To Benefit or Succeed: A Tension in Stoic Ethics
-
Allison Piñeros Glasscock
Abstract
This paper explores two Stoic theses. The first is what I call the Other-Oriented Thesis, which says that the virtuous person cultivates virtue in others. The second thesis is the Self-Sufficiency Thesis, according to which the virtuous person’s happiness is entirely up to her. Both theses are central to Stoicism, yet there is a deep tension between them. In order for the Self-Sufficiency Thesis to hold, it must be the case that (1) an individual’s virtue is necessary and sufficient for her own happiness and that (2) an individual’s virtue is completely within her control. I argue that the Other-Oriented Thesis, in combination with other Stoic axiological commitments, puts pressure on both these claims. The Stoics have good reason (given their commitments) to hold that the individual’s virtue is not sufficient for her own happiness (i.e. they have good reason to hold that happiness requires the virtue of others as well). Additionally, I show that when an agent attempts to cultivate virtue in another person, she must do so without reservation. The fact that reservation does not apply to this type of action renders the virtuousness of this action dependent on factors outside the agent’s control. My account explains why Stoicism lends itself to radically different depictions of the sage. It also shows that Stoicism is less monolithic than it is sometimes assumed to be. Stoics did not have a unified approach to resolving this tension.
References
Annas, J. 1993. The Morality of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Barney, R. 2003. “A Puzzle in Stoic Ethics.” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 24: 303–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199263431.003.0009.Suche in Google Scholar
Bentham, J. 1834. Deontology. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Browne, Green, and Longman.10.1093/oseo/instance.00077236Suche in Google Scholar
Brennan, T. 2000. “Reservation in Stoic Ethics.” Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 82: 149–77. https://doi.org/10.1515/agph.2000.82.2.149.Suche in Google Scholar
Brennan, T. 2006. The Stoic Life: Emotions, Duties, and Fate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0199256268.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Brunschwig, J. 2005. “Sur deux notions de l’éthique stoïcienne. De la “réserve” au “renversement”.” In Les stoïciens, edited by J.-B. Gourinat, and G. Romeyer-Dherbey, 357–80. Paris: J. Vrin.Suche in Google Scholar
Colli, G., and M. Montinari, eds. 1999. Nietzsche: Kritische Studienausgabe. Berlin: De Gruyter.Suche in Google Scholar
Cooper, J. 1989. “Greek Philosophers on Euthanasia and Suicide.” In Suicide and Euthanasia: Historical and Contemporary Themes, edited by B. Brody, 9–38. Dordrecht: Springer.10.1007/978-94-015-7838-7_2Suche in Google Scholar
de Harven, V. 2025. The Unity of Stoic Metaphysics: Everything is Something. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/9780198930181.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Durand, M., S. Shogry, and D. Baltzly. 2023. “Stoicism.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2023 Edn), edited by E. N. Zalta, and U. Nodelman. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2023/entries/stoicism/ (accessed May 7, 2025).Suche in Google Scholar
Graver, M. 2007. Stoicism and Emotion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226305202.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Graver, M. 2023. Seneca: The Literary Philosopher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781316683125Suche in Google Scholar
Graver, M., and A. A. Long. 2015. Lucius Annaeus Seneca: Letters on Ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Griffin, M. 2013. Seneca on Society: A Guide to De beneficiis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Griffin, M., and B. Inwood. 2011. Seneca: On Benefits. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Hadot, I. 2014. Sénèque: Direction spirituelle et pratique de la philosophie. Paris: J. Vrin.Suche in Google Scholar
Harrison, A. R. W. 1971. The Law of Athens: Procedure. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Hense, O., and C. Wachsmuth. 1884. Joannis Stobaei: Anthologium. Berlin: Verlag der Weidmannschen Buchhandlung.Suche in Google Scholar
Hosius, C. 1905. L. Annaei Senecae: De beneficiis Libri VII; De clementia Libri II. Leipzig: Teubner.Suche in Google Scholar
Inwood, B. 1985. Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Inwood, B. 2005. “Politics and Paradox in Seneca’s De beneficiis.” In Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome, edited by B. Inwood, 65–94. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780199250899.003.0004Suche in Google Scholar
Inwood, B., and L. P. Gerson. 1997. Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.Suche in Google Scholar
Irwin, T. 1986. “Stoic and Aristelian Conceptions of Happiness.” In Norms of Nature, edited by M. Schofield, and G. Striker, 205–44. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Junghanß, A. 2017. “Ingenia sanare: Die Therapie der Undankbarkeit in Senecas De beneficiis.” Graeco-Latina Brunensia 22: 217–27. https://doi.org/10.5817/glb2017-2-12.Suche in Google Scholar
Klein, J. 2015. “Making Sense of Stoic Indifferents.” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 49: 227–81.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198749516.003.0007Suche in Google Scholar
Lesses, G. 1993. “Austere Friends: The Stoics and Friendship.” Apeiron 26: 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1515/apeiron.1993.26.1.57.Suche in Google Scholar
Long, A. A. 1968. “The Stoic Concept of Evil.” The Philosophical Quarterly 18 (73): 329–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/2217794.Suche in Google Scholar
Long, A. A. 1986. Hellenistic Philosophy. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Long, A. A. 1996. “Stoic Eudaimonism.” In Stoic Studies, edited by A. A Long, 179–201. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Long, A. A. 1976. “The Early Stoic Concept of Moral Choice.” In Images of Man in Ancient and Medieval Thought, edited by F. Bossier, et al., 78–92. Leuven: Leuven University Press.10.1163/9789004614758_008Suche in Google Scholar
Long, A. A., and D. N. Sedley. 1987. The Hellenistic Philosophers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511808050Suche in Google Scholar
Manning, C. E. 1974. “The Consolatory Tradition and Seneca’s Attitude to the Emotions.” Greece & Rome 21: 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0017383500021732.Suche in Google Scholar
Phillips-Garrett, C. 2021. “Completeness, Self-Sufficiency, and Intimacy in Seneca’s Account of Friendship.” Ancient Philosophy Today 3 (2): 200–21. https://doi.org/10.3366/anph.2021.0052.Suche in Google Scholar
Piñeros Glasscock, A. 2023. “Giving Gifts and Making Friends: Seneca’s De beneficiis on How to Expand One’s Sphere of Ethical Concern.” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 62: 261–92.10.1093/oso/9780192885180.003.0007Suche in Google Scholar
Sedley, D. N. 2003. “The School, from Zeno to Arius Didymus.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics, edited by B. Inwood, 7–32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CCOL052177005X.002Suche in Google Scholar
Sherman, N. 1993. Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the Military Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Smyth, H. W. 1920. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company.Suche in Google Scholar
Striker, G. 1996. “The Role of Oikeiōsis in Stoic Ethics.” In Essays on Hellenistic Epistemology and Ethics, edited by G. Striker, 281–97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139172783.014Suche in Google Scholar
Thür, G. 2005. “The Role of the Witness in Athenian Law.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law, edited by D. Cohen, and M. Gagarin, 146–69. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CCOL0521818400.009Suche in Google Scholar
Tsekourakis, D. 1974. Studies in the Terminology of Early Stoic Ethics. Wiesbaden: Steiner.Suche in Google Scholar
Vazquez, M. 2021. “Hopeless Fools and Impossible Ideals.” Res Philosophica 98 (3): 429–51. https://doi.org/10.11612/resphil.2061.Suche in Google Scholar
von Arnim, J. 1903–1924. Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta. Leipzig: Teubner.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
