Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1929. / Vita. Published also without thesis note. Bibliography: p. [223]-229.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1929. / Vita. Published also without thesis note. Bibliography: p. [223]-229.

Inaug.-Diss.--Berlin. / "Dissertatio inauguralis quam ad summos in philosophia honores impetrandos consensu et auctoritate amplissimi philosophorum ordinis in Alma Litterarum Universitate Friderica Guilelma Berolinensi." "Promotio sollemnis habebiter: 23 Juli 1904." Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Munich. / Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-236).

Cotutelle entre l'Université de Montréal et Sorbonne Université / Zénon de Kition, le fondateur du stoïcisme, a reçu une partie de sa formation philosophique chez le cynique Cratès de Thèbes. Ce contact a laissé une empreinte durable sur l’école stoïcienne, qui a continué d’entretenir des liens étroits avec le cynisme. Ma thèse propose une contribution à notre connaissance de ce rapport entre les deux courants philosophiques en analysant toutes les références au cynisme dans les écrits stoïciens, de Zénon à Marc Aurèle. La première partie de ma thèse recense tous les textes du corpus, cités en grec ou en latin, avec une traduction française. Chaque texte est accompagné d’un commentaire philologique et philosophique. La complexité du rapport que les stoïciens entretiennent avec le cynisme se manifeste particulièrement chez ceux dont les écrits sont bien conservés. C’est le cas de Sénèque, qui offre dans son œuvre philosophique des portraits élaborés de deux cyniques, Diogène et Démétrius, tout en critiquant certains aspects du cynisme. La contribution d’Épictète est encore plus importante, puisqu’il consacre un entretien complet à la vie et au rôle du cynique, et réserve à Diogène une place de premier choix dans son enseignement. Son admiration pour les véritables cyniques contraste avec le jugement sévère qu’il porte sur les faux cyniques de son temps. La deuxième partie de ma thèse analyse en détail trois textes qui font état d’un débat stoïcien sur la possibilité que le sage « cynicise » (D.L., VII 121 ; Cic., Fin. III 68 ; Arius Didyme apud Stob., II 7, 11s). Certains stoïciens refusent que le sage cynicise, d’autres l’acceptent dans certaines circonstances, et d’autres encore, comme Apollodore de Séleucie, considèrent que le cynisme est une voie d’accès à la vertu rapide mais difficile. En établissant un lien entre les portraits du sage et la doctrine des actions convenables, j’analyse le débat à travers la classification morale des actions dans l’éthique stoïcienne. Pour éclairer davantage la position d’Apollodore, je m’intéresse au lien qui l’unit à la doxographie cynique générale (D.L., VI 103-105) et j’examine la signification de l’image de la voie vers la vertu à travers sa genèse et sa postérité. Il en ressort trois caractéristiques fondamentales du cynisme : le rejet des devoirs sociaux, le choix de la pauvreté et le refus des longues études. Pour approuver ce mode de vie, dont les traits sont contraires aux recommandations stoïciennes habituelles, les stoïciens pro-cyniques adoptent une posture de compromis et fixent des limites étroites à l’intérieur desquelles la pratique du cynisme devient légitime. / Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, received part of his philosophical instruction from the Cynic Crates of Thebes. This connection left a lasting imprint on the Stoic school, which continued to maintain strong ties with Cynicism. My dissertation proposes a contribution to our knowledge of the relationship between the two philosophical movements by analyzing all the references to Cynicism in Stoic writings, from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius. The first part of my dissertation lists all the texts composing the corpus, cited in Greek or Latin, with a French translation. Each text is accompanied by a philological and philosophical commentary. The complexity of the Stoics’ perspective on Cynicism is made evident in those whose writings are well preserved. This is the case of Seneca, who offers in his philosophical works elaborate portraits of two Cynics, Diogenes and Demetrius, while criticizing some aspects of Cynicism. The contribution of Epictetus is even more important, since he devotes an entire discourse to the life and role of the Cynic, and gives Diogenes a prominent place in his teaching. His admiration for true Cynics contrasts with his harsh judgment on the fake Cynics of his time. The second part of my dissertation analyzes at length three texts that report a Stoic debate on the possibility for the sage to “cynicize” (D.L., VII 121; Cic., Fin. III 68; Arius Didymus apud Stob., II 7, 11s). Some Stoics refuse to allow the sage to cynicize, while some accept it under certain circumstances and others, such as Apollodorus of Seleucia, consider Cynicism to be a quick but difficult path to virtue. By establishing a link between the portraits of the sage and the doctrine of proper actions, I analyze the debate through the moral classification of actions in Stoic ethics. To shed further light on Apollodorus’ position, I explore his connection to the Cynic doxography (D.L., VI 103-105) and examine the meaning of the image of the path to virtue through its genesis and posterity. Three fundamental characteristics of Cynicism emerge: the rejection of social duties, the choice of poverty, and the refusal of extended studies. To endorse this lifestyle, whose features are contrary to customary Stoic advice, pro-Cynic Stoics adopt a posture of compromise and set narrow limits within which the practice of Cynicism becomes legitimate.

Rubens is known as a painter; he should also be defined as an art theorist. Following Robert Williams’ theory that Early Modern art became philosophical, I believe that style can connote art theoretical interests and philosophical models, and that in Rubens’s case, these included the classical Stoic. While it would be possible to trace Rubens’s commitment to Stoicism in his subject matter, I investigate it in his style, taking a Baxandalian approach to inferential criticism. I focus on Rubens’s formal choices, his varied brushwork, and his ability to create a vibrant picture plane. My study is divided into chapters on Ethics, Logic, and Physics. In Chapter One I treat Stoic moral philosophy as an influence in the design of Rubens’s paintings, consider similarities between classical and Early Modern interest in viewer/reader response, and argue that Baroque artists could use style to avoid dogma while targeting viewers’ personal transformation. In Chapter Two I focus on Rhetoric, a section of the Stoic philosophy of Logic. Stoic Logic privileged truth: that is, it centred on investigating existing reality. As such, Stoic rhetorical theory and the classical literature influenced by it promoted a style that is complex and nuanced. I relate this to the Early Modern interest in copia, arguing that this includes Rubens’s painterly style which, apropos copia, should be better termed the Abundant Style. In Chapter Three I explore similarities between Stoic Natural Philosophy and the Early Modern artistic interest in the unified visual field. The Stoics defined the natural world as eternally moving and mixing; with force fields, energy, and elements in constant relationships of cause/effect. The Stoic concept of natural sympathy was a notion of material/energetic interrelatedness in which the world was seen as a living body, and the divine inhered in matter. I consider ways that these classical Stoic concepts of transformation, realism, and vivified matter might be discerned in Rubens’s style. / Graduate / 2023-12-14