Abstract

This dissertation is an edition, translation, and critical essay based on Barlaam of Calabria's Ethica Secundum Stoicos, a mid-14th century summary of Stoic ethics in two books. The edition compares the text as found in Migne's Patrologia Graeca volume 151 with the sole manuscript of the work, Clm. 111 in the Munich Staatsbibliothek. The translation makes this interesting and original work accessible to English readers, noting where possible the parallels and sources for Barlaam's work. The essay focuses on the chief point at issue in Book 1, the place of bodily and external goods in human happiness. A survey of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics concludes that the Stagirite's view is ambiguous, allowing for both inclusivist and dominant readings. Barlaam argues in support of the Stoic view and against the Peripatetic view in a novel way, making use of Aristotle's Organon to show the problems with the Peripatetic view. Although his argument is written chiefly against an inclusivist version of the Peripatetic view, it has sufficient strength to be used also against a dominant version of the Peripatetic view