Abstract
Like the Epicureans, the Stoics were materialists, but they made an exception for linguistic meaning (as well as void, space and time), which they took to be subsistent, but not fully existent. These linguistic meanings were called lekta, literally “what is said,” which are indexed to the time of utterance. This genuinely novel account of linguistic meaning is a forerunner to Frege’s notion of the Thought, or propositional content.
Texts excerpted from: Inwood, B. and Gerson, L. eds. 1997. Hellenistic Philosophy, 2nd edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, pp. 114–121, 128, 168–169.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The six nominative forms of the Greek article ‘the’, given in singular and plural numbers and masculine, feminine and neuter genders.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Begby, E. (2017). Stoicism. In: Cameron, M., Hill, B., Stainton, R. (eds) Sourcebook in the History of Philosophy of Language. Springer Graduate Texts in Philosophy, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26908-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26908-5_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26906-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26908-5
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)