Prolepsis and Ennoia in the early Stoa / Henry Dyson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dyson, Henry, 1975-

Series:

Sozomena

Sozomena studies in the recovery of ancient texts ; v. 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stoics.

Philosophy, Ancient.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (300 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Walter de Gruyter, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book reconstructs the Stoic doctrine of prolepsis. Prolepses are conceptions that develop naturally from ordinary experience. They are often identified with preconceptions (i.e. the first conceptions one unconsciously forms of something). However, this is inconsistent with the Stoics' claim that prolepseis are criteria of truth. Rather, prolepseis are analytically true claims embedded within one's ordinary conceptual scheme (e.g. the good is beneficial). When they have been articulated and systematized, prolepseis can be used to judge conceptual claims that go beyond the scope of sense-perceptual knowledge (e.g. pleasure is the good). The Stoics often refer to prolepseis as "common conceptions" to emphasize that they are shared by everyone, although in most people they remain unarticulated. This reconstruction suggests that Chrysippus was influenced by Platonic recollection to a greater extent than previously recognized. It supports the orthodoxy of Epictetus' statements about prolepsis and suggests that later authors who assimilate the Epicurean and Stoic doctrines were misled by the polemical attacks of Carneades. The argument of the book is supported by a comprehensive collection of fragments relating to prolepsis in Epicurus, the early Stoa, Cicero, Epictetus, Plutarch, Sextus Empiricus, and Alexander of Aphrodisias.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction: The Seeds of Virtue and Knowledge

Chapter One: Are Porlepses and Common Conceptions Identical?

Chapter Two: Prolepsis and Common Conceptions as Criteria of Truth

Chapter Three: Stages in the Development of Reason

Interim Conclusions: Meno's Paradox and the Early Stoa

Chapter Four: The Formation of Prolepses

Chapter Five: Prolepsis in Ordinary and Philosophical Cognition

Conclusion: Are the Stoics Empiricists or Rationalists?

Tables: The Usage of Πρόληψις, ΄ʹΕννοια, and Related Terms

Appendix A: Epicurus and Later Epicureans

Appendix B: The Early Stoa

Appendix C: Cicero and Seneca

Appendix D: Epictetus

Appendix E: Plutarch

Appendix F: Sextus Empiricus

Appendix G: Alexander of Aphrodisias

Appendix H: Alcinous

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612456701

9781282456709

1282456709

9783110212297

3110212293

OCLC:

609852887