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MED. 6.14Discipline of desire
George Long · 1862EN · Long

Most of the things which the multitude admire are referred to objects of the most general kind, those which are held together by cohesion or natural organization, such as stones, wood, fig-trees, vines, olives. But those which are admired by men who are a little more reasonable are referred to the things which are held together by TERMa living principle, as flocks, herds. Those which are admired by men who are still more instructed are the things which are held together by a rational soul, not however a universal soul, but rational so far as it is a soul skilled in some art, or expert in some other way, or simply rational so far as it possesses a number of slaves. But he who values DOGMArational soul, a soul universal and fitted for political life, regards nothing else except this; and above all things he keeps his soul in a condition and in an activity TERMconformable to reason and social life, and he TERMco-operates to this end with those who are of the same kind as himself.

Original · ancient Greek

Τὰ πλεῖστα, ὦν ἡ πληθὺς θαυμάζει, εἰς γενικώτατα ἀνάγεται τὰ ὑπὸ ἕξεως ἣ φύσεως συνεχόμενα, λίθους, ξύλα, συκᾶς, ἀμπέλους, ἐλαίας· τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ὀλίγῳ μετριωτέρων εἰς τὰ ὑπὸ ψυχῆς, οἶον ποίμνας, ἀγέλας· τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἔτι χαριεστέρων εἰς τὰ ὑπὸ λογικῆς ψυχῆς, οὐ μέντοι καθολικῆς, ἀλλὰ καθὸ τεχνικὴ ἢ ἄλλως πως ἐντρεχής, ἢ κατὰ ψιλὸν τὸ πλῆθος ἀνδραπόδων κεκτῆσθαι. ὁ δὲ ψυχὴν λογικὴν καθολικὴν καὶ πολιτικὴν τιμῶν οὐδὲν ἔτι τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιστρέφεται, πρὸ ἁπάντων δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν λογικῶς καὶ κοινωνικῶς ἔχουσαν καὶ κινουμένην διασῴζει καὶ τῷ ὁμογενεῖ εἰς τοῦτο συνεργεῖ.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

Genre and place in the book. A hierarchy of what is valued: an ascent through the grades of what different people prize (θαυμάζει), from dead matter up to the one thing truly worthy — the rational-social soul. The principal discipline is desire (the right estimate of what to value); the sustaining one is action (to keep one's soul social and to cooperate with one's kind).

The scala naturae (ἕξις / φύσις / ψυχή / λόγος). Behind the list stands the Stoic doctrine of the grades of pneuma: ἕξις ("holding," cohesion) binds the inanimate — stones, wood; φύσις (vegetative growth) — fig-trees, vines, olives; TERMψυχή (soul) — animals, flocks; λογικὴ ψυχή (rational soul) — the human being. Each class of admirers halts at its own grade of being: the crowd marvels at dead things, the somewhat more moderate at cattle, the still "more refined" at skilled and clever souls.

The barb about slaves. A sharp note: some value the rational soul only in so far as it "possesses a multitude of slaves" (πλῆθος ἀνδραπόδων). The apparent ascent to the "rational" turns into a counting of property — they prize not the soul but the number of bodies under it; a false scale, stuck at possession.

The summit: the rational-social soul. He who values DOGMAthe rational soul that is universal and political (καθολικὴ καὶ πολιτική) — the soul that shares in the one City of rational beings — turns to nothing else. And the practical conclusion: above all, guard your own soul as it moves "rationally and socially" (λογικῶς καὶ κοινωνικῶς), and TERMcooperate with your kind (τὸ ὁμογενές) toward the same end. Thus the right valuation (what to prize) passes into the right action (to keep the rational-social within oneself and to work in common). Cf. DOGMAoikeiōsis — the widening of "one's own" to one's kind.

Disciplines and parallels. The principal one is desire (the hierarchy of values crowned by the rational-social soul); the secondary is action (TERMcooperation with one's kind). Parallels: 05-16 (the good of a rational being is fellowship); 05-30 (the mind of the Whole is social); Med. 2.1 (born for cooperation); 6.44 (as a human being, a citizen of the cosmos). The scale of pneuma — Stoic physics, LS 47.

