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.7.11m.17–II.7.11m.18

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English Page · Branch 185 of 516

Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.11m.17–II.7.11m.18

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Ancient Greek

p. 366

Δόξα καὶ προπέτεια

II.7.11m.17

Μηδὲν δ’ ὑπολαμβάνειν ἀσθενῶς, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἀσφαλῶς καὶ βεβαίως, διὸ καὶ μηδὲ δοξάζειν τὸν σοφόν. Διττὰς γὰρ εἶναι δόξας, τὴν μὲν ἀκαταλήπτῳ συγκατάθεσιν, τὴν δὲ ὑπόληψιν ἀσθενῆ· ταύτας ⟨δ’⟩ ἀλλοτρίας εἶναι τῆς τοῦ σοφοῦ διαθέσεως· δι’ ὃ καὶ τὸ προπιπτεῖν πρὸ καταλήψεως ⟨καὶ⟩ συγκατατίθεσθαι κατὰ τὸν προπετῆ φαῦλον εἶναι καὶ μὴ πίπτειν εἰς τὸν εὐφυῆ καὶ τέλειον ἄνδρα καὶ σπουδαῖον.

Λῆσις πίστις καὶ ἐπιστήμη

II.7.11m.18

Οὐδὲ λανθάνειν δὲ αὐτόν τι, τὴν γὰρ λῆσιν εἶναι ψεύδους ὑπόληψιν ἀποφαντικὴν πράγματος. Τούτοις δ’ ἀκολούθως οὐκ ἀπιστεῖν, τὴν γὰρ ἀπιστίαν εἶναι ψεύδους ὑπόληψιν· τὴν δὲ πίστιν ἀστεῖον ὑπάρχειν, εἶναι γὰρ κατάληψιν ἰσχυράν, βεβαιοῦσαν τὸ ὑπολαμβανόμενον· Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐπιστήμην ἀμετάπτωτον ὑπὸ λόγου· διὰ ταῦτά φασι μήτε ἐπίστασθαί τι τὸν φαῦλον μήτε πιστεύειν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 367

Opinion and Precipitate Assent

II.7.11m.17

He believes nothing weakly, but rather securely and firmly; hence the wise person does not hold opinions. For there are two kinds of opinion: assent to something not apprehensible, and weak belief. ⟨But⟩ these are alien to the wise person’s disposition.⁴⁸⁸ Hence rushing ahead before apprehension ⟨and⟩ assenting in the manner of a precipitate person is base, and does not befall the well endowed, complete, and virtuous man.⁴⁸⁹

Unawareness Conviction and Knowledge

II.7.11m.18

Nor does anything escape his notice; for unawareness is a belief in something false that makes an assertion about a matter.⁴⁹⁰ In keeping with this, he does not lack conviction, for lack of conviction is belief in something false. Conviction is a thing of moral excellence, for it is a strong apprehension that confirms what is believed. Likewise knowledge cannot be overturned by argument. For these reasons, they say, the base person neither knows anything nor has conviction.⁴⁹¹

488.The distinction is between two defective forms of assent or belief, not between every everyday use of “opinion” and knowledge. The first concerns the object as not apprehensible, the second the weakness of the belief. The supplied δ’ remains “but.”

489.Προπίπτειν, rushing ahead, and προπετής, precipitate, link the action with the agent’s manner. Wachsmuth prints φαῦλον, “base,” in the predicate, and supplies καί before assenting. The English retains this supplement and the temporal qualification “before apprehension.”

490.The printed λῆσις, rendered “unawareness,” is linked to λανθάνειν, escaping notice. The definition is compressed: Wachsmuth prints ἀποφαντικήν, “assertive,” qualifying the belief, rather than a word meaning negative or denying. The English preserves this assertion about a matter without inventing an example of what escapes notice.

491.Πίστις here concerns firm conviction and is defined as strong apprehension; in the friendship paragraph its social context called for “trust.” Ἀπιστία is its contrary. The definitions govern the categorical claims about wise and base people. The source calls knowledge ἀμετάπτωτος ὑπὸ λόγου, unable to be overturned by argument, a qualification retained in English.

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.