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Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Ancient Western philosophy to c 500 > General
The notions of the cosmic city and the common law are central to
early Stoic political thought. As Vogt shows, together they make up
one complex theory. A city is a place governed by the law. Yet on
the law pervading the cosmos can be considered a true law, and thus
the cosmos is the only real city. A city is also a
dwelling-place--in the case of the cosmos, the dwelling-place of
all human beings. Further, a city demarcates who belongs together
as fellow-citizens. The thought that we should view all other human
beings as belonging to us constitutes the core of Stoic
cosmopolitanism. All human beings are citizens of the cosmic city
in the sense of living in the world. But the demanding task of
acquiring wisdom allows a person to become a citizen in the strict
sense: someone who lives according to the law, as the gods do. The
sage is the only citizen, relative, friend and free person; via
these notions, the Stoics explore the political dimensions of the
Stoic idea of wisdom. Vogt argues against two widespread
interpretations of the common law--that it consists of rules, and
that lawful action is what right reason prescribes. While she
rejects the rules-interpretation, she argues that the prescriptive
reason-interpretation correctly captures key ideas of the Stoics'
theory, but misses the substantive side of their conception of the
law. The sage fully understands what is valuable for human beings,
and this makes her actions lawful. The Stoics emphasize the
revisionary nature of their theory; whatever course of action
perfect deliberation commands, even if it be cutting off one's limb
and eating it, we should act on its command, and not be held back
by conventional judgments.
The Meditations of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius are a readable
exposition of the system of metaphysics known as stoicism. Stoics
maintained that by putting aside great passions, unjust thoughts
and indulgence, man could acquire virtue and live at one with
nature.
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Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
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Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
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Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
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