Abstract:
Is the Stoic sage a possible or desirable ideal for contemporary men and women, as we enter into difficult times? Is he, as Seneca presents him, the very best person for a crisis? In order to examine these questions, Part 1 begins from what Irene Liu calls the “standard” modern conceptions of the sage as either a kind of epistemically perfect, omniscient agent, or else someone in possession of a specific arsenal of theoretical knowledge, especially concerning the physical world. We contest this contentious conception of the sage for being inconsistent with the Stoic conceptions of wisdom, the technai and knowledge which can be gleaned from the doxographic sources. In Part 2, we suggest that the wisdom of the Stoic sage reflects the Stoics’ “dispositional” conception of knowledge, their substantive conception of reason (Logos), and their sense of philosophy as above all an “exercise” or askêsis of a craft or technê for living. It is embodied in an ongoing exercise of examining one’s impressions for consistency with what one already knows, looking back to the natural prolêpseis with which all people are equipped. In Part 3, we show how only this account of the wisdom of the sage, at the epistemic level, enables us to understand how, in the non-doxographic texts led by Seneca’s De Constantia Sapientiae, the sage is celebrated above all for his ethical characteristics, and his ability to bear up in a crisis. Concluding reflections return to our framing concern, as to whether philosophy as a way of life, and the ancient ideal of the sage, can speak to us today not only as scholars, but as individuals called upon to live in difficult times. We suggest that they can and should remain sources of orientation, contestation, and inspiration.
Keywords:
sage, wisdom, exercise, Seneca, Cato, technê for living
How to cite:
Sharpe, Matthew. “A Good Person for a Crisis? On the Wisdom of the Stoic Sage (in Himself & for Us).” Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture 5, no. 1 (2021): 32-49. https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2021.0003.
Author:
Matthew Sharpe
Deakin University,
221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8165-5775
matthew.sharpe@deakin.edu.au
References:
von Arnim, Hans Friedrich, ed. Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, vol. 1–3. 1903-1905.
Betegh, Gábor. “Cosmological Ethics in Timaeus and Early Stoicism.” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 26 (2003): 273-302.
Brooke, Christopher. Philosophic Pride: Stoicism and Political Thought from Lipsius to Rousseau. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400842414.
Brouwer, René. The Stoic Sage: The Early Stoics on Wisdom, Sagehood and Socrates. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139162487.
Christensen, Johnny. An Essay on the Unity of Stoic Philosophy. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1962.
Hankinson, Robert. “Stoic Epistemology.” In Cambridge Companion to the Stoics, edited by Brad Inwood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL052177005X.004.
Hadot, Pierre. “Ancient Philosophy.” In Selected Essays: Philosophy as Practice, 43-54. Translated by Michael Sharpe and Frederico Testa. London: Bloomsbury, 2020.
Hadot, Pierre. “Divisions of the Parts of Philosophy,” In Selected Essays: Philosophy as Practice, 105-32. Translated by Michael Sharpe and Frederico Testa. London: Bloomsbury, 2020.
Hadot, Pierre. “Marcus Aurelius.” In Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault, edited by Arnold I. Davidson, 179-205. Translated by Michael Chase. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 1995.
Hadot, Pierre. “On the Figure of the Sage.” In Selected Essays: Philosophy as Practice, 185-206. Translated by Michael Sharpe and Frederico Testa. London: Bloomsbury, 2020.
Hadot, Pierre. “Philosophy as a Way of Life.” In Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault, edited by Arnold I. Davidson, 264-76. Translated by Michael Chase. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 1995.
Hadot, Pierre. “Spiritual Exercises.” In Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault, edited by Arnold I. Davidson, 81-125. Translated by Michael Chase. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 1995.
Jedan, Christopher. Stoic Virtues: Chrysippus and the Religious Character of Stoic Ethics. London; Bloomsbury, 2009.
Kerferd, George B. “What Does the Wise Man Know?” In The Stoics, edited by John M. Rist. Berkeley: University of California, 1978. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520339255-007.
Long, Anthony A. Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1093/0199245568.001.0001.
Long, Anthony A., and David Sedley. The Hellenistic Philosophers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139165907.
Liu, Irene. “Nature and Knowledge in Stoicism: On the Ordinariness of the Stoic Sage.” Apeiron 41, no. 4 (2008): 257-76. https://doi.org/10.1515/APEIRON.2008.41.4.247.
Lucian. “Sale of Creeds.” In The Works of Lucian of Samosata. Translated by Henry W. Fowler and Francis G. Fowler. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1905.
Menn, Stephen. “Physics as a Virtue.” Proceedings of Boston Area Colloquium on Ancient Philosophy 11, no. 1 (1997): 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1163/2213441795X00039.
Nussbaum, Martha. Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Owens, Joseph, CSsR. “Aristotle’s Notion of Wisdom.” Apeiron 20, no. 1 (Spring 1987): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1515/APEIRON.1987.20.1.1.
Sellars, John. The Stoic Art of Living: The Stoics on the Nature and Function of Philosophy. 2nd Edition. London: Bloomsbury, 2009.
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. On the Constancy of the Wise Person. In Hardship and Happiness. Translated by Elaine Fantham, Harry M. Hine, James Ker, and Garreth D. Williams. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226108353.001.0001.
Stephens, William O. Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Continuum, 2002.
Stobaeus, “Epitome [Eklogai] of Stoic Ethics.” In The Stoics Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonials. Translated by Brad Inwood and Lloyd P. Gerson. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 2008.
Watson, Gerard. The Stoic Theory of Knowledge. Belfast: Belfast Queen’s University, 1966.
White, Nicholas. “The Role of Physics in Stoic Ethics.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 23, Supplement (1985): 57-74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-6962.1985.tb00426.x.
Open Access Statement:
This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Submitting a text to Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture means that the author agrees with the general conditions of this license. The author does and will maintain copyrights and publishing rights for his/her article without any restrictions.