Ontological and Epistemic Foundations of The Stoic Theory of Emotions

Abstract

Historians of philosophy agree that the Stoics defined emotions as “judgments”. It is for this reason that in the contemporary philosophy of emotion the Stoic account of emotion is classified among cognitive theories of emotion. Indeed, the Stoics see emotions as “false judgments.” According to them, the purpose of life is to live in accordance with nature and in a reasonable way; such a life is only possible by removing the human spirit from the disruptive and destructive effects of emotions. Emotions, according to their theory, are the diseases of the soul that disrupt the inner peace and happiness of people because they are excessive desires that exceed human nature. However, there are important evaluations on the constructive role of emotions in the field of morality, starting from the ontological and epistemic foundation in the philosophy of Stoa. The aim of this article is to explain the positive aspects of the Stoic emotions by explaining the emotion description in the context of basic theories and concepts that they developed in the fields of physics, psychology, ethics and epistemology. In doing so, we will try to show how the Stoics use the “therapy of emotions” method.