Logic and Morals: The Eternal Concept of Logos in Ancient Greek Philosophy

Prof. Theodora Voti, Postdoctoral researcher in the Philosophy of Language and Mind, Philosophy Department, University of Ioannina, Greece

08 October 2025

04:00 PM

Bibliotheca Alexandrina Main Entrance, Auditorium

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum affiliated to the Cultural Outreach Sector organizes a lecture entitled “Logic and Morals: The Eternal Concept of Logos in Ancient Greek Philosophy” on Wednesday, 8 October 2025, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Main Entrance, Auditorium. The Lecture is delivered by Prof. Theodora Voti, Postdoctoral researcher in the Philosophy of Language and Mind, Philosophy Department, University of Ioannina, Greece.

The speaker will shed light on the meaning, function, and philosophical significance of the Greek term Logos (“λόγος”) which carries a wide range of meanings, including “word”, “speech”, “reason”, and “principle”. Its philosophical significance begins with the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus, who used Logos to describe the rational structure that underlies the ever-changing cosmos. For Heraclitus, Logos was the unifying principle behind opposites, such as day and night, or life and death. He famously stated that, although the concept of Logos is common, most people live as if they had their own private understanding, emphasizing the universality of this rational order.

In later Greek philosophy, especially in Stoicism, Logos becomes a divine rational principle that pervades all of nature. The Stoics believed that to live according to nature (“kata physin”) was to live according to Logos, aligning human reason with the structure of the cosmos. Even in Aristotle's ethical and logical works, while Logos is not a cosmic force, it is central to human nature as the capacity for rational thought and moral deliberation.

In Logos-based thought, language is the means by which divine order or truth is expressed. In contemporary linguistics, the influence of Logos, is merely Plato-oriented. More specifically, in Chomsky’s linguistic theory, language focuses on how humans externalize internal thoughts, enabling communication and abstract reasoning. In both views, ancient and modern, language is not just communication but a mirror of deeper structures, metaphysical or neurological.

While Chomsky does not refer directly to Logos, his idea of an innate, universal linguistic structure resonates with the ancient ideas of a rational principle (Logos) governing language and thought. Both explore how speech reveals something deeper and universal, whether it is the divine order or the cognitive architecture. Logos frames this structure in terms of rational intelligibility. The ongoing process of studying these concepts through time reveals not only the richness of ancient thought but also an eternal, philosophically shared human pursuit of harmony between the self, the society and the cosmos.