Posidonius’ Two Systems: Animals and Emotions in Middle Stoicism

Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 106 (3):455-491 (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper attempts to reconstruct the views of the Stoic Posidonius on the emotions, especially as presented by Galen’s On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato. This is a well-studied area, and many views have been developed over the last few decades. It is also significant that the reliability of Galen’s account is openly at issue. Yet it is not clear that the interpretative possibilities have been fully demarcated. Here I develop Galen’s claim that Posidonius accepted a persistent, non-rational aspect of the soul that he connects with the merely animal part of humans. The aim is to begin from this testimony in answering two questions: (1) How might the possession of a non-rational element of the soul operate alongside the hêgemonikon (leading-part of the soul) as a source of impulse for Posidonius. (2) How does this persistent animal aspect conform to the Stoic ontological classification found in their scala naturae? I shall argue in response to these that (a) Posidonius distinguished the merely cognitive aspects of the soul from those that are rational, and (b) that the hêgemonikon itself is not to be identified with what is rational. Accepting a persistent non-rational source of emotional impulses allows Posidonius a richer framework for explaining human affective responses and behaviours. I also briefly address Galen’s motivation for the account he offers. It is in view of Posidonius’ approach to Plato’s Timaeus that Galen’s discussion finds its most plausible interpretation.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Posidonius on Virtue and the Good.Severin Gotz - 2023 - Classical Quarterly 73 (2):636-647.
Hand Over Fist: The Failure of Stoic Rhetoric.Catherine Atherton - 1988 - Classical Quarterly 38 (02):392-.
Why take chemistry stoically? The case of posidonius.Ernesto Paparazzo - 2007 - Foundations of Chemistry 10 (1):63-75.
The Elder pliny, posidonius and surfaces.Ernesto Paparazzo - 2005 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 56 (2):363-376.
Plotinus and Posidonius.R. E. Witt - 1930 - Classical Quarterly 24 (3-4):198-.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-09-23

Downloads
589 (#38,763)

6 months
117 (#43,721)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Benjamin Harriman
University of Edinburgh

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism.Brad Inwood - 1985 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 179 (3):367-368.
Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism.Brad Inwood - 1985 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 50 (3):543-545.
The Stoic Argument from oikeiōsis.Jacob Klein - 2016 - Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 50:143-200.
Soul and Body in Stoicism.A. A. Long - 1982 - Phronesis 27 (1):34-57.

View all 21 references / Add more references