HOW TO DISTINGUISH VIRTUE FROM EXTERNALS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE

 # HOW TO DISTINGUISH VIRTUE FROM EXTERNALS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE

## THE FUNDAMENTAL TEST: THE CONTROL QUESTION

**Ask yourself: "Is this completely in my control?"**

### **If YES → It's in the domain of prohairesis (where virtue/vice lie)**

What you completely control:

- Whether you give assent to an impression

- What beliefs you hold about value

- What you desire or avoid (as objects of pursuit)

- Your intentions and purposes

- How you interpret events

- What judgments you make

**This is where virtue operates. Virtue IS excellent use of these controlled capacities.**

### **If NO → It's external (indifferent)**

What you don't completely control:

- Outcomes and results

- Others' actions and opinions

- Your body's states

- External events

- Possessions

- Reputation

**These are indifferents. They can be pursued/avoided appropriately, but they're not virtue.**

---

## THE PRACTICAL DISTINCTION FORMULA

**For any situation, ask these questions in sequence:**

### **QUESTION 1: "What actually happened?"**

This identifies the **external event or state** (indifferent).

Examples:

- "I lost my job"

- "Someone criticized me"

- "My project failed"

- "I'm alone"

- "I made a mistake"

- "I didn't get the promotion"

**These are all externals** - events, outcomes, others' actions, circumstances.

---

### **QUESTION 2: "What am I judging about what happened?"**

This identifies your **belief/value judgment** (in domain of prohairesis).

Examples:

- "This is terrible" (judgment about value)

- "This proves I'm inadequate" (judgment about self)

- "I've been genuinely harmed" (judgment about good/evil)

- "I need this external to be okay" (judgment about what's necessary)

- "This external determines my worth" (judgment about where value lies)

**These judgments are in your control** - this is where virtue or vice operates.

---

### **QUESTION 3: "Is my judgment treating the external as if it were genuinely good or evil?"**

This reveals whether you're **confusing virtue with externals**.

**If YES - you're making a false value judgment:**

- "Losing my job is genuinely bad" → Treats external outcome as evil

- "Others' criticism harms me" → Treats external opinion as evil

- "Success proves my worth" → Treats external outcome as good

- "I need others' guidance to be safe" → Treats external support as necessary good

- "Perfect execution equals virtue" → Treats external result as virtue

**If NO - you're judging correctly:**

- "Losing my job is a dispreferred indifferent - contrary to nature but not evil"

- "Others' criticism is their opinion - an external, indifferent to my virtue"

- "Success is preferred but doesn't determine my worth (only virtue does)"

- "Others' guidance is helpful but not necessary (my prohairesis is adequate)"

- "Excellent work is preferred, but virtue lies in how I approach it, not in perfect results"

---

### **QUESTION 4: "Where does virtue actually lie in this situation?"**

This identifies **what is actually in your control** (where you can be excellent or poor).

**Virtue operates in:**

**Wisdom** (correct judgment):

- "Do I judge this external correctly (as indifferent)?"

- "Do I understand what actually matters (virtue, not externals)?"

- "Am I clear about what I control (prohairesis) vs. don't (outcomes)?"

**Justice** (right relationship):

- "Am I treating others fairly in this situation?"

- "Am I fulfilling my appropriate roles (parent, citizen, friend)?"

- "Am I acting with kindness and benevolence?"

**Courage** (perseverance in virtue):

- "Do I maintain virtue despite difficulty?"

- "Do I persist in doing right despite external consequences?"

- "Do I face the situation without abandoning what's good?"

**Temperance** (appropriate desire):

- "Do I desire this external appropriately (as preferred indifferent, not as genuinely good)?"

- "Am I avoiding this external appropriately (as dispreferred, not as genuinely evil)?"

- "Am I maintaining proper boundaries in my desires?"

**Example Application:**

**Situation:** "I lost my job"

**External:** Job loss (outcome, not controlled, indifferent)

**Where virtue operates:**

- **Wisdom:** "Do I understand this is a dispreferred indifferent, not genuine evil? Do I maintain that my worth = virtue, not employment?"

- **Justice:** "Do I treat my former employer fairly? Fulfill remaining obligations?"

- **Courage:** "Do I face this difficulty while maintaining character? Do I persist in virtue despite setback?"

- **Temperance:** "Do I pursue new employment as preferred indifferent, without making it into necessity for worth?"

**Virtue is in HOW I RESPOND (judgments, intentions, choices), not in the outcome itself.**

---

## COMMON CONFUSIONS AND HOW TO UNTANGLE THEM

### **CONFUSION 1: "But didn't I cause the external outcome through my choices?"**

**The tangle:**

"If I made bad choices and lost my job, isn't that my fault? Doesn't that mean the outcome reflects my character?"