DisciplineDiscipline of desire
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished
Read·Book VI
Discipline of desire

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

Most of the things which the multitude admire are referred to objects of the most general kind, those which are held together by cohesion or natural organization, such as stones, wood, fig-trees, vines, olives. But those which are admired by men who are a little more reasonable are referred to the things which are held together by TERMa living principle, as flocks, herds. Those which are admired by men who are still more instructed are the things which are held together by a rational soul, not however a universal soul, but rational so far as it is a soul skilled in some art, or expert in some other way, or simply rational so far as it possesses a number of slaves. But he who values DOGMArational soul, a soul universal and fitted for political life, regards nothing else except this; and above all things he keeps his soul in a condition and in an activity TERMconformable to reason and social life, and he TERMco-operates to this end with those who are of the same kind as himself.

Original · ancient Greek

Τὰ πλεῖστα, ὦν ἡ πληθὺς θαυμάζει, εἰς γενικώτατα ἀνάγεται τὰ ὑπὸ ἕξεως ἣ φύσεως συνεχόμενα, λίθους, ξύλα, συκᾶς, ἀμπέλους, ἐλαίας· τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ὀλίγῳ μετριωτέρων εἰς τὰ ὑπὸ ψυχῆς, οἶον ποίμνας, ἀγέλας· τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἔτι χαριεστέρων εἰς τὰ ὑπὸ λογικῆς ψυχῆς, οὐ μέντοι καθολικῆς, ἀλλὰ καθὸ τεχνικὴ ἢ ἄλλως πως ἐντρεχής, ἢ κατὰ ψιλὸν τὸ πλῆθος ἀνδραπόδων κεκτῆσθαι. ὁ δὲ ψυχὴν λογικὴν καθολικὴν καὶ πολιτικὴν τιμῶν οὐδὲν ἔτι τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιστρέφεται, πρὸ ἁπάντων δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν λογικῶς καὶ κοινωνικῶς ἔχουσαν καὶ κινουμένην διασῴζει καὶ τῷ ὁμογενεῖ εἰς τοῦτο συνεργεῖ.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Related5
TERMψυχήsoulTERMκοινωνικόν / κοινωνίαthe social, the communal (disposition)TERMσυνέργιαcooperation, joint actionDOGMAOikeiōsis — appropriation expanding from the self to the rational communityDOGMACosmopolis — the single city of gods and human beings
Commentary

Genre and place in the book. A hierarchy of what is valued: an ascent through the grades of what different people prize (θαυμάζει), from dead matter up to the one thing truly worthy — the rational-social soul. The principal discipline is desire (the right estimate of what to value); the sustaining one is action (to keep one's soul social and to cooperate with one's kind).

The scala naturae (ἕξις / φύσις / ψυχή / λόγος). Behind the list stands the Stoic doctrine of the grades of pneuma: ἕξις ("holding," cohesion) binds the inanimate — stones, wood; φύσις (vegetative growth) — fig-trees, vines, olives; TERMψυχή (soul) — animals, flocks; λογικὴ ψυχή (rational soul) — the human being. Each class of admirers halts at its own grade of being: the crowd marvels at dead things, the somewhat more moderate at cattle, the still "more refined" at skilled and clever souls.

The barb about slaves. A sharp note: some value the rational soul only in so far as it "possesses a multitude of slaves" (πλῆθος ἀνδραπόδων). The apparent ascent to the "rational" turns into a counting of property — they prize not the soul but the number of bodies under it; a false scale, stuck at possession.

The summit: the rational-social soul. He who values DOGMAthe rational soul that is universal and political (καθολικὴ καὶ πολιτική) — the soul that shares in the one City of rational beings — turns to nothing else. And the practical conclusion: above all, guard your own soul as it moves "rationally and socially" (λογικῶς καὶ κοινωνικῶς), and TERMcooperate with your kind (τὸ ὁμογενές) toward the same end. Thus the right valuation (what to prize) passes into the right action (to keep the rational-social within oneself and to work in common). Cf. DOGMAoikeiōsis — the widening of "one's own" to one's kind.

Disciplines and parallels. The principal one is desire (the hierarchy of values crowned by the rational-social soul); the secondary is action (TERMcooperation with one's kind). Parallels: 05-16 (the good of a rational being is fellowship); 05-30 (the mind of the Whole is social); Med. 2.1 (born for cooperation); 6.44 (as a human being, a citizen of the cosmos). The scale of pneuma — Stoic physics, LS 47.

DisciplineDiscipline of desire
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished