Stobaeus, Volume II

Name: Stobaeus, Volume II
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek and English with an introduction and explanatory footnotes.

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Stobaeus, Volume IIBook II Chapter 7 · II.7.9.3–II.7.9a.1

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.9.3–II.7.9a.1

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Ancient Greek

p. 276

Ὄρουσις καὶ ἕξις ὁρμητική

II.7.9.3

Ἰδίως δὲ καὶ τὴν ὄρουσιν ὁρμὴν λέγουσι τῆς πρακτικῆς ὁρμῆς οὖσαν εἶδος· εἶναι δὲ τὴν ὄρουσιν φορὰν διανοίας ἐπί τι μέλλον. Ὥστε μέχρι μὲν τούτων τετραχῶς ὁρμὴν λέγεσθαι, διχῶς δ’ ἀφορμήν· προστεθείσης δὲ καὶ τῆς ἕξεως τῆς ὁρμητικῆς, ἣν δὴ καὶ ἰδίως ὁρμὴν λέγουσιν, ἀφ’ ἧς συμβαίνει ὁρμᾶν, ⟨ὁρμὴν⟩ πενταχῶς.

Εἴδη τῆς πρακτικῆς ὁρμῆς

II.7.9a.1

Τῆς δὲ πρακτικῆς ὁρμῆς εἴδη πλείονα εἶναι, ἐν οἷς καὶ ταῦτα· πρόθεσιν, ἐπιβολήν, παρασκευήν, ἐγχείρησιν, ⟨αἵρεσιν,⟩ προαίρεσιν, βούλησιν, θέλησιν. Πρόθεσιν μὲν οὖν εἶναι λέγουσι σημείωσιν ἐπιτελέσεως· ἐπιβολὴν δὲ ὁρμὴν πρὸ ὁρμῆς· παρασκευὴν δὲ πρᾶξιν πρὸ πράξεως· ἐγχείρησιν δὲ ὁρμὴν ἐπί τινος ἐν χερσὶν ἤδη ὄντος·

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 277

Impulsion and the Impulsive State

II.7.9.3

They also call impulsion, which is a species of practical impulse, “impulse” in a special sense; impulsion is a movement of thought toward something future.³⁵⁰ Thus, up to this point, “impulse” is used in four senses and “aversion” in two. With the addition of the impulsive state, which they also call “impulse” in a special sense and from which acting on impulse results, ⟨“impulse”⟩ is used in five senses.³⁵¹

Kinds of Practical Impulse

II.7.9a.1

Practical impulse has several species, including intention, initiative, preparation, undertaking, ⟨choice,⟩ choice in advance, wish, and willingness.³⁵² They say that intention is a marking out of what is to be accomplished; initiative is an impulse before an impulse; preparation is an action before an action; undertaking is an impulse concerning something already in hand.³⁵³

350.“Impulsion” renders ὄρουσις, a particular movement toward something future, distinguished from the broader πρακτικὴ ὁρμή, practical impulse. The source explicitly counts different senses of the term ὁρμή, not five separate faculties introduced without relation to the definitions.

351.The added fifth sense is a state, ἕξις, from which impulsive activity occurs; it differs from the movement itself. The final supplied ὁρμήν remains bracketed in English. The count includes the generic use, the rational and nonrational species, and the special future-directed use before adding the state.

352.The supplied αἵρεσιν, “choice,” remains bracketed in the list, which the source presents as including these species rather than necessarily exhausting them. The following definitions distinguish terms which ordinary English can treat as near synonyms.

353.The compressed definitions are retained, especially “impulse before an impulse” and “action before an action.” They describe preliminary movement and preparation without supplying an unstated psychological sequence. “In hand” renders ἐν χερσίν, indicating an undertaking already before the agent.

About This Reading Edition

The complete surviving text of Stobaeus’s second book, through II.46.22, in Ancient Greek and English, with an introduction and 1,541 explanatory notes. All forty-six chapter headings remain, including the notices for chapters whose texts are missing.

Historical Text and Translation

Greek: Curt Wachsmuth, Ioannis Stobaei Anthologii libri duo priores, volumen II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1884), printed p. 1 and pp. 3–264. The supplied edition preserves consequential editorial signs, reconstructed joins, qualified attributions, and missing-text notices. English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes: Diotimos Editions, 2026.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 edition are in the public domain. The supplied English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are published with the site owner’s authorization.