Cittadinanza universale e apparentamento del genere umano nel pensiero stoico

The chapter reconsiders texts and recent studies on the Stoic theory of the perfect society, focusing on some problematic points that emerge from ancient sources, such as the theo-cosmological dimension of universal society, in the face of a possible territorial and normative limit of the perfect state, and the composition of the ideal constitution, apparently reserved for the wise. The main conclusions are the following: Stoic literature does not provide a single and univocal model of political regime because the Stoics opted for the coexistence of a universalistic ideal with a program of improvement of the real society; the Stoics also advocated an idea of familiarity of mankind, which was based on a cognitive instance (the theory of preconceptions) rather than a moral or affective one.