In their theory of pleasure the Stoics emphasised,
in opposition to Epicurus, the psychological truth that
all desire is not for pleasure ; but they made the
mistake of confounding this psychological truth with
the ethical theory that pleasure is not good, that it
ought not to be an end of conduct. The doctrine
common to Plato and Aristotle -^ is, however, truer and
more moderate; Well-being as desired, or as attained,
is not merely a feeling of pleasure, but pleasure is
essential to Well-being, and a rational being desires
certain ends jpZws pleasure. It might be added that
the desire for pleasure or aversion from pain in the
realised end is often in the background of conscious-
ness, and for that reason escapes notice.
The negative element in the teaching of the Stoics,
besides neutralising indiscriminate Hedonism, was prob-
ably the source of their cosmopolitanism. For they could
see no reason why the Greek, as such, was intrinsically
superior to the foreigner. But their cosmopolitanism
was not merely negative, since they taught that the
possession of Wisdom and Virtue is the positive
ground for preferring one man to another, quite apart
from differences of nationality.
1 See pp. 60-62, 77, 78.
CHAPTEE VI

GENERAL SURVEY OF GREEK ETHICS

We shall conclude this part with a brief sketch of
the development of Greek Ethics.
