From the book
Stobaeus, Volume II
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThese related forms of practical intelligence concern choosing advantageous action, weighing events, finding the appropriate action quickly and discovering a way through difficulty, each with its own stated function.
- In StobaeusThe Stoic account presents these abilities as kinds of knowledge under practical wisdom, rather than treating speed, calculation or ingenuity as automatically good independently of their objects and direction.
- In this editionDistinguish quick recognition of appropriate action from precipitate assent, and mark the supplied neighboring definition without making that editorial restoration the only support for an otherwise attested headword.
- A place to readChapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 3 Follow the sequence from what and how to do through weighing, finding and overcoming difficulty; the definitions make several contributions to action rather than merely praising cleverness in general.
- English renderings
- good deliberation; sound calculation; quickness of mind; resourcefulness
Meaning
These named cognitive virtues fall under practical wisdom. They distinguish advantageous deliberation, weighing and summing, immediate discovery of the appropriate, and finding a way through difficulties.
Use in the book
Good deliberation knows what to do and how to act advantageously. Sound calculation weighs against one another and sums up what is happening and being accomplished. Quickness of mind finds the appropriate action at once; resourcefulness discovers a way through a difficult situation. These are not undifferentiated cleverness. Their classification as forms of knowledge belongs to the Stoic account. Other neighboring definitions are partly supplied, and their transmission should remain distinguished from these surviving clauses.
The opening definition asks both what to do and how to do it, connecting deliberation with advantageous action. Sound calculation then weighs and sums up events, while quickness of mind finds the appropriate action at once. Resourcefulness addresses a further problem: finding a way through difficulty. The account thus distributes practical intelligence across several tasks. Speed alone is not its measure, and the quickness praised here should not be confused with the separately criticized hastiness of assent. A supplied passage between these definitions is visible in the translation and should retain its editorial status.
“Resourcefulness is knowledge that finds a way through difficulties.” (Chapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 3).
Places to read
- Chapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 32Four definitions distinguish complementary functions.
- Chapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 22The group is subordinated to practical wisdom.
Translation in this edition
The descriptive phrases preserve differences that “intelligence” would obscure.
Εὐβουλίαν
Attested. Chapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 3; Wachsmuth II, printed pp. 60-61.
Εὐβουλίαν μὲν οὖν εἶναι λέγουσιν ἐπιστήμην τοῦ ποῖα καὶ πῶς πράττοντες
εὐλογιστίαν
Attested. Chapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 3; Wachsmuth II, printed pp. 60-61.
ποῖα καὶ πῶς πράττοντες πράξομεν συμφερόντως· εὐλογιστίαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην ἀνταναιρετικὴν καὶ συγκεφαλαιωτικὴν τῶν γινομένων
ἀγχίνοιαν
Attested. Chapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 3; Wachsmuth II, printed pp. 60-61.
συγκεφαλαιωτικὴν τῶν γινομένων καὶ ἀποτελουμένων· ἀγχίνοιαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην εὑρετικὴν τοῦ καθήκοντος ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα· νουνέχειαν
εὐμηχανίαν
Attested. Chapter 7 · Excerpt 5b2 · Passage 3; Wachsmuth II, printed pp. 60-61.
ἐπιστήμην⟩ ἐπιτευκτικὴν τοῦ ἐν ἑκάστῳ σκοποῦ· εὐμηχανίαν δὲ ἐπιστήμην εὑρετικὴν διεξόδου πραγμάτων·
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume II, printed pp. 60–61. Each lemma has its own transmitted witness; this is a conceptual grouping, not a claimed lexical family.