To do this he must put his own soul in order...

To do this he must put his own soul in order: reason should rule him as reason rules the worldto live according to nature for a human being is to act in conformity with reason, the logosto live thus is to realize one's self and to realize one's true self is to serve the purposes of universal reason and to work for universal ends. The Stoic ethical ideal implies a universal society of rational beings with the same rights for reason is the same in all and all are part of the same world soul.

A truly virtuous act is one which is consciously directed toward the highest purpose or end, and is performed with conscious knowledge of moral principle. Thus, virtuous conduct implies complete and certain knowledge of the good and a conscious purpose, on the part of the doer, to realize the supreme good. To act unconsciously and without knowledge is not virtue.

Virtue is one, a unity, for everything depends on disposition, on the good will: a man either has it or he has it not: there is no middle ground: he is either a wise man or a foolVirtue is the only good, vice the only evil all else is indifferent. Evil conduct is the result of wrong judgment, or false opinion: the Stoics sometimes regard evil as the cause, sometimes the effect of the passions or immoderate impulses. The four such passions are pleasure, desire, grief and fear.

These passions and their many variations are diseases of the soul which it is our business, not merely to moderate, but to eradicate, since they are irrationalApathy or freedom from passion is, accordingly, the Stoic ideal. 2.4.3.6 Religion True religion and philosophy are one, according to the Stoics.

[Little wonder that Stoic philosophy should appeal to the Jesuits.] 2.5 GREEK PHILOSOPHY: THE RELIGIOUS PERIOD [150 BCE 500 AD] Greek philosophy began in Greek religion; and after its formative phase, described earlier, reached an apex in Socrates, Plato, Aristotle.