Elements In Ancient Philosophy Stoic Eros – Simon Shogry

I will now conclude Section 2 by raising some objections to my reconstruc- tion of the two basic forms of erōs in Stoic theory. One influential study has proposed that, for the Stoics, erōs is never a passion (Schofield 1991, 29–31, 112–14). This claim faces the difficulty of explaining away Chrysippus’ and Panaetius’ verbatim remarks to the contrary (Section 2.1) and is obviously in tension with my account of appetitive erōs (Section 2.3).

Nonetheless, one text might seem to support this reading (T12 below), and its proponent argues that if erōs were counted among the passions, then the Stoics “could hardly have allowed that the Sage will love.”50 However, the duality of erōs prevents this inference from going through. The Sage can love, provided that wise erōs is distinguished from other forms of erōs, found exclusively in the non-Sage, which count as passions: since the Sage never performs the latter, he remains passion-free.

This is why the Stoics are at pains to emphasize that “lover” is said in two ways (T3). Indeed, one can find other examples of the Stoics using the same term in two ways, to mark out both a praiseworthy action and a blameworthy passion: “rivalry,” for instance.51 And it is standard Stoic doctrine that the Sage and non-Sage perform the same external action-types for different reasons and on different psychological grounds: this is one of the basic contrasts between merely appropriate actions (kathēkonta) and fully virtu- ous actions (kathorthōmata).52 These points help to contextualize the Stoic insistence in the continuation of T3 that T12: Love-activity just by itself (to eran auto monon) is indifferent (adia- phoron), since at times it also occurs among the base.

But love (erōs) is not an appetite nor is it directed at any base object, but is an effort to gain friendship resulting from the impression of beauty. (Stob. 2.66.9–13) The first sentence of T12 confirms that it is not only Sages who engage in erōs: “the base”, that is, non-Sages, do so also. More precisely, both virtuous and 50 Schofield 1991, 29. More precisely, Schofield claims that Zeno does not include erōs as a passion, and that later Stoics “presumably due ultimately to Zeno’s influence” follow him in denying that erōs is a passion (30n17).

However, as we have already seen, Chrysippus posits an appetitive form of erōs (Galen, PHP 4.6.27–30) and generally does not flinch from defending the doctrines laid down in Zeno’s Republic (as Schofield 1991, 26n10, demonstrates), where the Zenonian material on erōs would have been found.

Brasenose College, University of Oxford Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8EA, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia 314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India 103 Penang Road, #05–06/07, Visioncrest Commercial, Singapore 238467 Cambridge University Press is part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a department of the University of Cambridge.

We share the University’s mission to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781009500814 DOI: 10.1017/9781009039277 © Simon Shogry 2024 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

When citing this work, please include a reference to the DOI 10.1017/9781009039277 First published 2024 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-009-50081-4 Hardback ISBN 978-1-009-01771-8 Paperback ISSN 2631-4118 (online) ISSN 2631-410X (print) Cambridge University Press & Assessment has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Stoic Eros Elements in Ancient Philosophy DOI: 10.1017/9781009039277 First published online: January 2024 Simon Shogry Brasenose College, University of Oxford Author for correspondence: Simon Shogry, [email protected] Abstract: The Stoics distinguish two forms of eros. In vicious agents eros is indeed a passion and thus born out of a defective rational judgment about what is needed for happiness.

But there is also a positive form of erotic love, practiced by the Sage on the basis of knowledge, which aims to reproduce his virtuous condition in others. In this Element, the author shows how the Stoics’ wider theoretical commitments in ethics, epistemology, aesthetics, and psychology support their duplex account of eros. They also consider the influence of Plato’s Symposium on the Stoic account, arguing for hitherto unrecognized links with Socratic moral psychology. The Element concludes with an assessment of how the Stoic erotic ideal fares in relation to our intuitions about the non-egoistic and particularized nature of love.

Keywords: Plato Symposium, Stoic love, Stoic emotion, Stoic moral psychology, erotic expertise © Simon Shogry 2024 ISBNs: 9781009500814 (HB), 9781009017718 (PB), 9781009039277 (OC) ISSNs: 2631-4118 (online), 2631-410X (print) Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 The Two Basic Forms of Erōs 4 3 The Perception of Beauty 30 4 Socratic Antecedents for the Stoic Theory of Erōs 49 5 Conclusion 60 References 63 1 Introduction “Stoic eros”?

Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? The ancient Stoics are notori- ous for their claim that the ideal human life is free of passion.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: c70cf3850db03063
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,728,504 bytes (1.648 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781009500814, 9781009039277, 9781009017718
• Pages: 77
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 165.25 minutes
• Total Words: 33,050
• Total Characters: 202,899
• Average Words per Page: 429.22
• Average Characters per Page: 2635.05

Most Frequent Words

stoic (222), love (219), erōs (210), stoics (194), virtue (178), erotic (173), beauty (131), one (125), sage (118), beloved (118), see (110), good (102), sage’s (101), section (93), wise (87), virtuous (82), also (78), stob (75), effort (73), account (70), philosophy (68), vicious (68), form (68), knowledge (67), virtues (64), socrates (63), ancient (61), psychological (57), friendship (55), thus (54), theory (54), between (54), lover (53), soul (53), beautiful (53), two (47), however (47), person (46), since (46), chrysippus (45), eros (44), expertise (43), claim (43), university (42), forms (42), kind (42), character (42), talent (42), thrasonides (41), reason (39), body (39), happiness (38), symposium (38), worthy (38), cambridge (37), press (37), sex (37), action (36), even (36), passion (34), make (34), agent (34), talented (32), oxford (31), socratic (31), nature (31), physical (31), plutarch (31), view (30), impulse (30), given (30), instance (29), schofield (29), definition (29), moral (28), passions (28), rather (28), general (28), seneca (28), actions (28), cicero (28), judgment (27), according (27), case (27), made (27), expert (27), agents (26), non-sage (26), pausanias (26), said (26), without (25), human (25), every (25), mind (25), appetite (25), now (24), way (24), appropriate (23), condition (23), life (23).

PDF Download