What are the main ideas and representatives of Stoicism? Stoicism is what kind of direction in philosophy? The essence and characteristics of stoicism.

12.10.2019

16. Stoicism

Stoicism as a specific direction of philosophical thought has existed since the 3rd century. BC e. until the 3rd century Stoicism is the least "Greek" of all philosophical schools. Early Stoics, mostly Syrians: Zeno of Kition from Cyprus, Cleanthes, Chrysippus. Their works have been preserved only in separate fragments, so a detailed explanation of their views is significantly difficult. The late Stoics (I and II centuries) include Plutarch, Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius - these are mostly Romans. Their works have come down to us in the form of complete books.

Already with one word "stoic", according to A.F. Losev, there is an idea of wise man who very courageously endures all the hardships of life and remains calm despite all the troubles and misfortunes he experiences. Indeed, the Stoics in their views, unconditionally, brought to the fore the concept of a calm and always balanced, even "insensitive" sage. This manifested the ideal of inner freedom, freedom from passions, which was cherished by almost all the Stoics.

According to Chrysippus (c. 280-208 BC), there is world soul. This is the purest ether, the most mobile and light, feminine and gentle, as if the thinnest kind matter.

Late Stoic Marcus Aurelius (121-180; Roman emperor from 161 AD) was convinced that God gave each person a special good genius to lead. (This idea was revived in Christianity in the form of a guardian angel.) For him, the universe is a tightly connected whole; it is a single, living being, possessing a single substance and a single soul. Here are some of the aphorisms Marcus Aurelius: “Think more often about the connection of all things in the world, and about their relationship”, “Whatever happens to you, it is predetermined for you from the ages. And the interweaving of causes from the very beginning connected your existence with this event. And again: “Love mankind. Follow God... And that is enough to remember that the Law governs everything.”

Characterizing the various properties of the soul, the Stoics paid special attention to the phenomenon of will; the doctrine was built on the principle of will, on self-control, patience, etc. They strove for complete self-sufficiency. (And in our view, a stoic sage is a person with a powerful and unyielding willpower.)

They also interpreted the development of nature in a religious spirit, believing that everything is predetermined. God is not separated from the world, he is the soul of the world, a beneficent providence.

The Stoics proceeded from the principle of universal expediency. Everything makes sense: even bed bugs are useful as they help you wake up in the morning and not stay in bed for too long. The essence of this principle is well expressed by the verses:

Lead me, ruler of Zeus and Rock,

To the limit you set for me!

I will follow willingly; if not,

I, having become a coward, will not escape you;

Leads the obedient Rock, attracts the obstinate.

Freedom for the famous thinker, writer and statesman Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD) is a deity who rules over all things and events. Nothing can change her. Hence humility, endurance and persistent transfer of life's hardships. The stoic sage does not resist evil: he understands it and steadfastly abides in its semantic fluidity, therefore he is imperturbable and calm.

Not without reason, throughout the history of Stoicism, Socrates was the main deity of the Stoics; his behavior during his trial, his refusal to flee, his calmness in the face of death, his assertion that injustice does more harm to the one who commits it than to the victim - all this fully corresponded to the teachings of the Stoics.

The early Stoics followed the ancient tradition in their ideas of being. They proceeded from the fact that the body of the world is formed from fire, air, earth and water. The soul of the world is a fiery and airy pneuma. All existence was conceived only as a different degree of tension of the divine-material primary fire. According to the Stoic doctrine of fire element essence of the world, this fire turns into all other elements according to the law, which, after Heraclitus, was called the Logos. In the writings of the Stoics, there is a lot of reasoning about the Stoic Logos, which was understood as something objective in its merged unity with the material elements of everything that exists. The logos of the world among the Stoics was identified with Fate. According to them, Fate is the Logos of the Cosmos: it orders everything in the world. Zeno (332-262 BC) said that Fate is the power that moves matter. He defined God as the fiery mind of the world: God fills the whole world with himself, like honey fills a honeycomb; he is the supreme head governing all things. According to Zeno, God, Mind, Fate are one and the same. (This is why the Stoics believed in astrology and divination.)

By nature, the Stoics taught, all human beings are equal. Marcus Aurelius, in his work Alone with Myself, praises a polity governed on the basis of equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and a royal government that respects above all the freedom of the governed. This was an ideal that could not be realized in the Roman Empire, but influenced the legislators, in particular, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the position of women and slaves was improved. (Christianity adopted this part of the teachings of the Stoics, along with many others.)

The Stoics were interested not so much in the mysteries of the Cosmos as in the element of expression and expressiveness. Giving in general a very rough cosmology, they, said A.F. Losev, turned out to be very subtle philologists and connoisseurs of precisely expressive forms of consciousness, and dialectics was understood by them in closest connection with rhetoric, with the art of carrying on a conversation. (With this content, dialectics also entered medieval thinking.)

