Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

​And to benefit is to set in motion or hold fast in accordance with virtue, while to harm is to set in motion or hold fast in accordance with vice. They say that “indifferents” is spoken of in two ways: in one sense, of things that contribute neither to happiness nor to misery, as is the case with wealth, reputation, health, strength, and the like; for it is possible to be happy even without these, since it is the specific use of them that is happiness-inducing or misery-inducing. In another sense, “indifferents” is said of things that stimulate neither impulse nor aversion, as is the case with having an even or odd number of hairs on the head, or stretching out or bending one’s finger, whereas the former indifferents are no longer spoken of in this way; for those former things are capable of stimulating impulse and aversion.

​Hence some of the former are chosen, and some are rejected, while the latter are in an equal relation with respect to choice and avoidance. Among indifferents, they call some “preferred” and others “rejected.” Preferred are those that possess value, while rejected are those that possess disvalue. And by “value” they speak in one sense of a contribution to the life in agreement, which concerns every good; in another sense, of a certain intermediate capacity or usefulness contributing to the life according to nature, just as one might speak of the contribution that wealth or health brings to the life according to nature; and in a third sense, value is the exchange rate estimated by an appraiser, which one who is experienced in matters would assign, just as one might speak of exchanging wheat for barley together with a mule.

​Preferred things, then, are those that also possess value: such as, among the things of the soul, natural aptitude, art, moral progress, and the like; among bodily things, life, health, strength, good condition, soundness of limbs, beauty, and things similar; and among external things, wealth, reputation, noble birth, and the like. And rejected things are, among the things of the soul, lack of aptitude, lack of art, and the like; among bodily things, death, disease, weakness, poor condition, mutilation, ugliness, and the like; and among external things, poverty, disrepute, low birth, and things similar. But those things that stand in neither condition are neither preferred nor rejected.

​Furthermore, among preferred things, some are preferred for their own sake, some for the sake of other things, and some both for their own sake and for the sake of other things. Preferred for their own sake are natural aptitude, moral progress, and the like; for the sake of other things, wealth, noble birth, and the like; and both for their own sake and for the sake of other things, strength, keenness of the senses, and soundness of limbs. For their own sake, because they are according to nature; for the sake of other things, because they provide not a few uses. And similarly the rejected thing stands according to the opposite account. Furthermore, they say that an appropriate action is that which, when done, holds a reasonable justification, such as what is consistent in life, which extends also to plants and animals; for appropriate actions are observed even in these.

​And the term “appropriate action” was first coined thus by Zeno, the designation being derived from “reaching down to/applying to certain ones.” And it is an activity proper to constitutions that are according to nature. For of things enacted according to impulse, some are appropriate actions, some are contrary to appropriate action, and some are neither appropriate actions nor contrary to appropriate action. Appropriate actions, then, are all those that reason urges us to do, such as honoring parents, brothers, and fatherland, and associating harmoniously with friends; whereas contrary to appropriate action are all those that reason does not urge, such as neglecting parents, disregarding brothers, failing to accommodate friends, looking down upon fatherland, and things similar.