This chapter discusses the theory of determinism put forward by the ancient Stoics and its theory for rational action and moral responsibility. The Stoic argument for determinism is presented in Section 1. Stoic determinism implies fatalism. The first problem, studied in Section 2, is whether it is rational to be motivated to do anything if one believes in fatalism. A second problem is that determinism seems to imply that everything people do is fully determined by external causes alone. This problem, (...) and the solution proposed by the Stoics, are studied in Section 3. A third problem, discussed in Section 4, is whether moral responsibility is compatible or incompatible with the possibility of alternate actions. The chapter discusses two objections raised by incompatibilists, which relate to the notion of agency and freedom from external force. The chapter briefly considers one possible counter‐objection to Chrysippus, the third head of the Stoic school. (shrink)

Cet article s’inscrit dans la lignée de précédents travaux visant à rapprocher l’entrepreneur schumpétérien et le surhumain nietzschéen. Les deux partagent une créativité pouvant s’interpréter comme l’extériorisation d’un surcroît de force qui, dans l’optique nietzschéenne, s’assimile à la source extra-morale de l’accroissement de la vie. Reste à savoir si le cadre dans lequel ils évoluent est le même. Au-delà d’une approche historique du cycle de la conjoncture, notre hypothèse est que l’approche philosophique d’un cycle du devenir s’avère être féconde pour (...) une interprétation enrichie du cycle de la conjoncture, complétant et prolongeant ainsi notre interprétation du surhumain et de l’entrepreneur. (shrink)

Chrysippe a élaboré une stratégie contre l’argument Dominateur de Diodore afin d’éviter le nécessitarisme impliqué par le rejet des possibilités contrefactuelles. Alexandre d’Aphrodise lui oppose sa doctrine du retour périodique (Sur les Premiers Analytiques d’Aristote 180, 28 – 181, 34). Son objection repose sur une conception numérique de l’identité des individus à travers les cycles. Chrysippe n’admettant que leur ressemblance sinon leur stricte identité qualitative, sa doctrine du retour autorise les possibilités contrefactuelles.

This article is an attempt to understand a phenomenon highlighted by French philosopher Michel Foucault in hisHistory of Sexuality, vols. 2 and 3, namely, that of the positive appreciation of ‘old age’ in the late period of the Roman Empire, particularly in Seneca’s Stoicism. The positive value in the latter’s representation and imagery of old age serves as a focal point of individuals’ existences in their entirety and as a magnetic pole in the lives of individuals who strive to make (...) works of art out of the raw material of their existences—something we call ‘self-building’ practices, following Foucault. Moving beyond his work, we will further show that late Stoicism’s representation of old age is marked by an intellectual and ethical effort to activate another—indeed, opposed—direction for the passage of time, usually experienced as a painful dereliction of self. (shrink)

The conception of philosophy we have inherited from ancient Greek tradition, and especially from Hellenistic Stoicism proves to be insightful even today. On the one hand, philosophy was considered as inseparable from life in terms of good life, thus ethically oriented and corresponding to virtue – perspective which still dominates the current interpretation of Stoicism. On the other hand, philosophy was connected to life through a specific link to logos. In this paper, I address the issue of the relationship between (...) language and virtue in Stoicism. I will suggest that, with the Stoics, “logic” can coincide with ethics, and that the seal of their reconciliation is to find in the human language. (shrink)