Table Of ContentOUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
Learning to Live Naturally
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
Learning to Live
Naturally
fi
Stoic Ethics and its Modern Signi cance
CHRISTOPHER GILL
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
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OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
Tomyfoursons,theirpartnersandchildren.
Toallthosescholars,students,and‘modernStoics’withwhomIhavediscussed
StoicideasandfromwhomIhavelearntsomuch.
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
Contents
Preface ix
NoteonConventions xi
Introduction 1
I. LIVING NATURALLY
1. VirtueandHappiness 15
1.1 Preliminaries 15
1.2 StoicIdeasinTheirGreekPhilosophicalContext 15
1.3 HappinessastheLifeAccordingtoNature 26
1.4 VirtueasExpertiseinLeadingaHappyLife 34
2. Virtue,Indifferents,andPracticalDeliberation 53
2.1 Preliminaries 53
2.2 TheVirtue-IndifferentsRelationship 54
2.3 TheVirtue-IndifferentsRelationshipRe-Examined 62
2.4 PracticalDeliberation:Cicero,OnDuties1 72
2.5 PracticalDeliberation:Cicero,OnDuties2‒3 87
3. EthicsandNature 102
3.1 Preliminaries 102
3.2 ScholarlyDebateaboutEthicsandNature 102
3.3 ThePresentationofEthicsintheThreeAncientSummaries 111
3.4 IsStoicTheologyFoundationalforEthics? 121
3.5 HarmonizingwithUniversalNature:ThreeVersions 133
II. LEARNING TO LIVE NATURALLY
IntroductiontoPartII 151
4. ‘Appropriation’:EthicalDevelopmentasNatural 163
4.1 TheTheoryofAppropriation 163
4.2 BasicMotives 167
4.3 RationalAppropriation:AlternativePatterns 173
4.4 RationalAppropriationofOneself(Cicero,OnEnds3.20‒2) 181
4.5 RationalAppropriationofOthers(Cicero,OnEnds3.62‒8) 193
4.6 CiceroandStoicSocialIdeals 204
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
viii
5. EmotionalDevelopment 211
5.1 EmotionalandEthicalDevelopment 211
5.2 EmotionalandSocialDevelopment 226
5.3 StoicDetachment? 237
III. STOIC ETHICS AND MODERN MORAL THEORY
6. StoicismandModernVirtueEthics 249
6.1 StoicEthicsandtheModernPhilosophicalContext 249
6.2 TheVirtue-HappinessRelationship 260
6.3 ActingVirtuouslyforItsOwnSake 268
6.4 Self-OtherRelationships 273
7. StoicEthics,HumanNature,andtheEnvironment 279
7.1 HumanNatureinModernVirtueEthics 279
7.2 StoicismandModernEthicalNaturalism 285
7.3 StoicismandEnvironmentalisminModernVirtueEthics 292
7.4 TheStoicWorldviewandModernEnvironmentalEthics 299
8. StoicDevelopmentandGuidance,andModernThought 307
8.1 StoicIdeasandModernVirtueEthics 307
8.2 StoicismandModern‘Life-Guidance’ 322
References 335
IndexofAncientPassages 349
GeneralIndex 357
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,26/10/2022,SPi
Preface
As explained in the Introduction, this book offers a reading of key distinctive
themesinStoicethicsandexplorestheirsignificanceformodernthought,especially
contemporaryvirtueethics.AlthoughIhavebeenworkingonStoicphilosophyfor
sometime,thisprojectisanewoneforme,initsobjectivesandscope;however,
therearesomesalientpointsofconnectionwithmypreviouswritings.Thebook
draws on a longstanding interest in the interface between ancient ethics and
psychology,aswellastherelationshipbetweenancientandmodernideas,includ-
ingethicalones.Also,myinterpretationofStoicethicsunderlinestheimportance
given to interpersonal and social engagement, an aspect of Stoicism sometimes
overlooked. This emphasis reflects the weight I have elsewhere given to this
dimensionofGreekandRomanthoughtanditssignificanceformodernthought.
Ihavesometimespresentedthisdimensionastheideaof‘theselfindialogue’or
the‘objective-participant’conceptionofpersonality.
Duringtheperiodofworkonthisbook,Ihavebecomecloselyinvolvedinthe
publicpresentationofStoicideasforabroadaudiencethroughaproject(‘Modern
Stoicism’)outlinedatthe endofChapter8.Itisstrikingandpositivetoseehow
muchresonanceStoicideashaveforsomanypeopleatpresent.Thisbookisnot
framedaslife-guidanceforageneralaudience;itisasustainedacademicstudyof
Stoic ethics and its implications, especially for modern moral philosophy.
However, I have set out to explore in depth the Stoic ethical ideas on which
contemporarylife-guidanceisbased.Also,Ihaveaimedtoconveythisexploration
in clear, non-technical language, and to support my interpretation by extensive
referencetotheancientevidence,withquotationsinEnglishtranslation.SoIhope
thebookwillbeaccessibleandusefultosomeofthosewhoseprimaryconcernis
withStoicismaslife-guidance,aswellastoscholarsandstudentsofancientand
modern philosophy, and other types of reader drawn to the topic. Part II of the
book,especiallyChapters5,7,and8maybeofmostinteresttosuchreaders.
Likeanyoneworkinginthisarea,Ihavebenefitedgreatlyfromtheupsurgeof
researchand scholarly publication on Stoicism in recent decades.Also, compos-
ition of the book was substantially helped by a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship
(2014‒2016). This award enabled me to organizein autumn 2016 a pair of two-
day workshops, at Yale and Cambridge, in which groups of scholars discussed a
firstdraftofpartsofthebook(about60,000words).Participantsincluded,atYale,
JuliaAnnas,DavidCharles,StephenDarwall,VerityHarte,BradInwood,Daniel
Russell, and Katja Vogt, as well as several graduate students. At Cambridge, the
participants consisted of Gábor Betegh, Rae Langton, M. M. McCabe, Onora
