Chrysippus

Chrysippus was of Phoenician roots. He was a pupil of Zeno of Citium (Cyprus), the first head of the Stoa Poikile Academy at Athens, or of Cleanthes of Assos, the second head. Chrysippus was also influenced by the teachings of Plato.

Chrysippus was to become the third head of the Stoa Poikile and, together with Zeno of Citium, he is considered the cofounder of Stoicism. Stoicism takes its name from the Stoa Poikile Academy which in turn means "Painted Colonnade", the place where the founder of the academy usually lectured.

Chrysippus was one of the first to organise propositional logic as an intellectual discipline. Unanalysed propositions joined by connectives were studied. This allowed the Stoics to make major advances in mathematics and science. The logical term "disjunction" is certainly due to the Stoics and it is thought to have originated with Chrysippus.

In physics Chrysippus made distinctions between "whole" and "all" or "universe". He argued that the "whole" is the world while the "all" is the external void together with the world. He believed that logic and physics are necessary to differentiate between good and evil. For Chrysippus a knowledge of physics is necessary before ethics can be formulated. To him the value of physics and logic is mainly for this purpose.

Russell in [4] says

Chrysippus ... had an elaborate theory of knowledge, in the main empirical and based on perception, though [he] allowed certain ideas and principles, which were held to be established by ... the agreement of mankind.

He alone is the sage, the others only act as shadows.

Without Chrysippus, there wouldn't have been any Stoicism

There are a number of versions of how he died, one of which says he drank some over proof wine while another says that he died of laughter.

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