The Integrated Stoic Practice of Making Correct Use of Impressions

 

**The Logical Structure of Stoic Ethics**

The Stoic View: Changing False Judgments to Eliminate Emotions 

1. Human flourishing consists in virtue and joy

2. Virtue is in our control

3. Joy is in our control

4. External things are not in our control

5. Virtue is good

6. Vice is evil

7. External things are not good

8. External things are not evil

9. Emotions occur if and only if we believe external things have value

10. External things have no value

11. Without believing external things have value, there are no emotions

12. Virtue leads to not believing external things have value

13. Joy leads to not believing external things have value

14. Therefore, human flourishing consists in not believing external things have value and virtue

# The Integrated Stoic Practice of Making Correct Use of Impressions

## Preparatory Understanding

- Recognize that human flourishing consists in virtue and joy *(Principle 1)*

- Understand that virtue and joy are within your control *(Principles 2 & 3)*

- Accept that external things are neither good nor evil in themselves *(Principles 7 & 8)*

## The Integrated Practice

1. **Encounter an Impression**

   - When faced with any situation, person, or object, pause and recognize: "This is an impression"

   - *This connects to Principle 9: emotions occur if and only if we believe external things have value*

2. **Apply the Dichotomy of Control** [E.1]

   - Ask: "Is this within my control or outside my control?" *(Addresses Principles 2, 3, & 4)*

   - Classify clearly: opinions, judgments, and choices (internal) vs. events, others' actions, and material things (external)

   - *This reinforces Principle 4: external things are not in our control*

3. **Examine Your Judgments** [E.5]

   - Recognize that your disturbance comes not from the thing itself but from your judgment about it

   - Say to yourself: "It is my judgment about this that disturbs me, not the thing itself"

   - *This applies Principle 10: external things have no value*

   - Question: "Am I assigning value to an external thing that has no intrinsic value?" *(Directly addresses Principle 9)*

4. **Visualize and Prepare** [E.4]

   - Before engaging, remind yourself of the true nature of what you're about to encounter

   - Mentally rehearse potential challenges and your equanimous response

   - *This strengthens Principle 11: without believing external things have value, there are no emotions*

5. **Suspend and Redirect** [E.2]

   - Suspend immediate desire or aversion toward externals

   - Direct desire only toward virtue and proper judgment *(Applying Principle 5: virtue is good)*

   - Apply aversion only to false judgments *(Applying Principle 6: vice is evil)*

6. **Reaffirm True Value** [E.3]

   - Remind yourself: "Virtue alone is good, vice alone is evil, all else is indifferent" *(Directly stating Principles 5, 6, 7, & 8)*

   - For valued possessions, rehearse their potential loss with equanimity

   - *This practice embodies Principles 12 & 13: virtue and joy lead to not believing external things have value*

Through consistent application of this practice, you align yourself with the ultimate Stoic conclusion *(Principle 14)*: human flourishing consists in not believing external things have value and in pursuing virtue.

Stoicism for Monotheists: Integrated Stoic Practice of Making Correct Use of Impressions

 

Below is a list of the basic Stoic principles, derived from select texts of Grant C. Sterling. I used Claude to generate a new "Logical Progression of Stoic Principles" from these principles. 

Here is a link to the texts from which the principles were derived: 

https://stoicnews.blogspot.com/2024/02/nine-excerpts-and-full-texts-about.html?m=1

Nine excerpts and full texts about Stoicism by Grant C. Sterling

"The Stoic View: Changing False Judgments to 

Eliminate Emotions" 

1. Human flourishing consists in virtue and joy

2. Virtue is in our control

3. Joy is in our control

4. External things are not in our control

5. Virtue is good

6. Vice is evil

7. External things are not good

8. External things are not evil

9. Emotions occur if and only if we believe external things have value

10. External things have no value

11. Without believing external things have value, there are no emotions

12. Virtue leads to not believing external things have value

13. Joy leads to not believing external things have value

14. Therefore, human flourishing consists in not believing external things have value and virtue

Claude:

I'll reconstruct the logical progression using the specific propositions from Text 2. 

# Logical Progression of Stoic Principles (Based on Text 2) 

## Foundation Layer: Control and Value

1. **The Division of Control**

   - Virtue is in our control

   - Joy is in our control

   - External things are not in our control

   - This creates the fundamental framework for all Stoic reasoning 

2. **Theory of Value**

   - Virtue is good

   - Vice is evil

   - External things are not good

   - External things are not evil

   - This establishes a complete value framework aligned with what's in our control 

## The Nature of Emotions

3. **Emotional Causation**

   - Emotions occur if and only if we believe external things have value

   - External things have no value

   - Therefore, emotions arise from false beliefs about value 

4. **Elimination of Emotions**

   - Without believing external things have value, there are no emotions

   - Both virtue and joy lead to not believing external things have value

   - This creates a path to emotional freedom 

## The Path to Human Flourishing (Eudaimonia)

5. **Components of Eudaimonia**

   - Human flourishing consists in virtue and joy

   - Both components must be present for eudaimonia

   - Both components are within our control 

6. **Final Integration**

   - Human flourishing consists in:

