Date of Award
Spring 5-11-2013
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Philosophy
First Advisor
Tim O'Keefe
Second Advisor
Eddy Nahmias
Third Advisor
Andrea Scarantino
Abstract
In his book, A New Stoicism, Lawrence A. Becker sides with Posidonius, and against Chrysippus and others, on the issue of whether the sage will experience passions. The Posidonian position is that the sage will experience conflicting passions but will, nevertheless, overcome those passions through his or her perfected agency. In opposition, Chrysippus and others assert that the sage will have extirpated all his or her passions as a necessary precondition for achieving sagehood. I will argue that a body of neuroscientific evidence chiefly concerned with the effects of lesions to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) supports Becker’s assertion that Chrysippus’ call for the extirpation of the passions is neither plausible nor desirable. Recent empirical discoveries support Posidonius’ view of the role of the passions in the virtuous life.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/4183074
Recommended Citation
Roberson, Nicholas G., "Stoic Moral Psychology: The Implications Of Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Damage." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2013.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/4183074