Among the Stoics, we find numerous and finely developed logical and grammatical studies: the origins of grammar are precisely in the school of the Stoics. From their point of view, the philosophical principle itself is rooted in the human subject. But this was not strictly subjectivism. The Stoics used the term lecton. It denotes the subject that we have in mind when we use its designation. It is known that language (its vocabulary and grammar, syntax, semantics, etc.) is also subjective. But with words we designate objects, their connections and relations. Consequently, what we designate, or rather, what we mean by designating objects, is neither subjective nor objective. When it is true, it is objective and even true, but it can also be false. The Stoics, according to Losev, draw a completely correct conclusion, namely, that the lecton, when we use it to designate or name an object, can be both true and false, that is, it is higher than both truth and falsehood. According to Plotinus, the Stoic lecton is only a mental construct associated with the word, but does not have a causal-metaphysical existence. Lekton is pure meaning.

The Stoics proceeded from the distinction between verbal sounding and the statement contained in it, from which the later Stoic distinction between “sounding word” and “verbal objectivity”, or “meaning” (lekton) originates. So the term "lecton" means the theory of the signified.

Aristotle spoke about the division of philosophy into logic, physics and ethics, however, among the Stoics this division received final recognition, due to which these three philosophical disciplines were delineated and logic became an independent discipline.

Thus, the Hellenistic-Roman period of the development of philosophical thought brought with it a lot of new things to the world, which sharply distinguishes it from the previous period of Greek classics.

We present the statement of Vl. Solovyov:

“While the Alexanders and the Caesars were politically abolishing, in the East and in the West, precarious national frontiers, cosmopolitanism was being developed and spread as philosophical principle representatives of the two most popular schools - wandering cynics and unflappable stoics. They preached the supremacy of nature and reason, the single essence of everything that exists, and the insignificance of all artificial and historical divisions and boundaries. Man by his very nature, therefore every man, they taught, has the highest dignity and purpose, which consists in freedom from external attachments, delusions and passions - in the unshakable valor of that man who,

When the whole world, giving a crack, fell apart,

Remained fearless in the ruins.

In conclusion, we note the following. Philosophers usually have a certain breadth of mind and are generally able to ignore the misfortunes in their personal life; but even they cannot rise above the highest good or evil of their time. In bad times, they come up with consolations, and in good times, their interests are rather purely intellectual. Comparing the tone of Marcus Aurelius with the tone of the works of F. Bacon, J. Locke or Condorcet, we, according to B. Russell, see the difference between a weary age and an age of hope. In an age of hope, great modern evil, misfortune is bearable, because consciousness says that they will pass. But in an age of fatigue, even genuine goods lose their charm. The ethics of the Stoics corresponded to the times of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius: it called for patience rather than hope.

From the book Reader in Philosophy author Radugin A. A.

3.4. Hellenistic Philosophy: Epicureanism and Stoicism EPICUR celestial bodies blissful and immortal, and at the same time they think that they have desires, actions, motives,

From the book History of Western Philosophy by Russell Bertrand

Chapter XXVIII. STOICISM Stoicism, although contemporary in time with Epicureanism, had a longer history and less fixed doctrine. The teachings of its founder Zeno, dating back to the beginning of the 3rd century BC, did not at all resemble the teachings of Marcus Aurelius,

From the book Decline of Europe. image and reality. Volume1 author Spengler Oswald

II BUDDHISM, STOICISM. SOCIALISM

From book ancient philosophy author Asmus Valentin Ferdinandovich

From the book Phenomenology of Spirit author Gegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich

X. Stoicism in Ancient Rome 1. Panetius Stoicism was transferred to Roman soil by Panetius of Rhodes (c. 185-110 BC), who freed the teachings of Stoicism from some of the features of its original severity. In Rome he was a friend of Scipio the Younger and a teacher of Cicero. While

From the book Results of Millennium Development, Vol. I-II author Losev Alexey Fyodorovich

B. Freedom of self-consciousness; Stoicism, Skepticism, and the Unhappy Consciousness Introduction. The stage of consciousness reached here: thinking

From the book Philosophy: Lecture Notes author Olshevskaya Natalia

1. Stoicism This freedom of self-consciousness, when it appeared in the history of the spirit as a self-conscious phenomenon, was called, as you know, stoicism. Its principle is that consciousness is a thinking entity, and that something has essentiality for it, or is true and good for

From the book Philosophy. cheat sheets author Malyshkina Maria Viktorovna

5. Stoicism The Stoics also initially distinguish between the principle and the element. "Principles are devoid of arising and perishing, while the elements are subject to perishing in connection with the processes of ignition." Some are "incorporeal" and "formless", while others are in a state of formation (SVF 11, frg.

