Chapter XVIII.—The Stoics; Their Superiority in Logic; Fatalists; Their Doctrine of Conflagrations.

The Stoics themselves also imparted growth to philosophy, in respect of a greater development of the art of syllogism, and included almost everything under definitions, both Chrysippus and Zeno being coincident in opinion on this point.  And they likewise supposed God to be the one originating principle of all things, being a body of the utmost refinement, and that His providential care pervaded everything; and these speculators were positive about the existence of fate everywhere, employing some such example as the following: that just as a dog, supposing him attached to a car, if indeed he is disposed to follow, both is drawn,107    One of the mss. elucidates the simile in the text thus: “But if he is not disposed, there is absolutely a necessity for his being drawn along. And in like manner men, if they do not follow fate, seem to be free agents, though the reason of (their being) fate holds assuredly valid. If, however, they do not wish to follow, they will absolutely be coerced to enter upon what has been fore-ordained.” or follows voluntarily, making an exercise also of free power, in combination with necessity, that is, fate; but if he may not be disposed to follow, he will altogether be coerced to do so. And the same, of course, holds good in the case of men. For though not willing to follow, they will altogether be compelled to enter upon what has been decreed for them. (The Stoics), however, assert that the soul abides after death,108    Or, “is immortal.” Diogenes Laertius (book vii.) notices, in his section on Zeno, as part of the Stoic doctrine, “that the soul abides after death, but that it is perishable.” but that it is a body, and that such is formed from the refrigeration of the surrounding atmosphere; wherefore, also, that it was called psyche (i.e., soul). And they acknowledge likewise, that there is a transition of souls from one body to another, that is, for those souls for whom this migration has been destined. And they accept the doctrine, that there will be a conflagration, a purification of this world, some say the entire of it, but others a portion, and that (the world) itself is undergoing partial destruction; and this all but corruption, and the generation from it of another world, they term purgation. And they assume the existence of all bodies, and that body does not pass through body,109    Or, “through what is incorporeal;” that is, through what is void or empty space. but that a refraction110    Or, “resurrection;” or, “resistance;” that is, a resisting medium. takes place, and that all things involve plenitude, and that there is no vacuum.  The foregoing are the opinions of the Stoics also.

[21] Στωϊκοὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ συλλογιστικώτερον τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ηὔξησαν καὶ σχεδὸν ὅροις περιέλαβον, ὁμόδοξοι γενόμενοι ὅ τε Χρύσιππος καὶ [ὁ] Ζήνων. οἳ ὑπέθεντο καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀρχὴν μὲν τῶν πάντων θεόν, σῶμα ὄντα τὸ καθαρώτατον, διὰ πάντων δὲ διήκειν τὴν πρόνοιαν αὐτοῦ. καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ τὸ καθ' εἱμαρμένην εἶναι πάντα διεβεβαιώσαντο, παραδείγματι χρησάμενοι τοιούτῳ: ὅτι ὥσπερ ὀχήματος ἐὰν ᾖ ἐξηρτημένος κύων, ἐὰν μὲν βούληται ἕπεσθαι, καὶ ἕλκεται καὶ ἕπεται, ποιῶν καὶ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον μετὰ τῆς ἀνάγκης [οἷον τῆς εἱμαρμένης]: ἐὰν δὲ μὴ βούληται ἕπεσθαι, πάντως ἀναγκασθήσεται. τὸ αὐτὸ δήπου καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων: καὶ μὴ βουλόμενοι γὰρ ἀκολουθεῖν ἀναγκασθήσονται πάντως εἰς τὸ πεπρωμένον εἰσελθεῖν. Τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν λέγουσι μὲν ἀθάνατον, εἶναι δὲ σῶμα καὶ γενέσθαι ἐκ τῆς περιψύξεως τοῦ ἀέρος τοῦ περιέχοντος: διὸ καὶ καλεῖσθαι ψυχήν. ὁμολογοῦσι δὲ καὶ μετενσωμάτωσιν γίνεσθαι, ὡρισμένων οὐσῶν τῶν ψυχῶν. προσδέχονται δὲ ἐκπύρωσιν ἔσεσθαι καὶ κάθαρσιν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, οἱ μὲν παντός, οἱ δὲ μέρους: καὶ κατὰ μέρος γὰρ αὐτὸν καθαίρεσθαι λέγουσιν. καὶ σχεδὸν τὴν φθορὰν καὶ τὴν ἑτέρου ἐξ αὐτῆς γένεσιν κάθαρσιν ὀνομάζουσιν. σώματα δὲ πάντα ὑπέθεντο καὶ σῶμα διὰ σώματος μὲν χωρεῖν, ἀλλὰ ἀνάκρασιν εἶναι καὶ πεπληρῶσθαι πάντα καὶ μηδὲν εἶναι κενόν. ταῦτα καὶ οἱ Στωϊκοί.