The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics

This volume offers an odyssey through the ideas of the Stoics in three ways: through the historical trajectory of the school itself and its influence; the recovery of the history of Stoic thought; and finally, the ongoing confrontation with Stoicism. The study demonstrates how Stoicism refines philosophical traditions, challenges the imagination, and ultimately defines the kind of life one chooses to lead. Advanced students and specialists will discover a conspectus of developments in this interpretation of the Stoics and new readers will be drawn to its accessibility.

This unique volume offers an odyssey through the ideas of the Stoics in three particular ways: first, through the historical trajectory of the school itself and its influence; second, through the recovery of the history of Stoic thought; third, through the ongoing confrontation with Stoicism, showing how it refines philosophical traditions, challenges the imagination, and ultimately defines the kind of life one chooses to lead. A distinguished roster of specialists have written an authoritative guide to the entire philosophical tradition. The first two chapters chart the history of the school in the ancient world, and are followed by chapters on the core themes of the Stoic system: epistemology, logic, natural philosophy, theology, determinism, and metaphysics. There are two chapters on what might be thought of as the heart and soul of the Stoics system: ethics.

Introduction: Stoicism: an intellectual odyssey Brad Inwood; 1. The school, from Zeno to Arius Didymus David Sedley; 2. The school in the Roman imperial period Christopher Gill; 3. Stoic epistemology R. J. Hankinson; 4. Stoic logic Susanne Bobzien; 5. Stoic natural philosophy (physics and cosmology) Michael J. White; 6. Stoic theology Keimpe Algra; 7. Stoic determinism Dorothea Frede; 8. Stoic metaphysics Jacques Brunschwig; 9. Stoic ethics Malcolm Schofield; 10. Stoic moral psychology Tad Brennan; 11. Stoicism and medicine R. J. Hankinson; 12. The stoic contribution to traditional grammar David Blank and Catherine Atherton; 13. The stoics and the astronomical sciences Alexander Jones; 14. Stoic naturalism and its critics T. H. Irwin; 15. Stoicism in the philosophical tradition: Spinoza, Lipsius, Butler A. A. Long.

This volume offers an odyssey through the ideas of the Stoics in three ways: through the historical trajectory of the school and its influence; through the recovery of the history of Stoic thought; through the ongoing confrontation with Stoicism.