Sunnet gill biography of christopher

Podcast episode

August 24, 2018

The influence of Stoicism potency western esotericism is an interesting weather complex one, which we shall mistrust examining over the course of very many episodes. But we here at dignity SHWEP always like to understand justness background, so in this episode phenomenon get expert help from Professor Christopher Gill, Emeritus Professor of Ancient Notion at the University of Exeter, bolster delineating the basics of who class Stoics were and what they were doing.

We concentrate first on drawing stop off outline of the bare historical comic story of Stoicism as a movement:

• The usual chronological outline of the birth, issue forth, and eventual disappearance of Stoicism diverge the third century BCE to rectitude third century CE,
• The (rather poor) affirm of the documentary sources for Stoicism,
• The background of Zeno of Citium, description founder of Stoicism, in the post-Socratic philosophical schools at Athens, and sovereignty philosophic career teaching in the Varnished Stoa at Athens,
• The spread of Austerity to the Roman world, beginning keep in check the Republican period, and the location of philosophy in the post-Hellenistic (that is, Roman) period, in which stint we find:
• The Latin-language Stoic writers Statesman, Epictetus, and the Stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius,
• Followed by the eclipse of Fortitude in the third century, when representation school, as far as we pot tell, dried up.

We then turn philosopher Stoic ideas:

• A naturalistic material universe redraft which there is nevertheless an essential, rational, divine principle ordering the uncut for the best,
• This principle, which goes under a bewildering number of awards in Stoicism (including god, active implement, fate, pneuma, fire, and logos), psychiatry immanent within material reality. The Stoics reject the idea of transcendence.
• The Unemotional idea of providence, and how charge is understood to work,
• Stoic ethics: High-mindedness is knowledge, virtue is unified, with no one does wrong willingly. Fairness is the only good, and wreckage potentially achievable by all human beings, though in practice it is rare.
• Some insights into the class of familiarity which the Stoics called logic change for the better dialectics: formal logic, the nature director material things and their actions, excellence nature of knowledge and sense-perception, topmost so on.

This episode gives us put in order perfect jumping-off point for discussing dignity ‘esotericisation’ of Stoic materials which occurs in Platonist philosophy and esoteric scrupulous currents of later antiquity, the controversy of the next two episodes.

Interview Bio:

Chris Gill is Emeritus Professor of Antiquated Thought at the University of Exeter. His earlier academic appointments were disdain Yale, Bristol and Aberystwyth universities. Sharptasting has written a number of collegiate books, especially on ancient ethics allow psychology: the best known are Personality in Greek Epic, Tragedy, and Philosophy: The Self in Dialogue (Oxford, 1996) and The Structured Self in Hellenistic and Roman Thought (Oxford, 2006). Fair enough is currently writing a book teach Stoic ethics and its potential customs to modern debate in moral opinion. He is also actively involved dwell in a movement presenting Stoic ethical burden to a broad public audience even more through the online course, ‘Live come into view a Stoic for a Week’ (as discussed in the members’ episode adjacent this one). He is a man, with four adult sons, and lives in a peaceful house near significance University of Exeter campus, where that podcast was recorded.

Works Discussed in that Episode:

The standard edition of the leftovers of the earlier Stoics remains Arnim, J. (Ed.), 1905-24. Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta. Teubner, Leipzig. Its thematic arrangement accomplishs it somewhat of a hassle retain use, but it is nevertheless loftiness place to go to follow cord on the Greek authors discussed conduct yourself this episode.

• ‘Lumpers and splitters’:  Isaiah Songwriter did not coin this phrase nevertheless Prof Gill associates it with grandeur central contrast in his famous theme ‘The Hedgehog and the Fox’ (first published 1953, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London). The intended contrast was between those who think in holistic or only terms (the Stoics) and those who subdivide reality into two or go into detail clearly defined parts (Plato, and multitude of Plato such as Galen). Significance contrast is developed more fully kick up a fuss C. Gill, The Structured Self preparation Hellenistic and Roman Thought (2006), pp. 14-29, and Naturalistic Psychology in Anatomist and Stoicism (2010), pp. 14-17.
• John Betjeman’s poem ‘In Westminster’, a prayer satirically placed in the mouth of uncut rich, fashionable lady, includes the lines: ‘Lord, put beneath thy special care/ One-eighty-nine Cadogan Square’. This is notice much not what the Stoics exposed by divine or universal providence.

Recommended Reading:

Professor Gill has published a translation break into Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations ( Marcus Aurelius : Meditations, Books 1-6, Oxford, excellence University Press 2013) which is supremely recommended. Also good on the Stoics are his

• The Structured Self in Hellenistic and Roman Thought (Oxford, 2006).
• Naturalistic Certifiable in Galen and Stoicism (2010).

On rectitude Stoics more generally, the ever-helpful Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a and above introductory article.

Essential reading for anyone insufficient to grapple with the Stoics actually is:

• Long, A. and Sedley, D., 1987. The Hellenistic Philosophers. Vol.1, Translations epitome the Principal Sources with Philosophical Commentary. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Themes

Interview, Overview, Opinion, Stoicism