Ὑποτελὶς
subordinate end
Translated by Marcelo Boeri11 Jan 2000Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
['Subordinate end'] and [sc. true] 'end' differ according to philosophers: for [they say] even those who are not wise aim at the former, whereas only the wise man aims at the latter. The things that are between virtue and vice [sc. they declare] to be indifferent.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ὑποτελὶς καὶ τέλος κατὰ φιλοσόφους διαφέρει· τῆς μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοὺς μὴ σοφοὺς στοχάζεσθαι, τοῦ δὲ μόνον τὸν σοφόν. τὰ δὲ μεταξὺ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας ἀδιάφορα εἶναι.
Betacode
*(upoteli\s kai\ te/los kata\ filoso/fous diafe/rei: th=s me\n ga\r kai\ tou\s mh\ sofou\s stoxa/zesqai, tou= de\ mo/non to\n sofo/n. ta\ de\ metacu\ a)reth=s kai\ kaki/as a)dia/fora ei)=nai.
Notes
- From Diogenes Laertius 7.165, on the Stoic philosopher Herillus of Carthage (who has no Suda entry of his own, but see under tau 282).
The end (telos) is "to be happy". The notion of "subordinate end" accounts for the fact that, before a human being is able to use the reasoning faculty, he or she has a natural or instinctive tendency to think of his or her life as a whole (see Annas [1993] 39-40). In a doxography which reminds us of the Stoic theory of "familiarization" or "appropriation" (oikeiosis), for which see omicron 601), we read: "The first affection familiar to the animal is the subordinate end; from such an affection the animal started to be aware of its own constitution, this not being rational but irrational or without reason (alogon)" (Stobaeus, Excerpts 2.47.12-14).
References
J. Annas, The Morality of Happiness (Oxford 1993)
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Revision history5 revisions · last 20 Dec 2022
- tweaked translation — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- tweaked tr; augmented note; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- added keyword; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Marcelo Boeri