Zeno of Citium · Philosophy

The Rational Cosmos and the City of the World

Beneath Stoic ethics lies a vision of the universe: a single living being, suffused by divine reason (<em>logos</em>), governed by providence and fate, and ordered down to the last detail. From this cosmology Zeno drew his boldest social idea - that all rational beings are fellow citizens of one world-city.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Zeno’s physics makes the cosmos a single living, rational being, pervaded by logos (divine reason), identical with god and nature, and governed by providence and fate so that nothing happens at random. To know truth, the mind must grasp the &lsquo;kataleptic&rsquo; (cognitive) impression - one that co…

Leads to Heraclitus.

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