St. George Stock (modern guide) · 1850–1922
A Guide to Stoicism 6 ¶2 — St. George Stock (modern guide)
From “Conclusion”
Original English text (1908)
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 6 ¶2
There is nothing more distinctive of Socrates than the doctrine that virtue is knowledge. Here too the Stoics followed him, ignoring all that Aristotle had done in showing the part played by the emotions and the will in virtue. Reason was with them a principle of action; with Aristotle it was a principle that guided action, but the motive power had to come from elsewhere. Socrates must even be held responsible for the Stoic paradox of the madness of all ordinary folk.
Cite this passage
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 6 ¶2 (1908)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/a-guide-to-stoicism/6.2
St. George Stock, Stoicism (1908), text of the Haldeman-Julius reprint “A Guide to Stoicism”. Text: Project Gutenberg #7514. Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe Stoics took from Socrates the idea that virtue is knowledge and treated reason as itself a driver of action, where Aristotle gave the emotions and will a role. Socrates is also credited with the idea that ordinary people are in some sense mad.
Older wording
- “paradox”
- — a claim that seems to contradict common sense
- “motive power”
- — the driving force behind action
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Judgements and impressions
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