I'm finding that a lot of my understanding of Stoic philosophy is influenced by translations of words and their subtly different meanings. It is very difficult to navigate. Thanks for pointing this one out!
Yes, I’ve read 3-4 translations of most of the major Stoic texts over the years, and I’m often surprised to see the same sentence translated in surprisingly different ways.
Its actually something I’ve only realized recently. Brittany Polat has written about it a bit here and her recent book Stoic Ethics: The Basics with Christopher Gill explains quite a lot.
As Hadot would say, philosophy provides you with the tools to circumscribe the present and find infinity. In that infinity you can find attitudes to shape your present.
This is a theme that predates the Stoics. Here's Aristotle:
“…if he is to be happy, a man must have the goods of the body and external goods and good fortune, in order that the exercise of his faculties may not be impeded. And those who say that though a man be put to the rack and overwhelmed by misfortune, he is happy if only he be good, whether they know it or not, talk nonsense.”
I'm finding that a lot of my understanding of Stoic philosophy is influenced by translations of words and their subtly different meanings. It is very difficult to navigate. Thanks for pointing this one out!
Yes, I’ve read 3-4 translations of most of the major Stoic texts over the years, and I’m often surprised to see the same sentence translated in surprisingly different ways.
Its actually something I’ve only realized recently. Brittany Polat has written about it a bit here and her recent book Stoic Ethics: The Basics with Christopher Gill explains quite a lot.
As Hadot would say, philosophy provides you with the tools to circumscribe the present and find infinity. In that infinity you can find attitudes to shape your present.
Yes! I love Hadot's take on this.
This is a theme that predates the Stoics. Here's Aristotle:
“…if he is to be happy, a man must have the goods of the body and external goods and good fortune, in order that the exercise of his faculties may not be impeded. And those who say that though a man be put to the rack and overwhelmed by misfortune, he is happy if only he be good, whether they know it or not, talk nonsense.”