Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.55 — Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.55
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
In their theory of dialectic most of them see fit to take as their starting-point the topic of voice. Now voice is a percussion of the air or the proper object of the sense of hearing, as Diogenes the Babylonian says in his handbook On Voice. While the voice or cry of an animal is just a percussion of air brought about by natural impulse, man’s voice is articulate and, as Diogenes puts it, an utterance of reason, having the quality of coming to maturity at the age of fourteen. Furthermore, voice according to the Stoics is something corporeal: I may cite for this Archedemus in his treatise On Voice, Diogenes, Antipater and Chrysippus in the second book of his Physics.
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.55 (on the Stoics), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.55
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 notesStarts the theory of language with the voice, which is a physical disturbance of the air. An animal's cry comes from natural impulse, while a human voice is articulate and an expression of reason, and the Stoics hold that voice is a physical body. Technical background on language.
Older wording
- “percussion”
- — a striking or vibration
- “articulate”
- — divided into clear, meaningful sounds
- “corporeal”
- — physical, having a body
Themes and situations
- Speech and silence
- Nature and the cosmos
Quote cards
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