. Movement founded by Zeno of Citium (c.336-c.264 BC; different from Zeno the ELEATIC), and named from the porch (‘stoa’) in Athens where he taught. Stoics treated knowledge under three heads: logic, physics, ethics. They developed propositional LOGIC and the theory of IMPLICATION, and tried to discover a sure mark (‘CRITERION’) of truth. They developed a thoroughgoing materialism, treating matter as a continuum (as opposed to Epicurean atomism), but added a rather nonmaterial flavour with their pantheism and notions such as the ‘tension’ (‘tonos’) that matter was subject to. In ethics (to which the later Stoics largely confined themselves) they held determinist views and advocated acceptance of fate, based on self-sufficiency and a realization that ‘virtue’ was the only ultimate value. Leading Stoics include also Chrysippus (c.280-c.206 BC), Posidonius (c.135-c.51 BC), Seneca (c.4 BC-AD 65), Epictetus (c.AD 50-c.138), Marcus Aurelius (AD 121–80).
A.A.Long and D.N.Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers,, Cambridge UP, 1987. (Vol. 1 contains translated texts and vol. 2 Greek and Latin texts with commentary.)
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