COMMENTARY ON BL HIJMANS' ARGUMENTS ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHICAL CHARACTER OF EPICTETIAN STOICISM

Abstract

According to BL. Hijmans, in face of the question about the philosophical character of Epictetus’ thought it is possible to state that it doesn’t constitutes, in fact, a philosophy. For Hijmans, epictetian stoicism is built from an unquestionable set of beliefs that are based on a relationship of submission to a divine principle that is responsible for creating and commanding the cosmos. For that reason, Hijmans affirms that two things are missing in Epictetus’ thought to characterize it as philosophy, namely: the sense of perplexity or wonder typical of a philosophical reflection and the self-criticism. In this sense, our article will propose two objections to Hijmans’ arguments in order to demonstrate that Epictetus’ stoicism has the necessary characteristics to be considered, in fact, philosophy.