Abstract

Often, when Seneca wants to defend a thesis that seems original to him in relation to the Stoic school, he claims to enjoy distracting himself with subtle games that quickly become boring puzzles. This article would like to show how Seneca, especially in letters 58, 113, 117, but also in his other writings, establishes the meaning of what is, what is not and what is quasi. The goal is important, since Seneca seeks to give incorporeal things, lekta, a power of action that they should not have, because only bodies can act. Seneca’s solution remains problematic. However, Seneca finds its original conceptual features in the highly abstract and fictional thinking of Roman law, particularly in the reflection on the meaning of res.