Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.134 — Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.134
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
They hold that there are two principles in the universe, the active principle and the passive. The passive principle, then, is a substance without quality, i.e. matter, whereas the active is the reason inherent in this substance, that is God. For he is everlasting and is the artificer of each several thing throughout the whole extent of matter. This doctrine is laid down by Zeno of Citium in his treatise On Existence, Cleanthes in his work On Atoms, Chrysippus in the first book of his Physics towards the end, Archedemus in his treatise On Elements, and Posidonius in the second book of his Physical Exposition. There is a difference, according to them, between principles and elements; the former being without generation or destruction, whereas the elements are destroyed when all things are resolved into fire. Moreover, the principles are incorporeal and destitute of form, while the elements have been endowed with form.
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.134 (on the Stoics), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.134
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book VII, tr. R. D. Hicks (Loeb, 1925). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe universe has two principles: a passive one, formless matter, and an active one, the reason inside matter, which is God and shapes everything. Principles never come into being or perish, while the elements are destroyed when everything dissolves into fire.
Older wording
- “artificer”
- — a skilled maker or craftsman
- “incorporeal”
- — without a body
- “destitute of form”
- — without any shape or definite character
Themes and situations
- Nature and the cosmos
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