HOW THE DISCIPLINES OF DESIRE AND ACTION FIT TOGETHER

     # HOW THE DISCIPLINES OF DESIRE AND ACTION FIT TOGETHER

## THE STRUCTURAL RELATIONSHIP

**From Excerpt 9:**

The disciplines address different aspects of our relationship to externals, but they are deeply interconnected and both depend on the same foundation: **correct value judgments**.

### **THE THREE DISCIPLINES IN STOIC THEORY**

**1. Discipline of Desire (orexis/ekklisis)**

- Concerns: what we want to obtain or avoid

- Domain: our attitudes toward having/not having things

- Target: emotions and passions (pathe)

- Question: "What should I desire? What should I avoid?"

**2. Discipline of Action (hormē/aphormē)**  

- Concerns: what we move toward or away from in action

- Domain: our impulses to act or refrain

- Target: behavior and choices

- Question: "What should I do? What should I refrain from doing?"

**3. Discipline of Assent (synkatathesis/ananeuseis)**

- Concerns: what we affirm or deny as true

- Domain: our judgments about reality

- Target: beliefs and opinions

- Question: "What should I affirm as true? What should I reject as false?"

**The hierarchy:** All three depend on the discipline of assent (correct judgment), but desire and action are the two primary practical disciplines.

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## THE FUNDAMENTAL INTEGRATION

### **THEY SHARE THE SAME FOUNDATION**

Both disciplines require and express the same core judgments:

**Core Judgment 1:** Only virtue is genuinely good; only vice is genuinely evil

- **In desire:** Desire virtue, avoid vice

- **In action:** Act virtuously, refrain from vicious action

**Core Judgment 2:** Externals are indifferent (neither good nor evil)

- **In desire:** Don't desire externals as if genuinely good; don't avoid them as if genuinely evil

- **In action:** Act toward preferred indifferents with reservation; don't make virtue depend on outcomes

**Core Judgment 3:** We control our prohairesis; we don't completely control externals

- **In desire:** Desire what's in our power (virtue); maintain reservation about externals

- **In action:** Act appropriately; maintain reservation about results

**The relationship:** You cannot practice one discipline without the other. They are two expressions of the same correct value judgments.

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## HOW DESIRE LEADS TO ACTION

**From Excerpt 7 (the psychology):**

**The causal sequence:**

**1. Impression arises** (phantasia)

- "That promotion would be good"

- "Speaking up in this meeting might lead to criticism"

**2. Value judgment made** (belief about good/evil)

- "The promotion is genuinely good" (false judgment)

- "Criticism is genuinely evil" (false judgment)

**3. Desire/aversion follows** (orexis/ekklisis)

- Strong desire for promotion

- Aversion to speaking up (avoiding criticism)

**4. Impulse to action follows** (hormē/aphormē)

- Impulse to pursue promotion desperately

- Impulse to refrain from speaking (repulsion from action)

**5. Action occurs**

- Act desperately to secure promotion

- Remain silent to avoid criticism

**The key insight:** Desire and action are connected through value judgments. False value judgments create both disordered desire and inappropriate action.

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## THE MUTUAL REINFORCEMENT

### **HOW DESIRE ENABLES ACTION**

**Right desire makes right action possible:**

**1. Freedom to act**

- If you desire only virtue (not outcomes), you can act freely

- Not paralyzed by fear of failure (failure doesn't harm virtue)

- Not driven by desperate craving (success doesn't constitute virtue)

- Can take appropriate risks, speak honestly, act courageously

**2. Appropriate motivation**

- Action motivated by virtue, not by craving externals

- Do right thing for right reason

- Not compromising integrity to secure outcomes

- Sustained effort without burning out (not desperate)

**3. Resilience under difficulty**

- When obstacles arise, continue (virtue not threatened)

- When outcomes disappoint, persist (worth not diminished)

- When others criticize, maintain course (opinion is external)

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### **HOW ACTION EXPRESSES DESIRE**

**Right action demonstrates what you actually desire:**

**1. Actions reveal true values**

- You say you desire virtue, but do your actions show it?

- You claim externals are indifferent, but do you act desperately for them?

- The discipline of action tests whether desire is correctly ordered

**2. Actions train desire**

- Acting with reservation reinforces that outcomes are indifferent

- Acting virtuously strengthens desire for virtue

- Consistent appropriate action habituates correct desire

**3. Actions complete desire**

- Desire alone is incomplete (just wanting virtue)

- Action expresses desire in the world (actually being virtuous)

- The good life requires both: right desire + right action

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## THE INTEGRATED DAILY PRACTICE

### **MORNING: Set Both Desire and Action**

**Desire:**

"Today I desire virtue: wisdom in judging, justice toward others, courage in difficulties, temperance in pursuing. I desire only this. Externals I'll pursue appropriately as preferred indifferents with reservation."

**Action:**

"Today I will act according to nature and role: [specific kathēkonta for the day]. I will act with virtue and reservation. Outcomes are external."

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### **MOMENT-TO-MOMENT: Apply Both**

**When situation arises:**

**Check desire:** "What am I desiring here? Virtue or external? If external, correct to appropriate selection with reservation."

**Check action:** "What's the appropriate action? Am I acting with virtue? Do I maintain reservation about outcome?"

**The unified response:**

- Desire: virtue in this situation

- Action: appropriate response with virtue and reservation

- Result: free, effective, virtuous engagement

---

### **EVENING: Review Both**

**Desire:**

- What did I desire today?

- Where did I falsely desire externals as genuinely good?

- Where did I maintain correct desire?

**Action:**

- What actions did I take?

- Were they appropriate (kathēkonta)?

- Did I act with virtue and reservation?

- Where did outcomes disturb me (revealing false desire)?

**Integration:**

- Did my actions express my professed desires?

- Did my desires enable appropriate action?

- Where was inconsistency between desire and action?

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## SUMMARY: THE FIT BETWEEN DISCIPLINES

**The disciplines of desire and action:**

**Share foundation:** Both depend on correct value judgments (only virtue good, externals indifferent)

**Follow sequence:** False judgment → false desire → inappropriate action

**Reinforce mutually:** Right desire enables right action; right action expresses and trains right desire

**Work as one:** Cannot truly practice one without the other; both required for virtue

**Aim at same goal:** Freedom from disturbance (apatheia) and happiness based on virtue (eudaimonia)

**The integrated practice:**

1. Judge correctly (discipline of assent): externals indifferent, virtue alone good

2. Desire correctly (discipline of desire): desire virtue, appropriately select preferred indifferents with reservation

3. Act correctly (discipline of action): act according to nature and role with virtue and reservation

**The result:** A unified life of virtue—wanting rightly, acting rightly, judging rightly—completely integrated and expressing excellence of character in all circumstances.

This is the Stoic path to the good life.