From the book Philosophical Dictionary author Comte Sponville André

Epicureanism, Cynicism, Stoicism The most important philosophical currents of the Hellenistic era are Epicureanism, Cynicism, Stoicism. Epicureanism. Epicurus (341-270 BC) divided his teaching into three parts: the theory of knowledge (canonics), the doctrine of nature (physics) and ethics. Epicurus did not recognize

From the author's book

37. The Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius (121-180) is a Roman emperor, one of the most significant representatives of Roman stoicism. Marcus Aurelius primarily reflects on the frailty of life. He derives his assessment from the understanding of time: time is a river, a swift stream.

From the author's book

Stoicism (Stoicisme) An ancient school of thought founded by Zeno of Kition. It was rethought and updated by Chrysippus, and further developed thanks to Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. The school owes its name not to the founder, but to the place where Zeno met with

Stoicism a school of philosophy founded Zeno of Kition(332 - 262 BC) around 300 BC and received such a name because its first representatives gathered in the portico "Stoya" ("Motley Hall"), i.e. covered gallery, the ceiling of which is supported by columns.

The largest representatives of early Stoicism (III - II centuries BC), in addition to its founder, were Cleanf and Chrysippus, middle stoicism (II - I centuries BC) - Panetius and poseidonius, late (I - II centuries AD) - Seneca and Marcus Aurelius.

At the disposal of philosophers today there are only separate fragments of the writings of the Stoics of the two initial periods. But on the other hand, most of the works of Seneca have been preserved, the main of which is "Moral Letters to Lucilius", as well as the work of the emperor Marcus Aurelius " Alone with myself".

Zeno divided the sciences into logic, physics (natural philosophy) and ethics, comparing them with orchard or egg. The fence of the garden is logic, the trees in the garden are physics, fruits, what the garden is planted for is ethics. Or the eggshell is logic, the protein is physics, and the yolk is ethics.

Logics(Stoics) boils down to the following basic ideas:

1) The purpose of logic is to work out the criteria of truth.

2) The source of human knowledge is sensations, on the basis of which representations arise.

3) Accumulating in the memory of a person, representations provide a basis for comparison, identifying similarities and differences, highlighting similarities and formulating concepts.

4) Concepts (general) do not have an independent existence outside the human mind. In reality, only a few things exist.

Physics(Stoics) contains the following main ideas:

1) Being is only that which is capable of activity and suffering. Such is only the body, and, consequently, "being and the body are one and the same."

2) Cosmos is a living, rational and material whole, which has two principles in itself: passive material and active ideal (Logos).

3) Everything in the world arises from the Logos, which is inseparable from matter, and since there is no matter without form, the Logos is everything (materialistic pantheism).

4) The self-development of the world occurs cyclically, and each cycle ends with a World fire: the world will someday be cleansed, burn, and then be reborn again and everything will be repeated all over again.

Essence ethics(Stoic) is reduced to the following provisions:

1) For the Stoics, the goal of life is to achieve happiness, the essence of which is to follow nature, i.e. to live in such a way as to ensure the growth and development of the qualities inherent in a person, in particular, a reasonable beginning.

2) Happiness does not depend on external events, so a person captured by torture, illness and social upheaval can be happy. Therefore, it is necessary to be indifferent to the events taking place in society.

3) The sage is free (because he is able to restrain passions), and the ignoramus is a slave, because he is dominated by passions, which are the result of a weak mind.

The key idea of the philosophical school of the Stoics is similar to the main idea of the philosophy of the Cynics. It consists in liberation from the influence of the outside world. They, of course, had different understandings of how to achieve liberation. If a cynics saw liberation from the influence of the outside world in the rejection of values traditional culture, antisocial lifestyle, vagrancy and begging, then stoics believed that liberation required constant self-improvement, assimilation best achievements traditional culture and the pursuit of wisdom.

The ideal for a stoic is sage, risen above the vanity of the surrounding life and freed from the influence of the outside world thanks to the following qualities:

- virtues;

- dispassion (apathy);

- enlightenment, knowledge;

- autarky (self-sufficiency).

Seneca(5 BC - 65 AD) - an outstanding Roman philosopher who raised the emperor Nero. After Nero began to pursue a vicious policy, Seneca committed suicide. Seneca defended the ideas of virtue, urged not to participate in public life and focus on your own spiritual state. He welcomed peace and contemplation and was a supporter of life invisible to the state, but joyful for the individual. Seneca believed in the limitless possibilities for the development of man and mankind as a whole and foresaw cultural and technological progress.

Marcus Aurelius(121 - 180 AD) - the largest Roman philosopher, in the years 161 - 180 - the emperor of Rome. His philosophy is characterized by the recognition of God as the highest world principle, which he understood as an active material and spiritual force that unites the whole world. Marcus Aurelius singled out the external world, which is not subject to man, and the inner world, subject only to man. He considered the main reason for the happiness of an individual is to bring his inner world in line with outside world. He called to appreciate and maximize the opportunities of life.

