Abstract

Man, state, kosmos. About Stoic political anthropology. All the primary sources of the Old and Middle Stoa are lost; the fragments and testimonies of their philosophy we today possess are scanty. For us Cicero is the most important intermediary of their philosophy. But in his prominent books De re publica and De legibus he used middle-stoic political thoughts in his own Roman way. In this essay I try to reconstruct the old stoic positions concerning man, state, kosmos and their interrelations by evidences testified above all by other sources. In spite of the very fragmentary tradition of Zeno’s and Chrysippus’ Politeiai we know of their utmost utopian character. They have imagined a state of wholly wise men, united by the laws of perfect reason, without paying any regard to deep-rooted moral conventions. This accounts for their radical, partly shocking statements. Maybe their radicality resulted from the keen philosophical discussions with the Skeptics, who pressed them to take and defend extreme positions.