Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.52 — Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.52
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
The Stoics apply the term sense or sensation (αἴσθησις) to three things: (1) the current passing from the principal part of the soul to the senses, (2) apprehension by means of the senses, (3) the apparatus of the sense-organs, in which some persons are deficient. Moreover, the activity of the sense-organs is itself also called sensation. According to them it is by sense that we apprehend black and white, rough and smooth, whereas it is by reason that we apprehend the conclusions of demonstration, for instance the existence of gods and their providence. General notions, indeed, are gained in the following ways: some by direct contact, some by resemblance, some by analogy, some by transposition, some by composition, and some by contrariety.
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.52 (on the Stoics), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.52
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book VII, tr. R. D. Hicks (Loeb, 1925). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesDefines sensation in three ways, says we know colours and textures by the senses but conclusions such as the existence of the gods by reason, and begins listing the ways general ideas are formed, such as by contact, resemblance and analogy. Technical theory of knowledge.
Older wording
- “general notions”
- — common ideas formed in the mind from experience
- “principal part of the soul”
- — the ruling mind or reasoning centre
- “providence”
- — the rational care of the universe
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Nature and the cosmos
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.