Racks- representatives of the philosophical trend that arose in ancient Greece around the 3rd century BC. BC e. and lasted until the 6th century. n. e. The name comes from the Greek "one hundred a" - a portico, where the founder of Stoicism, Zeno of Kita (c. 336-264 BC), taught. The doctrine of the Stoics is extremely heterogeneous and contradictory. It also contains a number good points, but on the whole it reflected the period of the decay of the slave system, the period of the decline of philosophy. The history of Stoicism is divided into three periods: the ancient standing (paibolse the outstanding thinker Chrysippus - c. 280-205 BC), the middle and the new.

In the era of the Roman Empire, standing (new), with its characteristic interest mainly in ethics, in moral problems, is represented by Seneca (c. 3-65), Epictetus (c. 50-138) and Marcus Aurelius (121-180). The Stoics divided philosophy into logic, physics and ethics. In their logic they developed a sensationalist theory of knowledge. All knowledge, they argued, is acquired through sense perceptions. The soul before experience is a blank slate. Representations are the impressions of objects in the soul. Sensual representations are then subjected to further processing by thinking. This is how general concepts, judgments. All cognitive processes, according to the teachings of the Stoics, occur in the soul, which is a special kind of body - pneuma (combination of air and fire). In the field of physics, the stalwarts appear mainly as materialists; they develop the doctrine (see) about fire.

They consider nature as a material and at the same time a living and rational whole, all parts of which are in motion. “The Stoic sage does not mean at all “life without vital development”, but an absolutely mobile life, as already follows from his view of nature - Heraclitean, dynamic, developing and living ...”. However, the Stoics considered matter as a passive principle, and God as an active principle. According to the teachings of the Stoics, everything in the world is subject to strict necessity, which they interpret in the spirit of "fate", "fate", that is, fatalistically. In terms of such an understanding of necessity, they built their own ethics. Struggling against (see), they proceeded in ethics from the fact that the main thing is virtue, and not pleasure.

The main features of the idealistic ethics of the Stoics were the preaching of obedience to fate, dispassion (apathy), and the rejection of the joys of life. The Stoics opposed the "stability" of the mind to the changing world of things. They preached cosmopolitan ideas. The ethics of the Stoics appeals to the exploitative ideology. It is not for nothing that in the imperialist era the reactionaries use the ethics of the Stoics for their own purposes. From the ethics of the Stoics, much was borrowed by the then-nascent Christianity with its cult of man's obedience to "fate", passive submission to oppressors, etc. Marx and Engels pointed out that "spiritual vision" was not alien to the Stoics, and Epicurus called them "old women" for this, which their "tales about spirits" were borrowed by the Neoplatonists, the most reactionary mystics-idealists of the period of the disintegration of the slave-owning society.

Stoic philosophers argued the existence of a single God and the lack of freedom of man from his fate, called for "apathy" - an even attitude to successes and failures. What was the reason for the extraordinary popularity of Stoicism among early Christians? And what did the Stoics mean by dispassion? The teacher of philosophy Victor Petrovich Lega tells.

"Dog Philosophers" and Zeno

Stoicism in the Hellenistic era was the most widespread philosophical school, and, perhaps, the only school that was popular not only in Ancient Greece but also in ancient Rome. The Romans, not inclined to philosophizing, took Stoicism as their own philosophy. I note right away that of all the Hellenistic schools greatest influence It was Stoicism that affected early Christianity, Christian philosophy and worldview. Plato - later, in the IV century.

The founder of the philosophy of Stoicism, which appeared at the end of the 4th century BC, was Zeno of Kitia. He was a navigator, merchant, and did not think to engage in philosophy. Once, already in adulthood (he was over 30), he sailed with a cargo of some goods from Phoenicia to Athens. During a storm, the ship was wrecked. Zeno escaped. Arriving in Athens, he found himself in one of the bookstores and, having nothing to do, took the work of Xenophon about. On the spot, he read all this work and was amazed! He asked the seller: “Are there other such people?” At that moment, the Cynic philosopher Crates entered the shop, and the seller pointed to him. Zeno persuaded Crates to take him as his student, and he agreed.

The name of the school to which Crates belonged comes from the temple on the hill of Kinosarg, but the Cynics themselves later played with this word and said that the name of their school comes from the word “kyuon” - “dog”, and even called themselves “dog philosophers”. Therefore, evil tongues later said that the whole philosophy of Zeno was "written on the end of a dog's tail."

The Cynics lived without being ashamed of their passions and instincts - like animals. The main position of the Cynics: you must follow your nature. If you follow your nature, you will be happy. Why, they said, restrain natural impulses, run to the toilet, for example, feel uncomfortable when you can do your job right there, on the street, and this is quite normal. That is why they were called "dog philosophers".

The famous Diogenes of Sinop belonged to this school. Many different stories are told about him - and that he was looking for a man, walking around Athens during the day with a lantern, and that he lived in the market square of Athens in a barrel, etc. Once Alexander the Great wanted to talk with Diogenes. When the king approached Diogenes, he was sitting and basking in the sun, and at the sight of the king he did not even think to get up. “I am the great Tsar Alexander,” said the Tsar. “And I,” answered the philosopher, “the dog Diogenes.” After a short conversation, Alexander said: "Ask me for whatever you want." “Step back, you are blocking the sun for me,” Diogenes said and continued to warm himself.

