PHGA 7014 Stoic Ethics: Old and New
Professor Christopher Gowans
Spring 2007
Tuesdays, 2:00–4:00
Stoic philosophy flourished in the time after Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, from the fourth century BCE to the second century CE, beginning in Athens (especially with Zeno of Citium and Chrysippus of Soli) and ending in Rome and elsewhere (especially with Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius). Information about the earlier period is limited to fragments of texts and secondary accounts (such as those of Diogenes Laertius and Cicero). We have several full texts from the Roman period.
Through much of medieval and modern philosophy, the Stoics were regarded as a standard and important part of the history of the tradition (sometimes more so than Plato and Aristotle). Their reputation diminished in the 20th century. However, in the past thirty or so years there has been a substantial revival of interest in and scholarship on the Stoics (and other Hellenistic schools).
This course will examine the Stoic’s ethics, by their own account the focal point of their whole philosophy. Our emphasis will be on the ancient Athenian and Roman discussions, but we will also consider efforts to establish the relevance of the Stoics for contemporary moral philosophy. The course will have the following structure.
Athenian Stoic Philosophy.
We will begin with an overview of Stoic philosophy in its classic Athenian form (mainly Chrysippus), namely its logic, epistemology, psychology, cosmology (including physics and theology), and of course ethics. For this part of the course, we will rely on:
We will also consult, on reserve, Brad Inwood and L.P. Gerson’s anthology Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings, Second Edition, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1988. This and the Long and Sedley anthology contain translations of the standard sources for the early period.
Athenian Stoic Moral Philosophy.
We will then examine Athenian Stoic moral philosophy in detail. For primary sources, we will again rely on Long and Sedley as well as Inwood and Gerson. For secondary literature, we will consult several of the prominent scholars working in the field. These include Julia Annas, Tad Brennan, Brad Inwood, A.A. Long, Martha Nussbaum, and Gisela Striker (on reserve).
Roman Stoic Moral Philosophy
The Roman Stoics have sometimes been regarded as philosophically less significant than their Athenian predecessors, but a reassessment of their philosophical importance is now underway. We will focus on Epictetus. For this purpose, we will primarily look at:
However, we will also give some attention to Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, along with some secondary literature by Annas, Pierre Hadot, Inwood, Nussbaum, and Reydams-Schils (on reserve).
Contemporary Stoic Moral Philosophy
In addition to increased scholarly attention to ancient Stoic ethics, there has been growing interest in Stoic ethics as a viable outlook in the contemporary world (indications of more popular interest are found in philosopher Thomas Morris’ The Stoic Art of Living and novelist Tom Wolfe’s A Man in Full).
We will read selections from two books: Lawrence C. Becker’s A New Stoicism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998) and Nancy Sherman’s Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). We will also read some essays on Stoic ethics in connection with medical ethics and environmental ethics.
Students are expected to write a term paper and give a class presentation (these may, but need not be, on the same topic). The four texts marked with bullets above will be ordered for the class; everything else will be on reserve.