Townsend Lecture III. The Resilience of the Wisdom of the Stoic Sage

About this event

The Stoics famously maintain that the sage's wisdom is secure, unwavering, and impervious to rational refutation. But can even the sage's understanding survive the vicissitudes of human life? What happens to wisdom during sleep, illness, drunkenness, or mental disturbance? This lecture explores the Stoic conception of cognitive stability, focusing on the disagreement between Cleanthes and Chrysippus over whether virtue and wisdom can ever be lost. I examine the distinction between possessing and exercising understanding, and ask whether Stoic wisdom is genuinely immune to erosion or instead possesses a distinctive capacity for resilience. I argue that the Stoic position is deeply connected to and offers a revealing contrast with Plato's emphasis on the continuous maintenance and renewal of understanding. Reception to follow. Townsend Lecture I. The Dynamic Structure of Understanding in Plato Townsend Lecture II. Meletē and the Good Life in the Phaedo