NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Christoph Jedan 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-1252-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jedan, Christoph. Stoic virtues : Chrysippus and the theological foundations of stoic ethics/Christoph Jedan. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4411-1252-1 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4411-1252-9 (alk. paper) 1. Stoics. 2. Virtue. 3. Virtues. 4. Chrysippus, ca. 280-207 B.C. I. Title. B528.J43 2009 171'.2--dc22 2009016385 Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group To Rina This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 Part One: A Religious World-View 1 Stoic Corporealism 9 2 Stoic Theology 21 3 Two Pictures of Fate 31 Part Two: Virtue and the Virtues 4 Defi nitions of Virtue 51 Chrysippus’ Characterization of Virtue as ‘Perfect State’ 52 Virtue as ‘Consistent Character’ 58 - 5 The Virtues as Epistemai 66 6 The Virtues—Different yet Inseparable 75 The Difference between the Virtues 75 The Inseparability of the Virtues 77 7 A Catalogue of Virtues 81 Ethical virtues 81 Additional (Generic) Virtues 84 The Openness of Chrysippus’ Catalogue of Virtues 90 Part Three: Becoming Virtuous 8 Vice and the Attainability of Virtue 97 9 Initiation 103 10 Virtue and Happiness 110 viii Contents Part Four: Practices of Virtue 11 Law and Rules 121 Law 122 - Rules and Kathekonta 129 Stoic Practical Reasoning 135 - 12 The Single Kathekon and the Versatility of Stoic Prescriptions 143 Epilogue 156 Appendix 1: A Stoic Virtue Table 158 Appendix 2: Chrysippus’ and Aristotle’s Lists of Virtues—a Comparison 160 Notes 174 Bibliography 209 Index of Cited Passages 219 General Index 228 Acknowledgements I began working on the project that eventually resulted in this book at the University of Münster in 1999. During the years that it has taken me to fi nish the manuscript I have accumulated debts of gratitude to many more individuals and institutions than I can mention here. However, I am indebted to the Ministry of Education, North Rhine- Westphalia, for funding my research project entitled ‘Ethik der Lebensge- staltung: Die Entfaltung der griechischen Tugendlehre und ihre Bedeutung für die Gegenwart’ from 1999 to 2001. Soon afterwards, I concentrated my research on the religious aspect of Stoic virtue ethics. My interest was triggered in the fi rst place by Maximilian Forschner’s stimulating publica- tions on Stoic ethics. I am particularly grateful to Hermann Weidemann, my supervisor in Münster, for his tireless support of the project and for his detailed discussions of my work. My thanks also to Burkhard Hafemann and Thomas Leinkauf, two other colleagues in Münster, and to Klaus Engelhard, for their response to my early attempts on the Stoics. I spent the academic year 1999–2000 as a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Classics in Cambridge. I am grateful to David Sedley for inviting me and for discussing on several occasions, then and later, drafts of my work. My thanks also to Malcolm Schofi eld and Geoffrey Lloyd, who, although not directly involved in the project, helped make my stay in Cambridge and at Darwin College a fruitful one. Since 2003, I have worked at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies in Groningen. I am grateful to my colleagues at the faculty in particular to Jan Bremmer and Patrick Vandermeersch, for their support. An earlier draft of the book was submitted and accepted as a ‘Habilita- tionsschrift’ at the Humboldt University Berlin in 2005–6. I am indebted to Christof Rapp for making possible the ‘Habilitation’ of an external candidate and for his comments on the text. My thanks for comments and suggestions also to Dominik Perler, and to Hermann Weidemann and David Sedley who, together with Christof Rapp, acted as referees.
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