Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

The Logos, or God’s Word, is His intention, and thus the universe is at one with God’s great plan. The Stoic notion (adopted by the Christians) is not dissimilar: it suggests a cosmic intention that runs through all things. They sometimes describe this force as Zeus, but we should not anthropomorphise in the way we do the Judaeo-Christian Breather

As the philosopher Lawrence C. Becker puts it, “Stoic ethics is a species of eudaimonism. Its central, organizing concern is about what we ought to do or be to live well—to flourish.”16 In the words of the historian Paul Veyne, “Stoicism is not so much an ethic as it is a paradoxical recipe for happiness.”17

The only reply that I can imagine to this difficulty is one which is perhaps logically unassailable, but is not very plausible. It would, I think, be given by Kant, whose ethical system is very similar to that of the Stoics. True, he might say, there is nothing good but the good will, but the will is good when it is directed to certain ends, that,

The second point is a strong insistence on the unity of the universe, and on man's duty as part of a great whole.