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‘Proairesis’, ‘Proairetic’ and ‘Aproairetic’: Synopsis of All the Passages Containing these Terms in the ‘Discourses’ and the ‘Manual’ of Epictetus

Received: 12 June 2015     Accepted: 21 June 2015     Published: 4 July 2015
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Abstract

In the last decades, the concepts of προαίρεσις (proairesis), προαιρετικὸν (proairetic) and ἀπροαίρετον (aproairetic) in the Stoic philosophy of Epictetus have aroused the interest, among others, of researchers like C. Cassanmagnago [1]; R. Dobbin [2-3], J. B. Gourinat [4], R. Kamtekar [5], R. Sorabji [6-7], R. S. Braicovich [8], K. Seddon [9] and A. A. Long [10]. The scope of this paper is to present a complete and as far as possible unequivocal picture of the subject. To this end I have produced a new translation and made a careful analysis of all the occurrences of the three terms in the works of Epictetus. The results I have reached show that the three concepts are perfectly clear in their meaning, without the need of translating them and with a simple transliteration from ancient Greek, as modern languages do not have an exact equivalent of such words.

Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijp.20150303.11
Page(s) 24-33
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Epictetus, Proairesis, Proairetic, Aproairetic, Nature of Things, Diairesis, Counterdiairesis

References
[1] C. Cassanmagnago. “Il problema della prohairesis in Epitteto”. Rivista di filosofia Neoscolastica, 1977, LXIX, pp. 232-246.
[2] R. Dobbin. “Προαίρεσις in Epictetus”. Ancient Philosophy.1991, 11, pp. 1-36.
[3] R. Dobbin. (Ed.) Epictetus. Discourses Book I. Oxford: Oxford University Press,2008.
[4] J. B. Gourinat. “La proairesis chez Epictète: decision, volonté, ou personne morale?” Philosophie Antique. 2005, 5, pp. 93-133.
[5] R. Kamtekar.“ΑΙΔΩΣ in Epictetus”. Classical Philology. 1998, 43 (2), pp. 136-160.
[6] R. Sorabji, “Epictetus on proairesis and Self”. In Mason A. & Scaltsas (Eds.), The philosophy of Epictetus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.2007, pp. 87-98.
[7] R. Sorabji. “Graeco-Roman varieties of Self”. In P. Remes and J. Sihvola (Eds.) Ancient philosophy of the Self. Springer, New York.2008,pp. 13-34.
[8] R. S. Braicovich. “On some rhetorical-pedagogical strategies in Epictetus Discourses concerning proairesis”. Eidos. 2013, 19, pp. 39-56
[9] K. Seddon. Epictetus’ Handbook and the table of Cebes. Guides to Stoic living. New York Routledge. 2005.
[10] A. A. Long. Epictetus. A Stoic and Socratic guide to life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2002
[11] W. A. Oldfather. (Ed.) Epictetus. The Discourses as reported by Arrian. The Manual and the Fragments. London Heinemann.1961.
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    Franco Scalenghe. (2015). ‘Proairesis’, ‘Proairetic’ and ‘Aproairetic’: Synopsis of All the Passages Containing these Terms in the ‘Discourses’ and the ‘Manual’ of Epictetus. International Journal of Philosophy, 3(3), 24-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20150303.11

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    ACS Style

    Franco Scalenghe. ‘Proairesis’, ‘Proairetic’ and ‘Aproairetic’: Synopsis of All the Passages Containing these Terms in the ‘Discourses’ and the ‘Manual’ of Epictetus. Int. J. Philos. 2015, 3(3), 24-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20150303.11

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    AMA Style

    Franco Scalenghe. ‘Proairesis’, ‘Proairetic’ and ‘Aproairetic’: Synopsis of All the Passages Containing these Terms in the ‘Discourses’ and the ‘Manual’ of Epictetus. Int J Philos. 2015;3(3):24-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20150303.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijp.20150303.11,
      author = {Franco Scalenghe},
      title = {‘Proairesis’, ‘Proairetic’ and ‘Aproairetic’: Synopsis of All the Passages Containing these Terms in the ‘Discourses’ and the ‘Manual’ of Epictetus},
      journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {24-33},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20150303.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20150303.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20150303.11},
      abstract = {In the last decades, the concepts of προαίρεσις (proairesis), προαιρετικὸν (proairetic) and ἀπροαίρετον (aproairetic) in the Stoic philosophy of Epictetus have aroused the interest, among others, of researchers like C. Cassanmagnago [1]; R. Dobbin [2-3], J. B. Gourinat [4], R. Kamtekar [5], R. Sorabji [6-7], R. S. Braicovich [8], K. Seddon [9] and A. A. Long [10]. The scope of this paper is to present a complete and as far as possible unequivocal picture of the subject. To this end I have produced a new translation and made a careful analysis of all the occurrences of the three terms in the works of Epictetus. The results I have reached show that the three concepts are perfectly clear in their meaning, without the need of translating them and with a simple transliteration from ancient Greek, as modern languages do not have an exact equivalent of such words.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • The Laboratorio Internazionale di Genetica e Biofisica (LIGB) of the CNR (National Research Council), Naples, Italy

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