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person279 BCE-206 BCE

Chrysippus

Disciplines:
ethics
logic
physics

Summary

Greek philosopher who became the third head of the Stoic school and systematized its logic, physics, and ethics into a comprehensive philosophical system.

Core Contribution

Systematized Stoic propositional logic — the first propositional logic in history — with five indemonstrable argument forms; refined the doctrines of fate, free will, and the passions; defended the conflagration cycle (periodic renewal of the cosmos through fire).

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Said to have written over 700 works, none of which survive intact — more prolific than almost any ancient philosopher yet known entirely through fragments and reports.
  • Argued that the good man can be happy even on the rack, because virtue is immune to external fortune — a claim critics found implausible and Stoics defended with increasing ingenuity.

Notable Works & Achievements

On the Soul

On the Passions

Logical Investigations

Historical Influences

Cleanthes Zeno of Citium

Intellectual Lineage

Stoicism

Contemporaries & Peers

Cleanthes Epicurus Carneades

Minds Influenced

Epictetus Marcus Aurelius Cicero

Intellectual Posterity

Stoic LogicPropositional Logic

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Chrysippus

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