The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Reading path · Going further

From Socrates to the Stoics

8 stops

How one Athenian's questions about how to live led to Plato's Academy, Aristotle's Lyceum, and the Cynics, Epicureans and Stoics.

Socrates left no writings, but within about a century of his death Athens was home to several schools of philosophy, each with its own answer to his question of how to live.

This path follows the line from his questioning to Plato and Aristotle, and on to the schools of the Hellenistic age, which offered philosophy as a way of life to anyone who wanted to live well.

The path

  1. Socrates

    c. 470 – 399 BCE · Western

    Socrates wrote nothing, but by questioning his fellow Athenians about courage, reverence and how to live, he became the founding figure of Western moral philosophy.

  2. Plato

    c. 429 – 347 BCE · Western

    His student Plato wrote dialogues, most with Socrates as the leading speaker, and founded the Academy. Beyond the changing world of the senses, he argued, lie eternal forms, such as goodness and beauty.

  3. Aristotle

    384–322 BCE · Western

    Plato’s student Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum. He located forms within things themselves, set out the first systematic logic, and held that the highest human good is flourishing (eudaimonia).

  4. Diogenes of Sinope

    c. 404 – c. 323 BCE · Western

    Diogenes, the model Cynic, lived in a storage jar in Athens and flouted convention to show how little a life according to nature and reason needs. He called himself a citizen of the world.

  5. Epicurus

    341–270 BCE · Western

    Epicurus founded his school, the Garden, in Athens around 306 BCE. He taught that the good life is one of tranquil pleasure, free from fear of the gods and of death.

  6. Stoicism

    School · from c. 300 BCE · Western

    Zeno of Citium founded the Stoic school in Athens. It taught that virtue, a life in agreement with nature and reason, is the only good.

  7. Chrysippus

    c. 280 – c. 207 BCE · Western

    Chrysippus, the Stoics’ third head and great systematiser, built a logic of propositions and argued that even in a world governed by fate we are responsible for what we do.

  8. Epictetus

    c. 55 – c. 135 CE · Western

    Centuries later, Epictetus, a former slave, taught that only our judgements and choices are truly up to us, and that freedom and happiness depend on them alone.

For discussion

  1. Socrates wrote nothing and said he knew nothing of importance. How could so many different philosophies grow from his example?
  2. Plato placed the forms beyond the world of the senses; Aristotle placed them in things. What difference does that make?
  3. Diogenes, Epicurus and the Stoics all promise a life free of needless disturbance. How do their routes differ?
  4. Epictetus says only our judgements are up to us. Is that freeing, or does it ask too much?

Terms on this page

eudaimonia
Happiness, flourishing or living well. For Aristotle it is achieved by fully realising our natures, developing our human capacities to the highest degree.

All terms in the glossary

Sources

  1. Debra Nails and S. Sara Monoson, Socrates, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  2. Richard Kraut, Plato, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  3. Christopher Shields, Aristotle, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  4. Julie Piering, Diogenes of Sinope, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  5. David Konstan, Epicurus, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  6. Marion Durand, Simon Shogry and Dirk Baltzly, Stoicism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  7. Jeremy Kirby, Chrysippus, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  8. Margaret Graver, Epictetus, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy