The Death of Marcus Aurelius

The Death of Marcus Aurelius

Monday, December 29, 2025

Stobaeus on Stoic Ethics 18


Of the goods in the soul, some are dispositions, some are conditions but not dispositions, and some are neither conditions nor dispositions. 

All the virtues are dispositions, whereas practices are only conditions but not dispositions, for example, prophecy and the like. 

Virtuous activities—for example, prudent action and the possession of temperance and the like—are neither conditions nor dispositions. 

Similarly, of the bad things in the soul, some are dispositions, some are conditions but not dispositions, and some are neither conditions nor dispositions. 

All the vices are dispositions, whereas tendencies, such as enviousness, resentfulness, and such things, are only conditions and not dispositions; so too for diseases and ailments, such as greed, love of drink, and the like. 

Vicious activities such as imprudent action, unjust action, and things like that are neither conditions nor dispositions. 

IMAGE: Lorenzo Lotto, Allegory of Virtue and Vice (1505) 



No comments:

Post a Comment