Neostoicism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neostoicism is a term applied to a philosophical position within Early Modern humanism, largely originated by Justus Lipsius towards the end of the sixteenth century. His De constantia[1] of 1584, a dialogue on political conduct and morality, is the founding document (though the term itself is known earlier). In it, characters representing Lipsius himself and his friend Charles de Langhe explore aspects of contemporary political predicaments, by reference to classical and pagan stoicism, in particular as found in the writing of Seneca. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy says the term 'Neostoicism' is useful to refer to Christian authors inspired by Stoic ethical ideas[3]
According to Adriana MacCrea[2], by linking together Seneca and Tacitus, Lipsius promoted a distinctive approach to society, privileging the role of ancient wisdom as the means to understand the demands of the contemporary world.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that Lipsian Neostoicism had a direct influence on many seventeenth-century writers.[3] The work for example of Guillaume du Vair, Traité de la Constance (1594), largely derives from that of Lipsius.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Justus Lipsius, On Constancy available in English translation (2006) by John Stradling, edited by John Sellars.
- ^ Constant Minds: Political Virtue and the Lipsian Paradigm in England, 1584-1650 (1997) pp.4-5
- ^ [1]. Others mentioned there are Montesquieu, Bossuet, Francis Bacon, Joseph Hall, Francisco de Quevedo and Juan de Vera y Figueroa. McCrea's book considers further Walter Raleigh, Ben Jonson and Fulke Greville. The influence was Europe-wide: see [2] for Hungary.
[edit] References
- M. Morford (1991), Stoics and Neostoics: Rubens and the Circle of Lipsius
- Gerhard Oestreich (1982), Neostoicism and the Early Modern State, English translation by D. McLintock
- J. L. Saunders (1955), Justus Lipsius: The Philosophy of Renaissance Stoicism
