Grice ed Orazio

Indeed, Piso will make this assumption, and it will lead him erroneously to the conclusion that a Stoic values scientia as its own end, as quod in eo sit optimum, as 'that which is highest in one' (IV.xiii.34) Antiochus then attributes to the Stoics, whether rightly or wrongly, the very Aristotelian valuation of theoretical over practical life that we, his readers, know the Stoics would refuse. When it comes to accurately portraying Stoicism as philosophical movement, the fact that Antiochus, a character in Cicero's dialogue, elides the difference between the Stoics and Aristotle serves as no indication of the reliability or unreliability of Cicero's or his sources. Cicero simply wants to show that, whatever the original truth of orthodox Stoicism might have been, it lent itself to this Antiochean interpretation. As he proceeds, the question he asks is whether the Stoics can indeed be accused of valuing theoretical over practical life despite the fact that they would refuse the very distinction.