Abstract
I argue that the validity of the Stoic conception of the singular soul, empirically and psychologically, creates a view that is paradoxical: if being happy is the end for the sake of which everything is done, and if this consists in living according to virtue, using only right reasoning, one cannot obtain happiness. Why? Because selecting using right reasoning is the only virtue leading to the end, obtaining things that right reasoning is aimed at is ethically insignificant. I reconstruct fragments of text written by the outlaw Stoic philosopher, Posidonius, and interpret them to show how one can obtain the end while preserving Stoic ethics, through a radical connection between the soul consisting as parts and the passions. In this paper, I quote and try to interpret passages drawn from Plato’s Republic IV and connect them to the Stoics.
Recommended Citation
Wilder, Dawnna
(2023)
"Knowledge is Happiness: is The End—An Inquiry Concerning Stoic Philosophy,"
International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities: Vol. 7:
Iss.
2, Article 22.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7710/2155-4838.1140
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/ijurca/vol7/iss2/22
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