Herillus

Herillus was a Stoic philosopher and a pupil of Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism. According to the sources, he was associated with Chalcedon, though some accounts place him in Carthage, and he is usually dated to the third century BC. His importance lies in having departed from his teacher on a decisive question: what the highest good is.

Where Zeno located the good in virtue, Herillus held that knowledge was the ultimate goal of life. To live well meant directing every action towards knowledge and not letting oneself be misled by ignorance. He also proposed a second, subordinate goal, linked to oikeiosis, the primary impulse by which living creatures move towards what suits them, and which non-wise people also pursue. Cicero objected that this left two separate and unconnected goals, and he grouped Herillus with Aristo of Chios, since both seemed to deny ethical value to the practical matters of everyday life.

He is credited with several works, including On Training, On the Passions, The Lawmaker and Maieutics, as well as some dialogues, but little survives beyond their titles. His influence was limited, and he is known mainly for the criticism his views provoked within the Stoic school itself.