Ethics in the recent epoch stoic philosophy

Ertürk, Baksen, Ethics in the Recent Epoch Stoic Philosophy, Postgraduate Thesis, 2007 This thesis has been prepared to reveal the ethical understanding of Recent Epoch Stoic Philosophy and the place and importance of this ethical understanding in the thought history. For this reason, the thoughts of Seneca, Cicero and Epictetus, who are among the recent epoch Stoicst, have been referred. Philosophy is taken in three fields in the stoicst thought: physics, logic and ethics. They appear particularly in the ethical field. Physics and logic information are preconditions for ethics. Stoicts? universe understanding has a pantheist character. God, who is himself the universe at the same time, has determined everything in advance. Nothing can occur out of this determination. Destiny dominates the universe. What the human being needs to do is to reach the laws of this order and to practice them in his life. Human beings are free to learn the laws and to practice them in their lives. But, nevertheless, they experience what is written in their destiny. This thought causes the Stoicts thought to be criticized, because it mentions freedom on the one hand, and destiny on the other. Furthermore, the natural law of Stoicts ethics does not have clarity. Recent epoch Stoic philosophy has an eclectic structure. Hence, in the first chapter of the thesis, the thoughts having impact on recent epoch Stoic philosophy have been mentioned. In the thoughts of Seneca and Cicero, we come across the impacts of Aristo and Plato as well as the Stoic philosophy. However, the ethical understanding of Epictetus is based on the first epoch Stoic philosophy When we consider the ethical understanding of recent epoch Stoic philosophy generally, we understand that Stoicts philosophy interprets the living idea which is suitable to the nature as a life based on wisdom. Nonetheless, destiny is dominant in our lives. There are natural laws and these laws direct our lives. Freedom appears particularly in the ideational field. In conclusion, we can see that Stoic philosophy in the recent epoch has become a more rational and a more supportable thought. The strict stance of the first epoch has been reduced. Despite this, we can see that the ambiguity and paradoxes continue to exist in the recent epoch in the ethics of Stoicts philosophy, especially in its understanding of law, destiny and freedom. In spite of all these paradoxes, the ethical understanding of recent epoch Stoic philosophy has produced great impacts. They have become the bases of certain philosophical thoughts forming in both the empire periods and post-empire periods. The thoughts of universal fraternity and that all human beings are equal innately are the bases of human rights thoughts. Particularly, it has experienced integration with certain types of Platonism and thus has become the basis of the middle age thought.