Stoic Philosophy (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 81 is indistinguishable from the content of that activity insofar as the object of the thought of god must be the intelligible forms and, hence, god turns out to be a kind of self-reflective Form--he merely says that the activity of god, in the final analysis, remains quite obscure (p. 154). Some of the paradoxes emerging from the analysis of the relationship between different works are neither recognized nor exposed. Thus, for example, we may compare the activity of the active intellect in knowing what is immaterial to the activity of god. Insofar as god is an object of knowledge (e.g., in the Nicomachean Ethics the bios theoretikos is an imitation of the activity of god), the 'human' intellect is identical with what it knows. In this sense, when god is an object of knowledge (i.e., in the Metaphysics), the 'human' mind is identical with god. Hence, god cannot be an object of human knowledge at all. Such paradoxes are suggested by Lloyd's comparative analyses, but are dealt with in the most cursory way. As an introduction to the thought of Aristotle, Lloyd's book is quite useful and informative. Unfortunately, most of the interesting philosophical questions in Aristotle 's writings are merely indicated and not pursued. A final remark might be made about Lloyd's comments on the influence of Aristotle. While briefly sketching the influence of Aristotle on medieval thought and earlier philosophical schools (including the Stoics), he notes that Aristotelian studies have become more accurate with the preparation of reliable texts of the extant works in the nineteenth century. What is left out of Lloyd's account of Aristotle's influence is the impact of Aristotle on contemporary philosophy. The marked influence of Aristotle's ethics on the works of Gilbert Ryle (especially his The Concept of Mind) and of his metaphysics (especially his concepts of movement, change, development, potentiality and actuality) on existentialism from Kierkegaard to Heidegger has not yet been adequately appraised. Even the technique of linguistic analysis owes much to Aristotle's methods of dealing with certain philosophical concepts (e.g., the concept of ousia). It is obvious to anyone who digs beneath the surface of contemporary philosophy that Aristotle's influence on recent thought has been far greater than the author assumes to be the case. Those who reject Aristotle most vehemently seem doomed to repeat him. GEORGE J. STACK Brockport, New York Stoic Philosophy. By J. M. Rist. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969. Pp. x+300. $9.50) This account of Stoic philosophy is governed by two main ideas. One is that Stoic philosophy in its beginnings can best be understood if viewed as an attempt to work out certain problems generated by Aristotle's philosophy. The other is that the philosophical ideas with which Stoic philosophy deals are inherently interesting; and in conjunction with this second notion Rist sets forth the thesis that the difference in the doctrines of Chrysippus and Posidonius about the human soul are indicative of very far reaching differences in their views generally. The second of these ideas dictates for the most part the organization of the work, for it is a series of essays about issues and ideas germane in an emphatic way to Stoic philosophy. There are, however, chapters dealing with the influence of Cynicism on Stoicism and the middle and late centuries in the life of the 82 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Stoa. Panaetius and Posidonius are each given a chapter. Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius are dealt with in chapters organized about problems of knowing and willing, suicide, the person, and time. While attention to the issues dealt with by the Stoics seems the uppermost aim in Rist's work, the author also ascribes doctrines to individual Stoic philosophers, draws comparisons and contrasts, and traces reactions and filiations within the Stoa. Apart from the emphasis laid upon the development of early Stoic philosophy out of an effort to deal with issues raised in Peripatetic philosophy, the general phases in the history of the Stoa, as drawn by Rist, are familiar. The early Stoa paid a great deal more attention to natural philosophy and logic than one would...