Georg Olms Verlag AG Oikeiosis & the Natural Basis of Morality: From Classical Stoicism to Modern Philosophy

The strong influence of Stoicism on the ethical, juridical and political thought of Modernity is a well-known fact. Within the framework of Stoic naturalism, the doctrine of oikeiosis plays a key role, combining two different approaches: on the one hand, that which attends to the natural constitution of the living being, its basic vital impulses and its most elemental perceptive and cognitive capacities; on the other, that which emphasises the specific explanation of animal behaviour, in the first place, and of human behaviour, in the second, also from the point of view of that which must count as "good", and not just in a purely biological or vital sense, but also, in the case of the human being, in a specifically moral one. The articles gathered in the present volume seek to contribute to the ongoing discussion concerning the theoretical possibilities offered by the explanatory model developed by the Stoics, highlighting, at the same time, its notable productivity, as this was made manifest in the long and complex process of reception and reworking which culminated in Modernity.