Take for
instance the syllogism wherewith Zeno advocated the cause of
temperance--
One does not commit a secret to a man who is drunk.
One does commit a secret to a good man.
A good man will not get drunk.
The chain argument which we wrongly call the Sorites was also a
favorite resource with the Stoics. If a single syllogism did not
suffice to argue men into virtue surely a condensed series must be
effectual. And so they demonstrated the sufficiency of wisdom for
happiness as follows----
The wise man is temperate
The temperate is constant
The constant is unperturbed
The unperturbed is free from sorrow
Whoso is free from sorrow is happy
The wise man is happy
The delight which the early Stoics took in this pure play of the
intellect led them to pounce with avidity upon the abundant stock of
fallacies current among the Greeks of their time. These seem--most of
them--to have been invented by the Megarians and especially by
Eubulides of Miletus a disciple of Eucleides but they became
associated with the Stoics both by friends and foes who either praise
their subtlety or deride their solemnity in dealing with them.
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