Paradox

CHRYSIPPUS ON PEOPLE PARTS 137belongs to Chrysippus’s fourth level of existence, of being“relatively disposed.”Chrysippus’s search for peculiar qualities is further complicatedby a doctrine introduced by the founder of Stoicism.Zeno of Citium responded to skepticism by insisting thatsome truths are infallibly known. If your mother approachesyou in broad daylight, you know she is your mother. Chrysippustook this to mean that your mother has an unchangingpeculiar property that allows you to re-cognize her.The skeptics denied that you can know that your motheris present simply by virtue of looking at her in good light. Youcannot rule out the possibility that your mother has a duplicate.Perseus once refuted the Stoic Ariston by inducing oneof a pair of twins to deposit money with Ariston and afterwardhaving the other twin reclaim it.One may doubt that any quality is necessarily peculiar toan individual. If one individual has a quality, what preventsanother individual from having the same quality? Considertwo planks that are exactly alike except one is painted green.The principle that distinct things must have distinct propertieswill not stop us from painting the other plank green!DION AND THEONChrysippus’s reaction to the growing argument was not limitedto the defensive task of finding a solution. He realized that ifhe could formulate a variation of the paradox that did notinvolve growth, then the skeptics would have no grounds toblame the paradox on growth. The growing argument wouldno longer be a special embarrassment for Stoicism. Here is howPhilo of Alexandria reports Chrysippus’s paradox: