The Theory of Incorporeals in Ancient Stoicism: Logic, Expression, Materialism

Émile Bréhier

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The Theory of Incorporeals in Ancient Stoicism

Logic, Expression, Materialism

Émile Bréhier
Edited by: Jared C. Bly and Ryan J. Johnson

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2025

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About this book

This classic essay from one of the twentieth-century’s leading historians of European philosophy was formative to twentieth-century French thought

The first English translation of a seminal text on ancient philosophy
Includes two new essays from leading scholars on historical and contemporary French thought
Unearths the overlooked influence of Bréhier’s essay on twentieth-century French thinkers
Fills in a crucial yet often overlooked chapter in Deleuze Studies
Engages one of the most provocative themes in ancient materialism: incorporeality
Expands on continental returns to antiquity that focus on metaphysics, e.g., speculative realism, new materialism, affect theory, posthumanism, Althusserian and post-Althusserian approaches

Émile Bréhier’s creative interpretations of Stoicism inspired the next generation of thinkers – from Jean-Paul Sartre to Luce Irigaray – to rethink the history of philosophy. Perhaps most of all, Bréhier’s thinking about the Stoic theory of incorporeality was pivotal to Gilles Deleuze’s understanding of Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, especially the Stoics, and formative for his own materialistic metaphysics. To understand the metaphysics, philosophy of language, and interpretations of psychoanalysis in Deleuze’s Logic of Sense, Bréhier’s influence remains to be fully elucidated. Yet such influence has been largely unknown in Anglophone philosophy – until now. For the first time since its publication nearly a century ago, Bréhier’s groundbreaking essay finally appears in English. To frame its history and convey its importance for the future of philosophy, two new essays by a leading French philosopher and a British-Canadian philosopher bookend the translation.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Notes on Contributors Publicly Available Download PDF	x
Translators’ Note Publicly Available Download PDF	xii
Introduction: The Life of the Incorporeal Michael James Bennett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	1
The Theory of Incorporeals in Ancient Stoicism Émile Bréhier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	39
Minima Metaphysica: Bréhier Brings Stoicism to the Surface of French Philosophy (1908–2024) Thomas Bénatouïl Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	110
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	148

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

April 15, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9781399545563

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

176

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399545563

eBook ISBN: 9781399545563

Keywords for this book

Stoicism; Gilles Deleuze; French Philosophy; Ancient Materialism; Ancient Philosophy; Sense; Time; Space; Incorporeality; Events; Logic

Audience(s) for this book

For universities and colleges of further and higher education

The Theory of Incorporeals in Ancient Stoicism

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About this book

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