Stoa

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Zeno of Kition , founder of the Stoa

The Stoa ( στοά ) is one of the most powerful philosophical teaching structures in Western history. It was built by Zeno of Kition around 300 BC. Founded. The name (Greek στοὰ ποικίλη - "colorful vestibule") goes back to a columned hall (stoa) on the agora , the market square of Athens , where Zeno of Kition began his teaching activities.

A special feature of the Stoic philosophy is the cosmological approach aimed at the holistic understanding of the world, from which a universal principle prevails in all natural phenomena and natural contexts . For the Stoic as an individual it is important to recognize and fill his place in this order by learning to accept his lot through the practice of emotional self-control and striving for wisdom with the help of serenity and peace of mind ( ataraxia ) .

The origin of the stoic philosophy

The parallel emergence of the two great philosophical schools of the Epicureans and the Stoa certainly did not coincide with a time when the Polis Association, which until then had determined the norms, provided individual orientation and support, but also required classification, was in crisis. Athens in particular , where these two philosophical directions arose after the Platonic Academy and the Aristotelian Peripatos , was in an uncertain new position as a city-state after a century and a half of political power and cultural prosperity: since the middle of the 4th century BC. Chr. In self-assertion fighting against the expanding kingdom of Macedonia is involved, it had the of the decay stage Alexander the Great conquered the multiethnic empire, and in the course of Diadochen -kämpfe an immediate Macedonian domination and the abolition of the until then existing Athenian democracy put up - a fundamental change in the up to then not seriously contested political-social coordinate system.

The situation thus favored the emergence of new ideological interpretations with corresponding reflections on their consequences for the individual life orientation. Epicureans and Stoics shared the question of the right path to their own soul , for which the polis no longer seemed the appropriate frame of reference. However, the respective conclusions were contradictory both in political and ideological terms and - and appropriately in each case - in the ethical orientation of individual behavior. The Athenian Epicurus, who rejected any political activity in the crisis of the polis and made a rationally controlled joie de vivre the model for individual salvation and happiness , Zeno , who came from the Cypriot Kition, set a cosmopolitan sense of attachment that went far beyond the polis opposite, in which the individual striving should be absorbed and the soul should find rest.

Core aspects of teaching

During the centuries of its tradition and further development, Stoic philosophy has undergone many changes and developed the ability to open up to new insights and to allow different accents and varieties in its leading minds. This cosmopolitanism and adaptability have also made a decisive contribution to their longevity.

On the other hand, there are constant characteristics that give it a distinctive character. They can be found in all three areas of the stoic teaching structure, physics , which deals with the cosmos and the things in the cosmos, logic , which is aimed at knowledge, explanation and argument, and ethics , which deals with human life and forms the center of Stoic philosophy.

Physics and cosmology

The most memorable short formula for the stoic view of the world was left - as in many other respects - by the emperor Mark Aurel ( Marcus Aurelius ) as the last of the well-known Stoics (self-contemplations VII, 9):

“Everything is intertwined as if by a sacred bond. Almost nothing is alien to one another. Everything created is related to each other and aims at the harmony of the same world. Composed of everything, there is one world, one God, all pervasive, one physical substance, one law, one reason , common to all rational beings, and one truth, just as there is a perfection for all these related beings who share the same reason. "

From a primal fire, the aither , everything that exists arises from a stoic point of view. All matter (hyle) is animated by divine reason ( logos ). The stoic doctrine is materialistic as well as pantheistic : The divine principle pervades the cosmos in all its components and is (only) to be found in them.

The Stoics are convinced of the strict causality of all events. Whatever occurs in the world and among people is therefore based on a seamless chain of causation. Where this cannot be proven, our cognitive faculties fail. The individual is also determined by fate ( Heimarmene ). If he opposes Providence ( πρόνοια prónoia , “Pronoia”), this too is determined by fate itself.

In his work “Philosophy of the West”, Bertrand Russell disdains the stoic theory of causality: “If the world is completely deterministic, then the laws of nature will determine whether I will be virtuous or not.” His balance sheet of the stoic cosmos: “Destruction of the present World through fire and then repetition of the entire process. Can you imagine something more pointless and useless? "

Pierre Hadot, on the other hand, sees human freedom not being deprived of all spaces by the Stoics. Through his ability to speak, the human being gets into "another universe, which is not of the same kind as the universe of causality, namely the universe of meaning and value." In this, according to the stoic view, human beings have the possibility of the events caused by fate themselves to evaluate and classify as good or bad. “The value of things therefore depends on the moral attitude we take towards them. So philosophy consists precisely in choosing to imagine things in a certain way ”.

