'First of all then it seems to me that, as has
been rightly said by the ancients, there are three heads under which
the speculations of the philosopher fall, logic, ethic, physic; next,
that of these the logical should come first, the ethical second, and
the physical third, and that of the physical the treatment of the
gods should come last, whence also they have given the name of
"completions" to the instruction delivered on this subject'. That
this order however might yield to convenience is plain from another
book on the use of reason, where he says that 'the student who takes
up logic first need not entirely abstain from the other branches of
philosophy, but should study them also as occasion offers.'
Plutarch twits Chrysippus with inconsistency, because in the face of
this declaration as to the order of treatment, he nevertheless says
that morals rest upon physics. But to this charge it may fairly be
replied that the order of exposition need not coincide with the order
of existence.
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