Law, Reason, and the Cosmic City: Political Philosophy in the Early Stoa
OUP USA (2008)
| Abstract | The notions of the cosmic city and the common law are central to early Stoic political thought. As Vogt shows, together they make up one complex theory. A city is a place governed by the law. Yet on the law pervading the cosmos can be considered a true law, and thus the cosmos is the only real city. A city is also a dwelling-place--in the case of the cosmos, the dwelling-place of all human beings. Further, a city demarcates who belongs together as fellow-citizens. The thought that we should view all other human beings as belonging to us constitutes the core of Stoic cosmopolitanism. All human beings are citizens of the cosmic city in the sense of living in the world. But the demanding task of acquiring wisdom allows a person to become a citizen in the strict sense: someone who lives according to the law, as the gods do. The sage is the only citizen, relative, friend and free person; via these notions, the Stoics explore the political dimensions of the Stoic idea of wisdom. Vogt argues against two widespread interpretations of the common law--that it consists of rules, and that lawful action is what right reason prescribes. While she rejects the rules-interpretation, she argues that the prescriptive reason-interpretation correctly captures key ideas of the Stoics' theory, but misses the substantive side of their conception of the law. The sage fully understands what is valuable for human beings, and this makes her actions lawful. The Stoics emphasize the revisionary nature of their theory; whatever course of action perfect deliberation commands, even if it be cutting off one's limb and eating it, we should act on its command, and not be held back by conventional judgments. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Buy the book | $50.26 direct from Amazon (23% off) $52.37 used (20% off) Amazon page | |||||||||
| ISBN(s) | 9780195320091 0195320093 | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesMalcolm Schofield (2009). Philosophy (K.M.) Vogt Law, Reason, and the Cosmic City: Political Philosophy in the Early Stoa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Pp. Viii + 239. £32.99. 9780195320091. [REVIEW] Journal of Hellenic Studies 129:241-.
Malcolm Schofield (1991/1999). The Stoic Idea of the City. University of Chicago Press.
Malcolm Schofield (1999). Saving the City: Philosopher-Kings and Other Classical Paradigms. Routledge.
James Braun, Yoshiaki M. Nakazawa & Mark E. Jonas (2012). Appetite, Reason, and Education in Socrates' 'City of Pigs'. Phronesis 57 (4):332-357.
Roger A. Shiner (1992). Norm and Nature: The Movements of Legal Thought. Oxford University Press.
Jacob Klein (2011). Prolepsis and Ennoia in the Early Stoa (Review). Journal of the History of Philosophy 49 (1):115-116.
Joseph Raz (2009). Between Authority and Interpretation: On the Theory of Law and Practical Reason. Oxford University Press.
T. J. Hochstrasser (2000). Natural Law Theories in the Early Enlightenment. Cambridge University Press.
Robert Mayhew (1997). Part and Whole in Aristotle's Political Philosophy. Journal of Ethics 1 (4):325-340.
Nicholas Aroney (2007). Subsidiarity, Federalism and the Best Constitution: Thomas Aquinas on City, Province and Empire. Law and Philosophy 26 (2):161-228.
Mark C. Murphy (2006). Natural Law in Jurisprudence and Politics. Cambridge University Press.
Mark J. Lutz (2012). Divine Law and Political Philosophy in Plato's Laws. Northern Illinois University Press.
Eduardo Mendieta (2001). The City and the Philosopher: On the Urbanism of Phenomenology. Philosophy and Geography 4 (2):203 – 218.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2012-01-31Total downloads4 ( #178,434 of 548,969 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,511 of 548,969 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
