What would stoic ethics be like today if stoicism had survived as a systematic approach to ethical theory, if it had coped successfully with the challenges of modern philosophy and experimental science? A New Stoicism proposes an answer to that question, offered from within the stoic tradition but without the metaphysical and psychological assumptions that modern philosophy and science have abandoned. Lawrence Becker argues that a secular version of the stoic ethical project, based on contemporary cosmology and developmental psychology, provides the basis for a sophisticated form of ethical naturalism, in which virtually all the hard doctrines of the ancient Stoics can be clearly restated and defended. Becker argues, in keeping with the ancients, that virtue is one thing, not many; that it, and not happiness, is the proper end of all activity; that it alone is good, all other things being merely rank-ordered relative to each other for the sake of the good; and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Moreover, he rejects the popular caricature of the stoic as a grave figure, emotionally detached and capable mainly of endurance, resignation, and coping with pain. To the contrary, he holds that while stoic sages are able to endure the extremes of human suffering, they do not have to sacrifice joy to have that ability, and he seeks to turn our attention from the familiar, therapeutic part of stoic moral training to a reconsideration of its theoretical foundations.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface to the Revised Edition
• Acknowledgments
• PART ONE: THE WAY THINGS STAND
  • 1. The Conceit
  • 2. A New Agenda for Stoic Ethics
  • 3. The Ruins of Doctrine
    • Science, Logic, and Ethics
    • Norms and Moral Training
    • Virtue and Happiness
    • Commentary
    • Acknowledgments
• PART TWO: THE WAY THINGS MIGHT GO
  • 4. Normative Logic
    • Norms and Normative Propositions
    • Normative Constructs: Getting from Is to Ought
    • Axioms of Stoic Normative Logic
  • 5. Following the Facts
    • Impossibilities
    • A Posteriori Normative Propositions
    • Motivated Norms
    • A Developmental Account of Moral Motivation
    • Heteronomous Endeavors, Autonomous Agency, and Freedom
    • Commentary
    • Acknowledgments
  • 6. Virtue
    • Inseparable Agency, Virtue, and Eudaimonia
    • The Development of Virtue through Agency
    • Moral Education and Divergent Paths to Virtue
    • The Argument for Virtue as the Product of Ideal Agency
    • Exalted Virtue
    • Commentary
    • Acknowledgments
  • 7. Happiness
    • A Whole Life
    • A Controlled Life
    • Life on the Rack
    • A Good Life
    • Joy
    • Commentary
    • Acknowledgments
• Appendix. A Calculus for Normative Logic
  • Notation and Interpretation
  • Basic Definitions, Rules, and Axioms
  • Normative Constructs
  • Axioms of Stoic Normative Logic
  • Immediate Inferences
  • Commentary
  • Acknowledgments
• Postscript to the Revised Edition
  • The Virtues of Virtue Ethics in the Stoic Tradition
  • Stoic Politics and Virtue Politics Generally
  • Stoicism as a Guide to Living Well
• Bibliography
• Index