From Zeno to Chrysippus

Abstract

This chapter is about the origin and development of early Stoic epistemology. I discuss how Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoa, was influenced by his predecessors and interpreted by his successors. I argue that Stoicism rely on two basic assumptions for which Socrates is the main predecessor, namely that human beings are at home in the world and that it is only by using our rational abilities to detect salient truths and organize them into skills that we can successfully orient ourselves in this world. This Socratic-Stoic position relies on a naturalistic theory of concept acquisition, for which Aristotle is the main predecessor, or so I argue. I then look at how Zeno’s original epistemological position was challenged by two of his contemporaries, Epicurus and Arcesilaus, and how it was interpreted by Chrysippus of Soli, the third scholarch of the Stoa, partly in response to Arcesilaus’ challenges. I argue that Chrysippus in effect built a new foundation for Stoic epistemology, a foundation made up of two pillars: a metaphysical theory about pneuma and causation, and a theory about language and representation. These theories are detailed in Chaps. 2 and 3, respectively.