Quotation
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“Zeno of Citium says that the two principles of the universe are god and matter, god being the active principle and matter the passive.”
Zeno of Citium · Stoicism · Ancient · 3rd century BCE doctrine, reported later
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is a physical thesis: the Stoic world has two principles, an active god and a passive matter, and the god works through the matter rather than standing outside it as a craftsman who then leaves. A competing reading hears a much later Christian distinction between spirit and stuff, which the Stoic god does not fit, because their god is a body, a rational fire or breath. The report is Lives 7.134, and it names Zeno. It belongs to physics, not to the ethical end reported at 7.87. Agreement with nature, on the Stoic picture, is agreement with this active principle. The card does not say he used these English words. It says the doxography attributes the pair to him. That is as close as a lost book allows.
Did Zeno of Citium really say this?
The library’s label is Questionable. Diogenes Laertius 7.134 names Zeno of Citium for the Stoic pair of principles. The sentence is the doxographer's summary. Zeno's own treatise does not survive. It is not the ethical formula in 7.87.
Where it comes from
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 7.134, reporting Zeno
Approximate date: 3rd century BCE doctrine, reported later.
How to use it
A popular account that says the Stoics told people to accept nature, without saying what they thought nature was, has skipped this report. The active principle is a god identified with the rational order of a material world. You can reject the physics. You should not describe the ethics as if the physics were a walk in the park.
A mindset reading
When a school tells you to live according to nature, ask what they think nature is made of. Zeno's reported answer is god and matter, active and passive. The habit stops the word nature from meaning whatever the speaker already likes.
Understand the philosophy
Lives 7.134 is the report of Stoic principles, with Zeno named. The key pair is the active and the passive. Later Stoics elaborate the same physics. The ethical formula in 7.87 is the other doctrinal card. The ears-and-mouth saying is biography. His Republic, the book later writers argued about, is not quoted here because it does not survive to be quoted.
- knowledge
- meaning
FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is a physical thesis: the Stoic world has two principles, an active god and a passive matter, and the god works through the matter rather than standing outside it as a craftsman who then leaves. A competing reading hears a much later Christian distinction between spirit and stuff, which the Stoic god does not fit, because their god is a body, a rational fire or breath. The report is Lives 7.134, and it names Zeno. It belongs to physics, not to the ethical end reported at 7.87. Agreement with nature, on the Stoic picture, is agreement with this active principle. The card does not say he used these English words. It says the doxography attributes the pair to him. That is as close as a lost book allows.
Did Zeno of Citium really say this?
Questionable. Diogenes Laertius 7.134 names Zeno of Citium for the Stoic pair of principles. The sentence is the doxographer's summary. Zeno's own treatise does not survive. It is not the ethical formula in 7.87.
Which work is it in?
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 7.134, reporting Zeno Approximate date: 3rd century BCE doctrine, reported later.