Workshop in Ancient Philosophy (Thursday - Week 1, TT24)

Chair: Marion Durand

This essay argues that uncertainty poses a special problem to the Stoics, and that they have an interesting and complicated response to this problem. I argue that they oppose simply suspending judgment in the face of uncertainty about what to do, that they seek to minimize situations of practical uncertainty by cultivating expertise, and that they nevertheless face uncertainty about what will happen. One might suppose that they have a special strategy to deal with this uncertainty about the future, as an anecdote about Sphaerus and some advice about acting “with reservation” suggest special strategies. But I argue that these strategies fail to solve the problem, and that the Stoic response to uncertainty about the future is to deny that knowledge about what will happen is necessary to decide what to do wisely.