Indeed, questions about individual freedom of action and moral responsibility have been raised since the dawn of Stoic philosophy . Chrysippos von Soli , who was considered the second founder of the Stoa after Zenon because of his outstanding dialectical abilities, demonstrated the responsibility of man for his actions using the example of instinctual impulses and behavioral consistency. Man's rational disposition gives him the opportunity and the task of examining the idea connected with the instinctual impulse and deciding whether to follow it or whether to reject it. The inner constitution of the individual is decisive:

“If someone throws a roller on an incline, however, he gives the external impetus to move; but the real cause that the roller rolls down lies in its shape, that is, in its own essence. "

According to Chrysippus, this inner constitution of the individual is determined by fate.

logic

For Stoics, “logos” means both language and reason. “Logic” then comprises on the one hand the formal rules of thinking and correct reasoning as well as those parts of language in which thought operations are expressed. "To know something, for the Stoa, means being able to make a statement that is verifiably true."

According to the Stoic epistemology, only what is recognized as true is immediately evident after the methodically correct use of the “criterion” (from the Greek Κριτήριον = “means of decision”). Only a self-controlled person arrives at correct perceptions, while a person guided by instincts and feelings is incapable of grasping the truth and acting accordingly.

Since knowledge and its communication take place in the medium of language, the Stoics, in accordance with their approach of showing the causal chains as seamlessly as possible, carried out thorough studies of grammar and logic, developed the theory of declination and tense and were the first to create a systematic theory of language. The core of the stoic logic was a stringent propositional logic , which was based on the Megarian philosophers Diodorus and Philon and developed their approaches further. The most important Stoic logician was Chrysippos von Soli , who, within the framework of his extensive logic, created the first formally precise calculus of statements and thus shaped the later Stoic logic.

Based on the stoic linguistic theory, dialectics and rhetoric were to be trained as further core areas of logic , the former as a method of finding truth and securing knowledge, the second as the art of communicating what was discovered in a convincingly structured and aesthetically appealing form. Zeno already used to illustrate the relationship between dialectics and rhetoric by means of gestures: the clenched fist for the dialectic tightly summarizing the thoughts on the one hand and the hand spread flat for the broad speech on the other. The dialectic had the greater weight in the stoic consciousness.

ethics

The classification of the human being as part and functional member of the nature governed by the Logos is his primary determination from a stoic point of view. With spirit and ability to think he himself has instruments that allow him to participate in the divine Logos and can lead him to wisdom as the highest good and the epitome of happy or happy existence (Greek εὐδαιμονία Eudaimonía) . The prerequisite for this is a process of self-knowledge and the acquisition of target-oriented behaviors, habits and attitudes. Your own reason serves as a guide; the instinct for self-preservation and the striving for self-perfection (Greek οἰκείωσις Oikeiosis ) act as motivators .

Only a lifelong striving for self-formation, which also withstands the challenges of fate and social environment, creates prospects for the peace of mind of the stoic sage . A prerequisite for this is a pronounced affect control , which should lead to freedom from passions ( apatheia ), to self-sufficiency ( autarky ) and unshakability ( ataraxia ). Our current concept of "stoic calm" goes back to these properties.

However, ἀπάϑεια (apátheia, "apathy") in the sense of the Stoa does not stand for indifference and passivity. Marcus Aurelius hit a core of the Stoic ethos when he admonished himself (self-contemplation IX, 12; quoted after buying wine):

" Work ! But not like an unhappy person or like someone who wants to be admired or pityed. Work or rest what is best for the community. "

In principle, the Stoic community included all people, Greeks and “barbarians” (despite the existence of states and borders), citizens and slaves (without the abolition of slavery being made part of the program). This cosmopolitan trait of the Stoa had already been created by its founding personalities long before it reached the political leadership circles of the Roman Empire. This fits the fact that the outstanding Stoics mostly came from the fringes of ancient Greek civilization.

Continuity and Change in Roman Antiquity

The rise of the Greek cultural area in the Roman Empire , which as a result of the Roman expansion since the 2nd century BC. BCE advanced strongly, led to a relationship of mutual influence that also affected the Stoa. In this process, which continued over several centuries, a distinction is made between two phases, one related to the republican and the other to the imperial era of Roman supremacy.

