The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers · Chapter
Sphaerus explained
Sphaerus, a pupil of Cleanthes and Zeno, becomes a prominent Stoic philosopher and visits the court of Ptolemy Philopater in Alexandria.
What happens
Sphaerus, a pupil of Cleanthes and Zeno, becomes a prominent Stoic philosopher and visits the court of Ptolemy Philopater in Alexandria. He engages in a philosophical debate about opinion and perception, cleverly distinguishing between comprehensible and probable perceptions. The chapter also lists his extensive writings on topics ranging from cosmology and ethics to politics and dialectics.
Themes in this chapter
Ethics and Self-Control
Sphaerus's argument about the wise man not being guided by opinion illustrates Stoic ethical ideals of rational judgment and self-control.
Wisdom vs. Sophistry
The exchange with Ptolemy Philopater contrasts genuine philosophical wisdom with rhetorical trickery, as Sphaerus refutes the king's attempt to trap him.
Characters to notice
- Sphaerus
Native of the Bosphorus, pupil of Cleanthes and Zeno, visited Ptolemy Philopater in Alexandria, debated the wise man's relation to opinion.
- Cleanthes
Sphaerus was a pupil of Cleanthes after Zeno's death.
- Zeno of Citium
Sphaerus was a pupil of Zeno's school before studying under Cleanthes.
Key passages
“And when Sphaerus was deceived by them, the king shouted that he had given his assent to a false perception. But Sphaerus answered very neatly that he had not given his assent to the fact that they were pomegranates, but to the fact that it was probable that they might be pomegranates.”
When the king tricked Sphaerus with wax pomegranates and accused him of assenting to a false perception, Sphaerus cleverly replied that he only assented to the probability that they were pomegranates, not to their actual identity.
This illustrates the Stoic distinction between comprehensible and probable perceptions.