— Zeno of CitiumZeno's definition of the goal of life, reported in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.87-88; approximate English rendering of a Greek formula
Commentary
This formula, which Diogenes Laertius attributes to Zeno as his statement of the goal of life, became the defining principle of Stoic ethics. To live in agreement with nature was, for the Stoics, to live in agreement with the rational order of the cosmos and with one's own nature as a rational being. A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley, in The Hellenistic Philosophers, argue that the formula should be read as an account of rational self-government rather than a call to follow instinct, since human nature is defined by reason. Brad Inwood, in his study of early Stoic ethics, shows how the formula was elaborated by Cleanthes and Chrysippus, who gave it a more precise sense of acting in accordance with a coherent understanding of the universe. Malcolm Schofield, in The Stoic Idea of the City (1991), connects the formula to the Stoic conception of universal community, in which natural law binds all rational beings. Julia Annas, in Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind (1992), notes the problem of how a rational nature relates to the passions, which the formula must address. The Greek wording reported by Diogenes Laertius is consistent with the paraphrase given here, but the exact phrase should be checked against the source before quotation.
Commentary
This formula, which Diogenes Laertius attributes to Zeno as his statement of the goal of life, became the defining principle of Stoic ethics. To live in agreement with nature was, for the Stoics, to live in agreement with the rational order of the cosmos and with one's own nature as a rational being. A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley, in The Hellenistic Philosophers, argue that the formula should be read as an account of rational self-government rather than a call to follow instinct, since human nature is defined by reason. Brad Inwood, in his study of early Stoic ethics, shows how the formula was elaborated by Cleanthes and Chrysippus, who gave it a more precise sense of acting in accordance with a coherent understanding of the universe. Malcolm Schofield, in The Stoic Idea of the City (1991), connects the formula to the Stoic conception of universal community, in which natural law binds all rational beings. Julia Annas, in Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind (1992), notes the problem of how a rational nature relates to the passions, which the formula must address. The Greek wording reported by Diogenes Laertius is consistent with the paraphrase given here, but the exact phrase should be checked against the source before quotation.