The middle stoa: role model function in leading circles of the Roman Republic

The stoic doctrine became the model for leading circles of the expanding Roman Empire because it was consistent with their political action and had a cosmopolitan approach. There were important interpreters of the Stoa who made the severity and one-sidedness (such as the original doctrine of affect) more acceptable for those who were in public life. Those who were previously considered to be nothing as slaves were also evaluated and integrated as full-fledged citizens.

Panaitios

The most important link between the Stoa and the culture of the Roman ruling elite was Panaitios , who had relationships with Scipio Aemilianus (which, however, were predominantly political, not philosophical). He modified the strict separation of mind and body laid down in the old doctrine and the disdain for the latter in the Stoa image of man and described the organism as a unity and expression of the overall personality. His anthropology was not directed towards radical instinct suppression, but rather moderate development and rational control .

Panaitios also pointed out the individuality of the disposition and the influences in the course of life and thus clearly set the prerequisites for leading a life in harmony with the requirements of nature and fate in relation to the respective personality. Such differences ultimately also determined the nature and extent of the duties which arose for the conduct of life and which made duties different to the patrician than to the plebeian . Such differentiations suited the aristocratic self-image of the republican ruling elite.

Poseidonios

The loosening and expansion of the stoic worldview brought about by Panaitios was continued and expanded by Poseidonios from the Syrian Apamea . Pohlenz saw in him the greatest scientific explorer of antiquity, whose research activities included philosophy and history as well as all areas of ancient natural sciences, a research horizon that only Aristotle had before and after him no one in antiquity.

Poseidonios, who had been trained by Panaitios in Athens, finally founded his own philosophy school on Rhodes , where Marcus Tullius Cicero also visited him to follow his lectures. And it was Cicero, in turn, who, with his work De officiis , ensured that the doctrine of duty of Panaitios was passed on.

The younger stoa: a reservoir of orientation in the Roman Empire

The Stoics of the Roman Empire focused on specific ethical problems. They were already on the developed from the middle Stoa natural law -fundament and humanitarian ideal support. The reputation and influence of the Stoic doctrine among the Roman emperors, however, fluctuated greatly depending on the nature of the rulers and the public mood. Appreciated and promoted by Augustus, it has come under considerable pressure since Nero .

Seneca

Lucius Annaeus Seneca from a wealthy family of Spanish origin had already gained a foothold as quaestor and made a name for himself as a philosophical writer when he fell from grace because of a change of power at court in AD 41 and was exiled to Corsica for eight years . He was recalled because Agrippina the Younger , who had meanwhile reached the political levers, saw him as the best educator for her 12-year-old son Nero . Seneca wrote a philosophical memorandum for Nero, the core message of which was aimed at the gentleness of the ruler towards the conquered and offenders (de clementia), but was unable to win him over to the stoic doctrine of duty and moral concepts.

From 54 to 62, Seneca remained in the imperial center of power and exercised significant political influence there. He then continued working on his philosophical writings, which made him probably the most widely read Stoic of all. When a conspiracy directed against Nero was uncovered in 65, he ordered Seneca, who was not involved at all, to be ordered to commit suicide. In the serenity of the stoic sage, Seneca took this step for which he had long been prepared in thought:

“The last day of life that you dread is the birthday of eternity. Throw off all your burden! Why the hesitation? Didn't you one day also leave the body that hid you from the world and see the light of day? You hesitate and don't want to? At that time, too, your mother brought you to light with severe suffering. You sigh and cry The newborns do that too. "

- Epistulae morales 102.26

Musonius and Epictetus

In addition to Seneca, other leading Stoics were also affected by Nero's cleansing measures following the Piso conspiracy: Musonius , who had expressed himself critical of Nero's ruling regime, was banished to a small Aegean island, while another leading Stoic in Rome was exiled to the same Wise passed away like Seneca. At his place of exile, Musonius had a great influx of people who wanted to hear his lectures. The later released Phrygian slave Epictetus also became his pupil at a young age. Domitian , who, like Vespasian, banished the Cynical and Stoic philosophers all into exile because of their critical attitude, was the reason why Epictetus founded a philosophy school outside Rome, in Nicopolis , where he, like Musonius before him, attracted many listeners.

