Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

ii i BIRTH OF STOICISM xxxiii
order in the world of things, set themselves to discover
the underlying source of unity in nature, so Socrates,
convinced of the presence and necessity of moral order
in the domain of human relationships, set himself to
discover the basis upon which it rested, and in seeking
to ' know himself tapped the sources of moral philosophy.
Assuming that some real discoverable unity must underlie
the general conception denoted
3
by 'goodness, and
seeking for its definition and basis, Socrates eventually
found in knowledge the only firm foundation for virtue.
Moods, impulses, and passions, by reason of their
individual and subjective quality, could never furnish a
standard of right action. Knowledge,
on the other
hand, resting on solid foundations of correspondence
with objective facts, could give consistency to action
and prescribe laws of moral conduct. Right insight
into the conditions and results of action would carry
with it right conduct, for no man perceiving the right
course would deliberately choose and pursue the wrong.
Knowledge of what was good would thus ensure the
exercise of goodness, and just analysis of the contents
of goodness would place them within the reach of all.
Wrong-doing is failure of insight, springing from ignorance
and want of education, a mistake that will correct itself
as soon as the right way is discerned. Supply the
needed insight, and the right course of action will follow,
for what is good is also what is beneficial, and nature
ensures that man will follow what is beneficial to himself.
By the same reasoning the way of goodness is likewise
the way of well-being, in which man finds his happiness.
The teaching of Socrates may be summed up in the