Blessed Augustine calls the Cynics "canine philosophers" and reduces their entire philosophy to sexual unbridledness. But Zeno still took the most important thing from the Cynics - the ability to live in harmony with the world in order to be happy. Let me remind you: the main task of the philosophy of the Hellenistic period is to understand how to find happiness in this complex, huge, alien world for us.

Philosophy is like an egg

The name of the school comes from the word "Stoya" - "Portico" - and has nothing to do with Russian "persistent". The parallel is accidental, although true

Acquainted with the philosophy of the Cynics, Zeno, who loved solitude (as Diogenes Laertes writes, he was outwardly awkward: very long, thin, with thick legs - and therefore avoided crowds), creates his own school in a place that the Athenians generally tried not to visit. It was the place of execution of 1400 people when 30 tyrants, appointed by Sparta after the victory over Athens in the Peloponnesian War, ruled. There was the Motley Portico. In this Motley Portico (in Greek - “standing poikile”) Zenon created his school. Hence - the name of the school: "Standing", that is, in literal translation - "Portico". It has nothing to do with the Russian word “resistant”, the parallel is accidental, although quite true: a Stoic philosopher really must be resistant to the hardships of life. Often the school of the Stoics is simply called "Portico", as the school of Epicurus was called "Garden", - "Academy", - "Lyceum".

Over time, Zeno had many students: Cleanthes, Chrysippus, they have their own followers: Panetius, Posidonius (I name only the most famous). This philosophy became widespread in Rome from the 1st century BC. with the advent of such philosophers as the slave Epictetus, right hand Emperor Nero Seneca, Emperor Marcus Aurelius - as we see, in Rome, the philosophy of the Stoics was spread from the lower strata of society, among slaves, to the highest, in imperial circles. Why? But because it really helped a person to live in this world and at the same time - not just survive, but also enjoy, be happy.

The Stoics approach the issue of finding happiness fundamentally. First, they argue, one must know what the world is like. After all, the main setting: happiness is in harmony with the world. To be in harmony with the world, you need to know what it is - the world. And for this you need to figure out how to know it correctly. Hence the sequence: first we deal with the theory of knowledge, and then with the very knowledge of the world. The Stoics made perhaps the greatest contribution to the development of logic in Antiquity after Aristotle.

It turns out that, using the rules of knowledge, we find out what this world is like, that is, we are engaged in physics, and then we use this knowledge to solve ethical issues. The Stoics even came up with a wonderful comparison: all philosophy is like an egg: the shell is logic, the protein is physics, and the yolk, most importantly, is ethics. Indeed, without the shell and protein, the yolk will not eventually become a living being.

It is not our feelings that deceive us, but our states

In the field of the theory of knowledge, the Stoics completely trust. They constantly argue with Plato, with his rationalism and distrust of feelings: we trust feelings! they say. You just need to be clear about what about this is for feelings - not to judge objects when they are far away, when it is dark, when you are sleepy, drunk, sick. Light, close, sober, awake, healthy - these are the states you can trust. It is not our feelings that deceive us, but our states and our inability to understand them.

There is God, there is no freedom

Most interesting discovery what the Stoics do in the field of physics is the existence of God, whom they were among the first to call "Logos". For the first time this word for naming God was used by Heraclitus. The Stoics don't just talk about the existence of God - they prove it! They pay attention to the amazing beauty and order in the world. “If you,” writes Cleanthes, “go into some gymnasium or forum and see amazing cleanliness and order there, you understand that there is a good and wise manager here. And if you see even greater order and even greater beauty in the world, you understand that the Ruler of this world is much more wise and has much more power. These arguments were subsequently used in Christian theology - in the so-called teleological proof of the existence of God, one of the most common to this day - "proof from beauty and order."

Only the One God can keep the entire universe in harmony and orderly order.

Moreover, the Stoics conclude that there is One God. Why - One? Because only the One God can keep the entire universe in integrity, in a single harmony and a single order. But if God keeps all this universe in a single order, then He is one with this universe - He is not outside of it, otherwise the world would fall apart. It permeates it and connects all parts together. Therefore, the Stoics often called God "Pneuma" - "Spirit". True, the Stoics understood the spirit as a kind of subtle matter of a fiery-air nature. The human soul is also subtle-material. The words "pneuma", "logos" were actually used as synonyms. That is, God is the "world soul" that permeates the whole world and actually merges with it - such a concept is usually called pantheism. God, as it were, includes the world in Himself, according to the Stoics. In this we see a very important difference between the concept of the Stoics and the idea of Epicurus: if Epicurus’s world consists of atoms independent of each other, which guarantees the independence of each person and his complete freedom, then the Stoics’ world is a single whole, where everything is connected together by God, the Logos , and hence it follows that there is no freedom.

