The Stoic World Soul and the Theory of Seminal Principles

Abstract

This chapter deals with the Stoic notion of world soul and discusses in detail one Stoic argument for the thesis that the cosmos is intelligent and its relation to the theory of “seminal principles” (spermatikoi logoi). This argument—the “Proof”—seeks to establish that the cosmos is intelligent not in the strong sense that the cosmos has the capacity for thinking, but in the weaker sense that it has the properties needed to give rise to beings that are capable of thinking. This does not mean that for the Stoics cosmic intelligence is limited to this kind of intelligence, but just that the latter is a component of the former. In this respect, cosmic intelligence bears an important similarity to human intelligence, which also involves both the capacity for thinking and the possession of the properties needed to give rise to beings capable of thinking.