Neither Musonius nor Epictetus left behind their own writings, so that their thinking is only passed down from the notes of listeners. Epictetus in particular tied in his teaching to the rigidity and severity of the older Stoa. For the former slave, the subject of freedom was of particular importance. However, it was not aimed at the legal and formal abolition of slavery, but at the freedom that every person, whether citizen or slave, is able to achieve on their own. To do this, he must learn to distinguish between things that are entirely in his power because they are connected with his own activity or omission, e.g. B. ideas, judgment, desires and aversions, and things that are not under one's control or disposal such as body shape, health, reputation, honor, property and death. The royal road to freedom, peace of mind and stoic wisdom consists in only recognizing the former as values, while viewing the others as morally indifferent things ( adiaphora ) and not dealing with them any further. Epictetus, it is said, did not need a lockable door for his abode because its poor furnishings would not have incited any theft.

Marcus Aurelius

Since Nerva the philosophers in Rome were well liked again, and the adoptive emperorship offered the Stoa new possibilities for development. Epictetus was held in high esteem by Emperor Hadrian , so that as a result of this change of direction, Marcus Aurelius , who was intended to succeed Antoninus Pius , had the opportunity to attend the lectures of the Stoic Apollonius, who was brought to Rome from Greece. With his self-reflections , which he kept for his own use during campaigns on the Danube border in his later years, Mark Aurel left the last significant testimony of Stoic philosophy. The wealth of experience from almost half a millennium since the beginnings of the Stoa has been incorporated into it.

The ruler function is accepted as a fortune and understood as a positively interpreted obligation to serve the community and fellow human beings. Marcus Aurelius saved his extensive historical and cosmological horizon from overestimating his own work and his own importance:

“Keep thinking that everything was as it is now, and always will be. Imagine all the similar plays and performances that you know from your own experience or from history, for example the whole court of Hadrian, the whole court of Antonin, the whole court of Phillips, Alexander, and Croesus. The same play everywhere, only performed by different people. (X, 27) "

“Alexander of Macedonia and his muleteer experienced the same fate after their death. For either they were absorbed into the same germs of life in the world or one like the other was scattered among the atoms. (VI, 24) "

Stoics in a chronological overview

period Surname Life dates Remarks
older stoa Zeno of Kition 333 / 32-262 / 61 v. Chr. Founder of the Stoa
Kleanthes of Assos 331-232 / 1 v. Chr. 2. Head of school from 262–232 / 1 v. Chr. Chr.
Ariston of Chios 3rd century BC Chr. Eratosthenes ' teacher
Chrysippos of Soloi 276-204 BC Chr. 3. Head of school from 232/1 BC Chr.
Zenon of Tarsus 3rd – 2nd Century BC Chr. 4. Head of school
Diogenes of Babylon 239 (December) -150 BC Chr. 5. Head of school
Antipater of Tarsus ? -129 BC Chr. 6. Head of school from 140–129 BC Chr.
medium stoa Panaitios of Rhodes 180 - approx. 110 BC Chr. 7. Head of school from 129-109 BC Chr.
Poseidonios of Apamea 135-51 BC Chr. Teachers Cicero and Pompey '
younger stoa Lucius Annaeus Seneca A.D. 1-65
Gaius Musonius Rufus 30–80 AD
Epictetus 50 - approx. 138 ad released slave
Marcus Aurelius A.D. 121–180 Roman emperor and general

The effect of the Stoa beyond antiquity

With the rise of Christianity to the state religion in the Roman Empire in the period between the emperors Constantine I and Theodosius I , the Stoa lost decisive ground as an ideological option in leading political circles. However, there was a considerable process of merging ethics and morals, which transferred stoic elements into the Christian way of life.

The philosophy of the Stoics also had some influence on Islamic thought. In the natural philosophy of the Mu destazilite thinker an-Nazzām (died between 835 and 845) in particular , stoic influences have been identified.

Neostoicism developed in the late Renaissance , the most famous of which is Justus Lipsius . This neostoicism shaped z. B. also Michel de Montaigne (before he turned to skepticism ), later René Descartes and Philipp Melanchthon ; Because of the great influence of these thinkers, there are traces of the Stoa, repeatedly renewed through direct links to the ancient sources, from then on through the entire history of philosophy. For example, the ethics of Baruch Spinoza and the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant are clearly shaped by the Stoa.