Apathy as ... dispassion

The world is driven by God, which means that the world is moving in the right direction - God is wise

Consider now the ethical conclusions of the Stoics. Their main message: complete subordination of the whole world to the divine Logos. Complete! The opinion of a person that he is free, that something depends on him, is the main cause of our misfortunes, the Stoics believe. A person often reproaches himself that he did this, but he could have done otherwise, and then he would have had a completely different life, he would have been lucky ... But this is the biggest delusion that deprives us of peace, happiness and harmony with the world. We must come to terms with the Logos, completely submit ourselves to Him. Therefore, the late Stoics add the words “rock”, “fatum”, “fate” to the words “Logos”, “God”, “Pneuma”. After all, God is wise not only in terms of space, uniting the world in harmony - He is wise in time as well. about m respect: if everything in the world develops, moves, then God moves it, which means that the world moves in the right direction - God is wise! Therefore, if I try to complain about what happened to me, I just do not understand what happened to me that should have happened. And rightly so: I have to thank God for everything. Such conclusions will already be made by Christians, while the Stoics are still limited to the concept of "apathy", literally: "dispassion".

Our passions - main reason our misfortunes, therefore the analysis of passions is the main theme of the late Stoics, especially the Roman ones.

The Roman Stoics did not deal with either physics or logic at all - this was perfectly developed by Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus and others. Knowing physics and logic, you can move on to ethics. And the main thing will be the teaching not about how to act correctly, but about how to respond correctly. Passions, our emotions, our reaction to what happens to us are the main cause of our misfortunes, so we need to be able to respond correctly to every situation.

Anger, anger, sadness are bad emotions. Joy, pleasure ... also bad

The Stoics analyzed different passions and reactions: negative attitude, anger, sadness - in one direction; joy, pleasure - in the other direction. Both of them are…bad. Where does joy come from? - I did something like that, and suddenly it turned out that it brought me good luck, benefit, I rejoice: how smart I am, what a fine fellow! But it just happened to coincide with the intention of the Logos! Or vice versa: I did something, and it brought me failure - oh, I should have done differently, what a fool and loser I am! Well, humble yourself, accept troubles and joys as if they were not dependent on you, dispassionately. Passion - that's what spoils your life!

True, some philosophers, such as, for example, Epictetus, nevertheless called for dividing events into two types: events that do not depend on us, and events that depend on us. Those events that do not depend on us must be perceived dispassionately. For example, why be sad if it is raining outside? You will only spoil your mood by thinking: “It’s so bad that it’s raining, but yesterday the weather was sunny.” Will this help you? Will the rain stop after that? Of course not. So calmly take an umbrella, put on a raincoat and go to work. But in relation to those events that depend on us, you must take some action, make efforts to get pleasure. But not all Stoics adhered to such a doctrine - this is the philosophy of Epictetus, who, by the way, influenced Marcus Aurelius.

The eternal problem: where does evil come from?

The Stoics also raise the question of the goodness of God and the suffering in our world. If the Logos is good and brings only beauty and goodness into the world, where does evil come from in the world? Many of the thoughts of the Stoics on this subject anticipate the arguments that Christians will have. Or rather, Christians will borrow them from the Stoics.

We do not know what is good and what is evil. We are all like a child who is offended by his parents because they give him porridge, not sweets, but in adulthood he will thank his parents for raising him on time as a follower healthy food. So we - we think that misfortune befell us, simply not knowing all the conditions. We look at the world from our small bell tower, but the Logos sees our destiny much more broadly, sees our future.

The Stoics also taught that we need evil for our upbringing: if everything was fine, we would not have a strong will and we could not eventually strengthen it in order to reconcile with fate and fight passions, but we need this. for happiness.

The Stoics liked to repeat: "Fate leads the wise man, but drags the fool"

Another problem that stems from the teachings of the Stoics: it turns out that a person is not free if he is completely dependent on fate, fate, fate. Of course, sometimes it seems that it is. And this complete fatalism finds expression in proverbs, for example: “what will be, it will not be avoided”, “two deaths will not happen - one cannot be avoided”. But not everything is so primitive. The Stoics loved to repeat the famous phrase: "Fate leads the wise man, but drags the fool."

One of the philosophers gives the following example: during the battle, a warrior captured his opponent and, as was often done in those days, tying him to his horse, galloped to his camp. If the prisoner is smart, he understands that his and the horse's strengths are unequal: he will run after the horse, and then, perhaps, he will be able to escape from captivity. If he is a fool, he will try to free himself, and the horse will drag a bloody, tattered corpse into the enemy camp. This is how a person must obediently, dispassionately follow fate, and then he will be free - free from his passions, from his stupidity, arrogance, confidence that he can do something in this world himself.

