Certainty in Uncertainty: The Value of Stoic Virtue Ethics

As part of a dissertation that proposes a virtue ethics, this chapter questions Aristotle’s thought concerning reality’s metaphysical grounds. Where rather than reason as the universal organising principle, an arational order is suggested in its place. One that necessarily situates wisdom as the subject’s preeminent faculty. Considering Machiavelli in this frame, and addressing the consequences of intellectual overreach, the significance of moral realism is emphasised. In response, Stoic virtue is proposed as the most suitable approach, particularly amidst societal moral decline. Thereafter, practical wisdom is highlighted as the means to temper extremes, towards an accord with the principles about which reality is organised.