The enlightened absolutism of the Prussian King Frederick II was also stoically inspired . With the formula: I am the first servant of my state, he demonstratively followed the example of Marcus Aurelius.

The Rational Emotive Therapy developed by Albert Ellis in the USA , which is used in psychotherapy based on the stoic concept of affect control and the teachings of Epictetus , is an example of how diverse the after-effects of the Stoa can also extend into the present . Recently, the political-philosophical discourse, which reflects the current formation of world society, shows tendencies that favor a contemporary development of Stoic ethics (Weinkauf, p. 38):

“For the future, there are good reasons why we can assume that stoic ideas will be given increasing attention: the idea of ​​the fundamental equality of all people, the pronounced cosmopolitanism of the Stoa, the warning of world decline, above all the view of the world as a total organism - such thoughts could become increasingly important in the next few years and possibly stimulate conversation with the Stoa. "

Sources

From the representatives of the older Stoa (i.e. Zeno of Kition , Kleanthes and Chrysippos with their students) - with the exception of Kleanthes' hymn to Zeus - no complete works have survived. The tradition is largely based on doxographies by later authors, i.e. paraphrases and summaries of philosophical teachings, including:

These writings were popular literature in their time with a mixture of anecdote, biography and presentation of the doctrinal opinions, but apart from fragments handed down in quotations (see below editions ) and a partially preserved papyrus of one of the logical works of Chrysippus, they are the only surviving sources. According to Forschner, this means “that we know only sketchy things about Stoic logic and physics and that the eminent effect of the Stoa on late antiquity, the Middle Ages and the modern age is not from the 'hard' and argumentatively differentiated scientific core of the Stoic system, but from practical philosophy, and is determined by their popular philosophical expression. "

Opponents of the Stoa have also contributed to the traditional fragments by quoting the Stoics, in some cases in detail. These authors who are critical of the Stoa include Alexander von Aphrodisias , Plutarch , Galen , Sextus Empiricus , Plotinus , Eusebius , Nemesius von Emesa and Simplikios and numerous patristic authors .

Knowledge of the contents of the Middle Stoa is mainly due to the writings of Cicero . Although Cicero was not a representative of the Stoa, he often resorted to Stoic works in his writings. In this way the doctrine of duty of Panaitios can be reconstructed from De officiis .

Complete works are only preserved from the Stoics of imperial Rome (in particular from Seneca , Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius ).

Text editions and translations

literature

Overall representations

  • Tad Brennan: The Stoic Life. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005.
  • Johnny Christensen : An Essay on the Unity of Stoic Philosophy. Munksgaards Forlag, 1962; Reprint Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen 2012. - Reviews by David Walter Hamlyn in: Classical Review 13, 1963, p. 231 and Andrew Shortridge in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 02.34 2014
  • Maximilian Forschner : The Philosophy of the Stoa. Logic, physics and ethics. Theiss / WBG, Darmstadt 2018.
  • Malte Hossenfelder: Stoa, Epicureanism and Skepticism (= History of Philosophy , Vol. 3: The Philosophy of Antiquity , Vol. 3). 2nd edition, CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-30841-4 .
  • Brad Inwood (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics. Cambridge 2005.
  • Dieter Kraft: Stoa and Gnosis - Adaptation and Refusal. Typological aspects of two ancient ideologies. In: Topos 15, 2000, pp. 11–32 [1] , online (PDF; 261 kB).
  • Anthony Arthur Long : Hellenistic Philosophy: Stoics, Epicureans, Skeptics. 2nd edition, Duckworth, London 1986.
  • Max Pohlenz: The Stoa. History of a Spiritual Movement. 2 volumes. 7th edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1992, ISBN 3-525-25711-2 , ISBN 3-525-25712-0 (first 1948/1949; indispensable standard work, but partly racially colored: preface from 1943), excerpts online .
  • Gretchen Reydams-Schils: Stoa. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 5/1). Schwabe, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7965-3698-4 , pp. 140-181, 229-237
  • John Michael Rist : Stoic Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1969.
  • Francis Henry Sandbach : The Stoics. 2nd edition, Duckworth, London 1994.
  • Anna Schriefl: Stoic Philosophy. An introduction. Reclam, Ditzingen 2019.
  • Robert W. Sharples : Stoics, Epicureans and Skeptics. Routledge, London 1996.
  • Peter Steinmetz : The Stoa. In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): The Hellenistic philosophy (= outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 4/2). Schwabe, Basel 1994, ISBN 3-7965-0930-4 , pp. 491-716.