     - Not believing external things have value

     - Practicing virtue

   - This represents the complete achievement of the Stoic goal 

## Key Dependencies:

- The theory of control establishes what we can and cannot influence

- The theory of value builds on what we can control

- Emotional theory depends on our understanding of value

- Eudaimonia depends on correctly implementing all previous elements 

This framework differs from the original logical progression by:

- Treating joy as a co-equal component with virtue

- Placing stronger emphasis on the elimination of emotions

- Focusing more explicitly on belief about externals

- Having a more linear progression toward eudaimonia

http://stoicnews.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-representation-of-stoicism-in.html

A Representation of Stoicism in a Propositional Logic Form

Core Stoicism: Section Four: Virtue

Section Four: Virtue -- Grant C. Sterling

Th 24) In order to perform an act of will, the act of will 

must have some content.  The content is composed

of the result at which one aims.

Th 25) Some things are appropriate objects at which to

aim, although they are not genuinely good.

Th 26) Some such objects are things like life [our own,

or others'], health, pleasure, knowledge, justice, truth-

telling, etc.

Th 27) Virtue consists of rational acts of will, vice of

irrational acts of will.

28) Ergo, any act that aims at an [external] object of desire is

not virtuous, since all desires [for externals] are irrational.

29) Ergo, virtue consists of the pursuit of appropriate

objects of aim, not the pursuit of the [external] objects of our

desires . Such virtuous acts will give us good feelings

[by 17] , and since we have no desires regarding

the actual outcome, they will never produce unhappiness

for us. 

Core Stoicism

7-Step Model of Impression Management

7-Step Model of Impression Management

 The Stoic View: Changing False Judgments to Eliminate Emotions 

1. Human flourishing consists in virtue and joy

2. Virtue is in our control

3. Joy is in our control

4. External things are not in our control

5. Virtue is good

6. Vice is evil

7. External things are not good

8. External things are not evil

9. Emotions occur if and only if we believe external things have value

10. External things have no value

11. Without believing external things have value, there are no emotions

12. Virtue leads to not believing external things have value

13. Joy leads to not believing external things have value

14. Therefore, human flourishing consists in not believing external things have value and virtue 

A Representation of Stoicism in a Propositional Logic Form

### Step 1: Recognize the Nature of Impressions 

**Logical Basis**: 'externals are not in our control' and 'emotions arise from beliefs about external values' 

- Initial impressions are cognitive propositions, not raw sensory data 

- They often contain implicit value judgments about externals 

- These align with premise 9: 'emotions arise from beliefs about external values' 

- Recognition phase implements 'externals are not in our control' by acknowledging our limited control 

Core philosophical insight: Our immediate reactions are thoughts laden with hidden value judgments, not objective facts. 

### Step 2: Apply Dichotomy of Control 

**Logical Basis**: 'we control virtue' and 'we control our joy' 

- Differentiates between what we can and cannot control 

- Recognizes that while impressions arise automatically, our response is controllable 

- Distinguishes between external events and our internal responses 

- Sets foundation for choosing virtuous responses 

Core philosophical insight: We cannot control events, but we can always control our interpretation and response to them. 

### Step 3: Conscious Evaluation 

**Logical Basis**: 'externals are neither inherently good nor evil' 

- Evaluates impressions against core Stoic principles 

- Tests for false value attributions to externals 

- Critically examines the underlying assumptions of our initial impression 

- Seeks to understand the true nature of the situation 

Core philosophical insight: Most of our suffering comes from incorrectly assigning value to things that are fundamentally neutral. 

### Step 4: Assent Decision 

**Logical Basis**: 'emotions follow from our beliefs about external values' 

- Recognizes how our agreement with an impression leads to emotions 

- Consciously choose whether to accept, reject, or modify the impression 

- Understand that emotional responses are not automatic but chosen 

- Take responsibility for our internal reactions 

Core philosophical insight: We have the power to decide whether an impression will disturb us emotionally. 

### Step 5: Formulate Alternative Impressions 

**Logical Basis**: 'virtue is good' and 'vice is evil' 

- Creates new propositions aligned with Stoic values 

- Reframe the situation in terms of virtue and personal growth 

- Develop a perspective that focuses on what we can learn or how we can improve 

- Shift from external judgment to internal development 

Core philosophical insight: We can always reframe a situation to focus on our potential for virtue and personal improvement. 

### Step 6: Focus on Virtuous Action 

**Logical Basis**: 'human flourishing comes from virtue and joy' 

- Translates theoretical understanding into practical action 

- Choose actions that reflect virtue and wisdom 

- Move beyond contemplation to concrete implementation 

- Align behavior with philosophical principles 

Core philosophical insight: True philosophy is not just understanding, but living out those principles in our daily actions. 

### Step 7: Reinforce Correct Judgments 

**Logical Basis**: 'practicing virtue removes belief in external values' 

- Strengthen virtuous patterns through repeated practice 

- Create a positive feedback loop for character development 

- Reflect on and learn from each application of the process 

- Build a consistent approach to handling impressions 

Core philosophical insight: Character is built through consistent, intentional practice of wise judgment.