A New Stoicism

227 Pages·1998·0.9 MB·English

by  Lawrence C. Becker

A NEW STOICISM
This page intentionally left blank
A NEW STOICISM
Lawrence C. Becker
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright1998byLawrenceC.Becker
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,
Chichester,WestSussex
AllRightsReserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Becker,LawrenceC.
Anewstoicism/LawrenceC.Becker.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-691-01660-7(cl:alk.paper)
1.Ethics. 2.Stoics. 3.Virtue. 4.Happiness. I.Title.
BJ1031.B439 1998
171′.2—dc21 97-15847 CIP
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinSabon
PrincetonUniversityPressbooksareprinted
onacid-freepaperandmeettheguidelines
forpermanenceanddurabilityoftheCommittee
onProductionGuidelinesforBookLongevity
oftheCouncilonLibraryResources
http://pup.princeton.edu
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Charlotte
BEST FRIEND, BEST COLLABORATOR,
LOVE OF MY LIFE
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
PARTONE:THEWAYTHINGSSTAND 1
1. TheConceit 3
2. ANewAgendaforStoicEthics 5
3. TheRuinsofDoctrine 8
Science,Logic,andEthics 8
NormsandMoralTraining 14
VirtueandHappiness 20
Commentary 22
Acknowledgments 30
PARTTWO:THEWAYTHINGSMIGHTGO 33
4. NormativeLogic 35
NormsandNormativePropositions 36
NormativeConstructs 39
AxiomsofStoicNormativeLogic 42
5. Following theFacts 43
Impossibilities 44
APosterioriNormativePropositions 46
MotivatedNorms 52
HeteronomousEndeavors,AutonomousAgency,andFreedom 59
Commentary 69
Acknowledgments 80
6. Virtue 81
TheDevelopmentofVirtueasthePerfectionofAgency 81
THESTRUCTUREOFAGENCY 82
AGENCYCONSTRUCTEDANDPERFECTED 103
VIRTUEASIDEALAGENCY 112
TheArgumentforVirtueasthePerfectionofAgency 114
ExaltedVirtue 119
Commentary 123
Acknowledgments 137
viii CONTENTS
7. Happiness 138
ACompleteLife 138
AControlledLife 142
LifeontheRack 146
Joy 148
Commentary 150
Acknowledgments 158
Appendix
ACalculusforNormativeLogic 159
NotationandInterpretation 159
BasicDefinitions,Rules,andAxioms 163
NormativeConstructs 167
AxiomsofStoicNormativeLogic 181
ImmediateInferences 182
Commentary 185
Acknowledgments 191
Bibliography 193
Index 201
Acknowledgments
REFERENCEStoindividualswhohavecommentedhelpfullyonportionsof
themanuscriptappearattheendoftherelevantcommentaries—toChap-
ters3,5,6,7,andtotheAppendix.Anearlydraftofsomechapterswas
completed with the help of a fellowship from the National Endowment
fortheHumanities(1993–94),andadraftoftheremainderwasfinished
during a Faculty Research Assignment from the College of William &
Mary(Fall1995).Ithankbothinstitutionsfortheirsupport.Portionsof
myarticle“GoodLives:Prolegomena,”fromSocialPhilosophyandPol-
icy 9 (1992): 15–37, appear in Chapters 3 and 5, by permission of the
publisher.AndIacknowledgewithgratitudethepublishers,authors,and
translatorsinvolvedforpermissiontoquotematerialidentifiedmorefully
in the text of the commentaries in which they appear: Material from
Cicero,DeFinibus(translatedbyH.Rackham)DeOfficiis(translatedby
Walter Miller), and Tusculan Disputations (translated by J. E. King) is
reprintedbypermissionofHarvardUniversityPressandtheLoebClassi-
cal Library. Poem #249 from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by
Thomas H. Johnson, is reprinted by permission of Harvard University
PressandtheTrusteesofAmherstCollege.SelectionsfromTheHellenis-
ticPhilosophers,editedandtranslatedbyA.A.LongandD.N.Sedleyare
reprintedbypermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.Afragmentfrom
Hierocles,translatedbyJuliaAnnasinherbookTheMoralityofHappi-
ness, is reprinted by permission of the author and Oxford University
Press.ApassagefromSophieBotros,“Freedom,Causality,Fatalismand
EarlyStoicPhilosophy,” inPhronesis,isreprintedbypermissionofE.J.
Brill (Leiden, The Netherlands), the current publishers of that journal. I
thank also Akademie-Verlag, for permission to reprint material from
Galen’sOntheDoctrinesofHippocratesandPlato(translatedbyPhillip
De Lacey); the Journal of the History of Philosophy, for apassage from
Amélie Rorty, “The Two Faces of Stoicism”; and the Monist, for a pas-
sage from Nicholas P. White, “Stoic Values.” And this is the place to
expressmysinceregratitudetothemanypeoplewhokepttheprojecton
therightpathfromdisheveledmanuscripttobook.AnnWald,editor-in-
chiefatPrinceton UniversityPress,sawthepossibilities atanearlystage
andgavemepersistentandeffectivesupport.MolanChunGoldsteinand
Joan Hunter, respectively the production editor and copyeditor for the
book, were outstanding. Maria I. Salazkina helped me read proof; she
andCharlotteBeckerhelpedmepreparetheindex.