“Freedom is a recognized necessity” - this was also taught by the Stoics

Subsequently, another famous phrase will be born from this philosophy: “Freedom is a cognized necessity”, which for some reason is reinterpreted as follows: “Freedom is a conscious necessity”. "Freedom is a recognized necessity" - Spinoza, Hegel, Marx would later teach this. Of course, there is one-sidedness in this understanding of freedom. Indeed, in fact, God, as Christianity teaches, is a Personality, and not an impersonal fate, as in Stoicism. In the Gospel we read: "Know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). Full truth is not only a necessity, it is wider. Therefore, we can become free individuals when we submit our will to God.

Stoic philosophy in the first centuries of our era was extremely popular not only among pagans, but also among Christians. Such Christian philosophers, such as, for example, Tertullian, completely shared even the physics of the Stoics, saying that God is material: He is “subtly material”, but still material. Material and soul. “The Stoics, almost in our own words, say that the soul is a bodily substance,” writes Tertullian. Of course, the holy fathers of the Church will not agree with such an extreme conclusion of Tertullian that God is corporeal, but among them there are those who, following the Stoics, will affirm the corporeality of the soul, for example, Sts. Macarius of Egypt, John Cassian the Roman, and others. The soul is material, because, in their opinion, only God is spirit, while every creation is to some extent material and bodily. St. Maximus the Confessor, who defended Plato's point of view, would angrily oppose such a point of view: "Who are they who claim that there is not a single creature immaterial and incorporeal?" And so Rev. Maxim continues: The soul is an immaterial and incorporeal being, intelligent dwelling in the body and reviving it.

But, of course, the ethics of the Stoics had a much greater influence on Christians. Yes, and some Stoics saw in Christianity a teaching close to them. Is it because after the sermon of the Apostle Paul in the Areopagus, where the Stoic philosophers were also present, some of them believed. True, the Stoic doctrine of dispassion as the ideal of a sage did not quite correspond to the Christian understanding of life in God. Complete dispassion in stoicism, we agree, is still different from the control of one's passions, the struggle with sinful thoughts and love for God and neighbor in Christianity. Therefore, Christian theologians still preferred to separate the wheat from the chaff, borrowing some of the ethical principles of Stoicism, such as humility and acceptance of one's fate, but not indifference and apathy.

Historians have called philosophy "the exercise of wisdom." Logic is an integral part of it, forming judgments, conclusions, worldview. Without logic it is impossible to understand physics and ethics. These two sciences underlie the philosophical movement - Stoicism. What is this concept, what is the main idea, we will consider further.

periodization

Zeno, the founder of Stoicism as a philosophical movement, tried to combine physics, ethics and logic. The first performance is attributed to the 5th century BC. Zeno acted as a teacher, sharing ideas and philosophical reflections with others.

There are several periods of Stoa:

Early, or Ancient - the period from the 5th to the 2nd century BC. The main figure was the founder Zeno of Kitia. But he was not the only speaker. Among them are Cleanthes and Chrysippus. The ancient Stoa is called Greek, because the teaching did not leave the country. When the mentors died, their work passed to the disciples. Among them: Diogenes of Babylon, Crates of Mallus.
The next period is Stoic Platonism. It existed for about a century in the 1st century BC. Poseidonius, along with Panetius of Rhodes, went beyond Greece to Rome, becoming popular.
The era of Roman Stoicism, or the Late Stoa. In Rome, further development of the doctrine began. The most eminent representatives of this period of time are Seneca, Marcus Aurelius Epictetus.

Doctrine principles

Stoic philosophy assigns a special place to the soul - the center and bearer of knowledge. Unlike modern understanding, it was perceived by the material part of the world. In some cases, the soul is denoted by pneuma - the combination of air with fire. The mind is the central part of the soul, it contains the ability for logical thinking and everything that determines the work of the psyche. Mind is the link between man and the world. Each person is connected with the world Mind and is a part of it.

The abstract thinking of the Stoics became the basis for the formation of formal logic. The meaning of logic is in its ability to express the activity of the mind as a conscious mind.

Like the Cynics, the Stoics preached the liberation of man from the influence of the external environment as the main idea, but they chose a different strategy of behavior for themselves. They chose the path spiritual development, acceptance and interest in progress in world culture, and wisdom.

The teachings of the Stoics are based on three sciences:

Physics;
ethics;
Logic.

Let's take a closer look at each science separately.

Physics

Physics among the Stoics implied a deep and broad concept, compared with modern science. Physics - a vision of the world c. Perfect divine unity. Alive, continuous, capable of creation. All processes are controlled and managed according to the laws of Reason. Physics is divided into several types, depending on the areas human life. They cover concepts:

human body;
gods;
limits;
space;
voids;
start.

The sign of existence, according to Stoicism, is the ability to act, or to remain inactive. Only bodies have it.

