CFP: Ethics in The Early Stoa

The division of Stoic doctrine into three parts – logic, physics and ethics – is familiar to academics working on Stoicism, as is the well-documented emphasis that the Roman Stoics placed particularly on ethical matters and how to apply Stoicism to their daily lives. However, in the conversation around Stoic ethics, the body of evidence available from the Roman period has overshadowed the attention that the early Stoa paid to ethics. Thinkers like Zeno, Aristo and Panaetius all made distinctive contributions to the ethical branch of Stoic thought. 

In order to highlight the work of the early Stoa in this important and influential area, we invite proposals for papers for an informal workshop dedicated to early Stoic ethics. We welcome submissions relating to any aspect of ethics and any early Stoic thinker; possible themes could include definitions of eudaimonia, teleological ethics, oikeiōsis, the role of indifferents, practice versus theory, the role of the sage, the passions and the eupatheiai, and identifying and performing appropriate actions, although these suggestions are offered as prompts rather than as limitations.

We hope that this workshop will build on the Musonius Rufus workshop hosted in April 2019, and offer an opportunity for this with interests in Stoicism to come together, make new contacts, and think collectively about further research. 

We welcome submissions from people at any stage in their career, from doctoral students and early career researchers through to more established academics. The event will take place on the first floor of Royal Holloway’s Bedford Square building, which we regret does not have lift access; you can see full accessibility information at https://www.accessable.co.uk/royal-holloway-university-of-london/access-guides/11-bedford-square. If anyone has specific access or dietary requirements, please contact us and we will do our best to cater for them. 

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words long. Presentations will be around 30 minutes long, and followed by discussion. The deadline for abstracts is 28th February 2020. 

If you are unable to attend the workshop but would like to be kept informed of future developments, please do get in touch. 

Abstracts and any questions should be sent to the organizers: 

Dr Liz Gloyn ([email protected]), Department of Classics, Royal Holloway, University of London 

Dr John Sellars ([email protected]), Department of Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London