physics

  • Samuel Sambursky: The Physics of the Stoics. Routledge, London 1959.

logic

  • Jonathan Barnes : Logic and the imperial Stoa (= Philosophia antiqua, Volume 75). Brill, Leiden et al. 1997, ISBN 90-04-10828-9 .
  • Susanne Bobzien : The stoic modal logic. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1986, ISBN 3-88479-284-9 .
  • Ada Bronowski: The Stoics on Lekta: all there is to say (= Oxford classical monographs ). Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2019.
  • Jan Łukasiewicz : On the history of propositional logic. In: Knowledge 5, 1935, 111-131.
  • Benson Mates : Stoic Logic ( University of California Publications in Philosophy 26). University of California Press, Berkeley 1953, ISBN 0-608-11119-8 .

dialectic

ethics

Antique reception

  • Daniel Babut : Plutarque et le stoicisme. Presses universitaires de France, Paris 1969. - Review by Anthony Arthur Long in: The Classical Review 22, 1972, 27-29.
    • Italian translation: Alberto Bellanti (Ed.): Plutarco e lo stoicismo. Vita et Pensiero Universita, Milan 2003.
  • Richard Sorabji : Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000.
  • Michel Spanneut : Le stoïcisme des pères de l'Église de Clément de Rome à Clément d'Alexandrie (= Patristica Sorbonensia , vol. 1). Paris 1957.
  • Michel Spanneut: Le Stoicisme et Saint Augustin, In: Forma futuri. Studi in onore del cardinale Michele Pellegrino . Bottega d'Erasmo, Torino 1975, 896-914.

Reception since early modern times

  • Günter Abel : Stoicism and Early Modern Times. On the history of the origins of modern thought in the field of ethics and politics. Berlin / New York 1978.
  • Erhard Hobert: Stoic Philosophy. Tradition and topicality. A textbook and workbook. Diesterweg, Frankfurt a. M. 1992, ISBN 3-425-05557-7 .
  • Barbara Neymeyr , Jochen Schmidt , Bernhard Zimmermann (eds.): Stoicism in European philosophy, literature, art and politics. A cultural history from antiquity to modern times. 2 volumes, Berlin / New York 2008 (the authoritative account of the aftermath of the Stoa).
  • Donald Robertson: The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Stoicism as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy. Karnac, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-85575-756-1 .
  • Michel Spanneut: Permanence du stoïcisme de Zénon à Malraux. Gembloux 1973. - Reviews of Jean-Paul Brisson in: Archives des sciences sociales des religions 38, 1974, pp. 258-259, online and Jacques Étienne in: Revue Philosophique de Louvain 73, 1975, pp. 213-215, online

Newer usage approaches

Web links

Wiktionary: Stoa  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. "Epicurean doctrine of pleasure integrated into a comprehensive concept of life, in a philosophical art of living that will point the way to a happy life with reflection and this-worldly serenity." Peter Leusch: Report of a meeting of the Würzburg Center for Epikureismusforschung. April 22, 2010.
  2. Aetius I prooem. 2
  3. ^ Bertrand Russell: Philosophy of the Occident. Vienna - Zurich, 6th edition 1992, p. 274.
  4. Pierre Hadot, Mark Aurel. In: Friedo Ricken (Ed.), Philosophen der Antike, Volume II, Stuttgart 1996, p. 203.
  5. ^ Cicero, de fato, 43
  6. Aulus Gellius, noctes Atticae 7.2.7
  7. Maximilian Forschner: The Elder Stoa. In: Friedo Ricken (Ed.): Philosophen der Antike, Volume II, Stuttgart 1996, p. 29.
  8. Cf. Fehmi Jadaane: L 'influence du stoïcisme sur la pensée musulmane . Dar el-Machreq, Beyrouth, 1968.
  9. Cf. Saul Horovitz: About the influence of Greek philosophy on the development of the Kalam . Schatzky, Breslau, 1909. pp. 8-33. Digitized
  10. Maximilian Forschner: The Elder Stoa. In: Friedo Ricken (Ed.): Philosophen der Antike, Volume II, Stuttgart 1996, p. 26.