The Universe is a living organic whole, all parts of which are logically coordinated with each other. Matter is immovable, does not have any physical properties. The Deity is the physical substance from which the body of the Universe emerges. Logos is a single divine mind that controls all processes. The Stoics saw the world as a whole. Everything in nature moves and changes. The integrity of the world in consistency. Chrysippus said that the world is a sphere located in the void, which has no body.

Logics

Logic in Stoicism is the knowledge of internal and external dialogue. correct theoretical conclusions. Each subsequent statement refutes the previous one.

Rhetoric and dialectic are the main teachings of the Stoics. There was also the doctrine of concepts and inferences, and the doctrine of signs. The Stoics developed the theory of inference. The representatives of the Stoic school saw the sources of knowledge in perception and sensations. Through them ideas were formed. The Stoics identified four categories:

Substances are the essence from which everything is formed.
Qualities. From substance come things endowed with qualities. Quality refers to the permanent properties of things
States are variable properties of things
Relationships - all things are interconnected with each other.

Ethics

What is the ethics of Stoicism? The ethical reasoning of the Stoics is based on a sense of duty. Perfection is achieved in life according to the laws of nature and obedience to fate.

A person can make the world perfect within his own personality, through pride and the desire to live according to the laws of morality. The Stoics singled out a special place for the knowledge of passions and their subordination. Through knowledge and adherence to duty, inner freedom is achieved. The main features of Stoicism as a philosophical trend:

Life in unity with the laws of nature and the Logos (world cosmic mind).
Virtue is the highest good of life, vice is the only evil.
Virtue is a constant internal state of a person, his moral guideline.
Virtue is the knowledge of good and evil.
State laws are passed when virtue is served.
Ignoring laws designed to serve evil.
Suicide is not a sin and can be justified if it is a protest against cruelty, evil, injustice and there was no other way to do good.
Strive for excellence in thought and action.
Interest in the development of world culture, art, the desire for wealth, prosperity.
The pursuit of happiness is the highest goal, the meaning of human life.

The Stoics adhered to two main principles:

Material, as the basis.
Divine (Logos). It penetrates matter, creating material things.

These two principles are related to dualism. But Aristotle considered the quote - "the first essence" in the unity of form and matter, elevating the form, since it is the active principle of matter. The Stoics recognized matter as primary, despite the fact that it is passive.

Tasks

The Stoics, whose philosophies, in unity with nature, set themselves the following tasks:

Raise a person who inner freedom and strength not to depend on external factors.
To make a person strong spiritually so that he can resist the world Chaos.
Teach people to live according to conscience.
Cultivate tolerance for the faith of others and teach them to love them.
Instill a sense of humor.
Learn how to use school theory in practice.

Philosophers

Consider the basic principles of the philosophy of the main representatives of the Stoa, as a philosophical direction.

Marcus Aurelius

Philosopher, logician and thinker Marcus Aurelius:

Respect and reverence for God.
God is the highest principle of the world, a spiritual force penetrating into every part of the world and uniting it.
What is happening is the work of God.
Success in public affairs, the achievement of happiness and success, Marcus Aurelius explains by cooperation with the Higher, Divine forces.
The outside world is not subject to man. He rules only the inner world.
The reason for human happiness is in the correspondence of the inner world with the outer.
Soul and body are separate.
People should not resist what is happening, but trust fate, follow it.
Human life is short, you need to use its opportunities.
Pessimistic perception of the world.

Seneca

The teachings of Seneca were as follows:

He preached virtue.
Participation in state and public affairs is not as important as focusing on one's own life.
Another one distinguishing feature Seneca is a greeting of peace and contemplation.
Seneca believed that it is better to live inconspicuously, from the point of view of society and the state, but in such a way that a person feels happy.
He foresaw progress in the development of culture and technology, believing that human possibilities are endless.
Gave a special place to philosophers and sages in management various areas human life, despising the ignorance of ordinary people.
moral ideal and happy life from the position of Seneca - the highest human good.
Philosophy is not just a separate system, but a guide to managing the state, society and processes.

Stoic principles today

Today, under the definition of the Stoics understand the negative meaning. These are people who hide their feelings. The concept of teaching is in rigor, but the main meaning is not only in it. Three principles of thinkers of that time will help to receive joy and become happy:

Gratitude. The essence of human suffering is the inability to be grateful for what is. Psychologists advise to imagine what you want, to get used to the role in order to get what you want. The Stoics used the opposite way. The logic of the method is that the Stoics imagined how they were losing what they had and were grateful that this did not happen.
Black humor. It is customary to respond to insults with insults. The Stoics would have laughed at their own personality, showing the interlocutor the lack of power over themselves.
Focusing time and energy on what its representatives have the power to change. Setting goals, the stoic is not tied to the result, he focuses on the process.

Stoicism in philosophy is the science of rigor and duty, which gave rise to other sciences. It teaches that the entire Universe is alive and that every cell has a place and purpose.

The philosophy of Stoicism was influential in the formation of the early Christian faith.