Victor Caston

This study focuses on Stoic theories of mental representation and content. It traces the development of the early Stoics’ views on content, which arose out of their response to Plato’s theory of Forms and over time evolved into a highly detailed and sophisticated semantic theory. Using this framework, it examines their treatment of mental states in terms of their basic notions of representation (phantasia) and endorsement (sunkatathesis), to understand the distinctive types of content these states possess and how they play their respective roles in our interactions with the world.