Ariston of Chios
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Aristo (or Ariston) of Chios (fl. 250 BC) was a Stoic philosopher and pupil of Zeno. He differed from Zeno on many points, and approximated more closely to the Cynic school.
He was eloquent (hence his nickname "the Siren") but controversial of tone. He despised logic, and rejected the philosophy of nature (physics) as it went beyond the powers of man. Ethics alone he considered worthy of study, and in that only general and theoretical questions. He rejected Zeno's doctrine of desirable things, intermediate between virtue and vice. There is only one virtue: a clear, intelligent, and healthy state of mind (hygeia).
In his later life, he was criticized by Zeno for his personal habits, but he had his own body of followers called "Aristonians" and founded his own school in the gymnasium of Cynosarges. Eratosthenes of Cyrene was one of his eminent pupils.
Aristo is frequently confused with another philosopher of the same name, Ariston of Ceos, (also known as Ariston of Iulis) who, about 230 BC, succeeded Aristo as leader of the Peripatetics.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
