Stoic Virtues: Chrysippus and the Religious Character of Stoic Ethics
Ebook
Like its ancient rivals, Stoic ethics was a form of virtue ethics, yet while the concept of virtue was clearly central to Stoic ethics, the concept of Stoic virtue has not yet been fully explored. Instead, the existing literature tends to impose on the Stoic material philosophically quite alien non-Aristotelian interpretations of virtue. According to Christoph Jedan, however, a thorough examination of the Stoic concept of virtue leads to a reassessment of our understanding of Stoic ethics.
This book emphasises in particular the theological underpinning of Stoic ethics, which Jedan contends has been underestimated in current accounts of Stoic ethics. Jedan argues that the theological motifs in Stoic ethics are in fact pivotal to a complete understanding of Stoic ethics. The book focuses on Chrysippus, the most important of the early Stoic thinkers, suggesting that his contribution, and in particular its religious aspect, remained a key point of reference for later Stoics. This fascinating book makes a crucial contribution to the field of ancient ethics.
An important new monograph offering the first sustained examination of the early Stoic theory of virtue.
Proposes a readjustment of our understanding of Stoic ethics.
Emphasises the theological underpinning of Stoic ethics.
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: A Religious World-View
1. Stoic Corporealism
2. Stoic Theology
3. Two Pictures of Fate
Part II: Virtue and the Virtues
4. Definitions of Virtue
5. The Virtues as Epistemai
6. The Virtues: Different Yet Inseparable
7. A Catalogue of Virtues
Part III: Becoming Virtuous
8. Vice and the Attainability of Virtue
9. Initiation
10. Virtue and Happiness
Part IV: Practices of Virtues
11. Law and Rules
12. The Single Kathekon and the Versatility of Stoic Prescriptions
Epilogue
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Cited Passages
General Index
"Christoph Jedan here demonstrates both the originality of the Stoic conception of virtue and its theoretical importance within the broader ambit of the school's philosophy. Prominent among the merits of this meticulously argued monograph is its insistence on giving the well-attested religious aspects of Stoic ethics their due weight." - David Sedley, University of Cambridge, UK
A generous survey of the context is provided [and] Jedan's [Greek] quotes are impeccable
- Title: Stoic Virtues: Chrysippus and the Religious Character of Stoic Ethics
- Author: Christoph Jedan
- Publisher: Continuum
- Print Publication Date: 2011
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781441121721, 9781441197948, 144119794X, 1441121722
- Resource ID: LLS:9781441121721
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-05-15T16:01:08Z
Christoph Jedan is Lecturer in Ethics at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He has previously taught at the University of Münster, Germany.