I will examine the status of the possibility of wisdom in Stoicism. In Stoic sources the possibility of wisdom seems to be presented in three ways. Of all these perspectives, the most interesting one seems to be the third. It seems to have been influenced by Stoic cosmology, rationalist and optimistic. Within this third perspective it is perhaps possible to trace the following development: a starting point represented by the distinction, attributed to Zeno, between two types of insipiens. This distinction was then formalized (probably by Chrysippus) through the distinction between the claim «Nemo est sapiens» and the claim «Nemo potest esse sapiens». A further step forward was taken with Diogenes of Babylon, according to whom it was not enough to state that some can really become wise: the possibility of wisdom, to be truly such, must have already been realized at least once (for the Principle of Plenitude).

Il sapiente stoico può esistere?

Michele Alessandrelli
2022

Abstract

I will examine the status of the possibility of wisdom in Stoicism. In Stoic sources the possibility of wisdom seems to be presented in three ways. Of all these perspectives, the most interesting one seems to be the third. It seems to have been influenced by Stoic cosmology, rationalist and optimistic. Within this third perspective it is perhaps possible to trace the following development: a starting point represented by the distinction, attributed to Zeno, between two types of insipiens. This distinction was then formalized (probably by Chrysippus) through the distinction between the claim «Nemo est sapiens» and the claim «Nemo potest esse sapiens». A further step forward was taken with Diogenes of Babylon, according to whom it was not enough to state that some can really become wise: the possibility of wisdom, to be truly such, must have already been realized at least once (for the Principle of Plenitude).
2022
Istituto per il Lessico Intellettuale Europeo e Storia delle Idee - ILIESI
Zeno
Chrysippus
Diogenes of Babylon
Principle of Plenitude
Wisdom
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14243/440600
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