Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.54 — Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.54
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
The standard of truth they declare to be the apprehending presentation, i.e. that which comes from a real object—according to Chrysippus in the twelfth book of his Physics and to Antipater and Apollodorus. Boëthus, on the other hand, admits a plurality of standards, namely intelligence, senseperception, appetency, and knowledge; while Chrysippus in the first book of his Exposition of Doctrine contradicts himself and declares that sensation and preconception are the only standards, preconception being a general notion which comes by the gift of nature (an innate conception of universals or general concepts). Again, certain others of the older Stoics make Right Reason the standard; so also does Posidonius in his treatise On the Standard.
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.54 (on the Stoics), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.54
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 notesThe Stoic test of truth is the apprehending impression, one that comes from a real thing. Different Stoics offered other standards, such as intelligence, sense perception, desire, knowledge, an inborn general idea or right reason. Doxography of competing theories.
Older wording
- “appetency”
- — desire or natural inclination
- “preconception”
- — an inborn general idea
- “apprehending presentation”
- — a mental impression that grasps a real object
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Nature and the cosmos
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