Stoic Physics in Three Minutes

Chuck Chakrapani

Modern Stoics mostly study Stoic ethics which deals with how to live our lives. They may have heard of Stoic physics but may not know much about it. Although the ancient Stoics believed that Stoic physics is the foundation (or, in any case, an important part) of Stoic ethics, most modern Stoics ignore it. If you are one of those who don’t know anything about Stoic physics but would like to know what it says without spending too much time, you are in luck. What follows is a very brief summary of Stoic physics.

How did this world come about and how it will end?

Our world has a starting point. Before that, only the perfection of Zeus (God or Reason) existed. Zeus or Reason is corporeal and it is continuous in space.

In the beginning, everything else was inert. Zeus pervaded through inert matter and created the living body and the cosmos. Creation started when divine fire condensed into a liquid. This liquid is partly vaporized and partly condensed into the earth, while the fire continued to exist. The fire has been the source of all objects and all changes to come. The principles inherent in fire drove the creation and development of our world.

What does our rationality depend on?

We are influenced by two principles: active and passive. These two principles are based on four elements: Fire, Air. Earth, and Water. Air and Fire are light elements dominated by an active principle. Earth and Water are heavy elements dominated by a passive principle. When we are influenced more by an active principle, we are rational and divine; when influenced by a passive principle more, we are less so.

The world is an interaction between the active principle (fire, air, or pneuma) and the passive principle. They constitute a dynamic continuum, fluid and in flux with no independent part. There is no void in the cosmos. It begins only at the edge of the cosmos.

What is the human soul?

The human soul consists of eight streams: five senses and three faculties (reproduction, speech, and command). All our cognition takes place in our command center. Command faculty controls the remaining seven streams of the human soul. It is a two-way street from the center to the surface and back.

How are we nurtured?

We are nurtured by Eros, the God of Love, the creative force. It unifies the opposites, bringing active and passive principles together. Life is created, nurtured, and reproduced through Love and it is as important as eating, resting, sleeping, and other important activities. As a rational being, one can experience love without attachment to any particular person, place, or thing.

Is everything equal?

The entire cosmos is a rational animal but there is a hierarchy. The hierarchy is determined by the nature of the pneuma (divine breath) that shaped them.

God has perfect logo and therefore he is on the top of Stoic hierarchy.

Humans come next. They have logos.

Then come non-rational animals. They can perceive.

Plants come fourth. They neither think nor perceive but they respond to their environment.

All non-living stuff is inert and therefore at the bottom of the hierarchy.

What is death?

Death occurs when the soul loosens its tension and separates it from the human body. Even though the active and passive principles are thoroughly intertwined, they retain their unique properties and separate at death. The soul then joins with the ‘World Soul’. In Stoic physics, there is no reward or punishment after death. There is no heaven, no hell.

As you can see, Stoic physics is mostly metaphysics speculating on the origin, the development and the ending of the universe and the individual. Many modern Stoics —probably the majority — don’t consider Static physics relevant. But there are others who still do.