Note 17 — Chapter XIV · THE STOIC PHILOSOPHY AS A WHOLE AND ITS HISTORICAL POSITION.
Oswald J. (Oswald Joseph) Reichel translation
Far greater, comparatively, was the importance he attached to the study of nature,17 but even natural science was deemed valuable not so much for its own sake as because of its practical use. The knowledge of natural causes is the only means of liberating the soul from the shackles of superstition; this is the only use of natural science. If it were not for the thought of God and the fear of death, there would be no need of studying nature.18 The investigation of our instincts is also of use, because it helps us to control them, and to keep them within their natural bounds.19 Thus the onesided practical view of philosophy which we have already encountered in Stoicism was carried by the Epicureans to an extreme length.