**The distinction:**

- **Your choices** (prohairesis) = Controlled, where virtue/vice lie

- **The outcome** of your choices = Not fully controlled (external factors involved), indifferent

**What this means:**

- **Vice** might have been in **how you chose** (if you chose unjustly, foolishly, cowardly)

- **The job loss itself** is still an external outcome (indifferent)

- You can make excellent choices and still experience bad outcomes (externals don't always cooperate)

- You can make poor choices and still experience good outcomes (luck exists)

**Example:**

- You act dishonestly at work (VICE - in your control, genuinely bad)

- You get caught and fired (EXTERNAL OUTCOME - not fully in your control, indifferent)

**The virtue/vice is in the dishonesty, not in the firing.**

**You could have acted dishonestly and NOT gotten caught (outcome varies).**

**The character issue is the dishonest choice, not the consequence.**

---

### **CONFUSION 2: "But some externals are obviously bad - like torture or death"**

**The tangle:**

"How can torture or death be 'indifferent'? They're clearly bad!"

**The distinction:**

- Torture/death are **dispreferred indifferents** - contrary to nature, appropriately avoided

- They are NOT **genuinely evil** in the technical sense (they don't harm virtue/character)

**What "genuinely evil" means:**

- Makes you WORSE as a person (corrupts character)

- Only **vice** does this (corruption of prohairesis)

**What torture/death does:**

- Causes pain/ends life (contrary to nature, dispreferred)

- BUT: Doesn't make you worse (you can maintain virtue under torture, die with virtue intact)

- Therefore: Dispreferred but not genuinely evil

**The Stoic claim:**

"I prefer life to death, health to sickness, freedom to torture. These are according to nature. But they don't affect my virtue. I can be excellent (virtuous) or poor (vicious) while alive or dying, healthy or tortured. Character is independent of these externals."

---

### **CONFUSION 3: "But relationships matter! Aren't they good?"**

**The tangle:**

"My family matters to me. How can they be 'indifferent'?"

**The distinction:**

- **Relationships are preferred indifferents** - according to human social nature, appropriately valued

They are NOT **genuinely good** in the Stoic sense (your virtue doesn't depend on them)

**What this means in practice:**

**You CAN:**

- Have natural affection for your family (philostorgia - instinctive impulse toward kin)

- Regard relationships as preferred indifferents

- Pursue connection as appropriate to human social nature

- Experience initial involuntary responses at loss (propatheiai - first movements before assent), if they occur

**You DON'T:**

- Make your virtue dependent on having them

- Make your worth contingent on their presence

- Give assent to the impression that their loss genuinely harms you (avoiding pathos)

- Believe you cannot be happy (eudaimōn) without them

**Example:**

- "I have natural affection for my child and prefer their presence (preferred indifferent, appropriate to human nature)"

- "If my child dies, I may experience initial involuntary responses (propatheiai - first movements), or I may not"

- "But my child's presence doesn't determine my virtue (I can be excellent parent with child present or after loss)"

- "My eudaimonia (virtue-based happiness) is intact even in loss (virtue maintained)"

**The practical difference:**

- **False judgment:** "I cannot be okay without my child" → Full pathos (assenting to genuine harm), belief in loss of good, loss of eudaimonia

- **Correct judgment:** "I prefer my child's presence, but my virtue doesn't depend on it" → Propatheiai may or may not occur, but no assent to false judgment, eudaimonia intact, ability to continue living virtuously

---

Better?

---

### **CONFUSION 4: "Isn't virtue shown IN external actions?"**

**The tangle:**

"Don't I demonstrate justice by actually helping people? Isn't that external?"

**The distinction:**

- **Your intention and choice** to help = Internal (prohairesis), where virtue lies

- **The helping action itself** = Has external component

- **The outcome of helping** = External (not controlled - maybe your help works, maybe it doesn't)

**Where virtue actually is:**

**IN YOUR CONTROL (virtue/vice):**

- Your intention to help (justice, benevolence)

- Your choice to act

- Your judgment about what's appropriate

- Your effort and attempt

**NOT IN YOUR CONTROL (external, indifferent):**

- Whether your action succeeds in helping

- How the person receives your help

- What consequences follow

- Others' judgment of your action

**Example:**

You try to help a friend:

- **Virtue:** Your wise judgment about how to help, just intention to benefit them, courageous effort despite difficulty

- **External:** Whether they accept help, whether help works, whether they thank you, whether others approve

**You can be perfectly virtuous** (excellent judgment, benevolent intention, appropriate effort) **and still have the help fail or be rejected.**

**The virtue was in YOUR prohairesis (how you chose, judged, intended), not in the external outcome.**

---

### **CONFUSION 5: "What about developing skills? Isn't that internal?"**

**The tangle:**

"If I practice and develop a skill, isn't that in my control and therefore good?"

**The distinction:**

- **Your choice to practice** = Internal (prohairesis), where virtue lies

- **The skill itself** = Bodily/mental capacity (external), indifferent

- **Having the skill** = External (can be lost to injury, age, circumstance)

**What this means:**

**VIRTUE:**

- Wisdom in choosing which skills to develop

- Discipline in practicing (temperance)

- Perseverance through difficulty (courage)

- Using skills justly (helping others)

**NOT VIRTUE (indifferent):**

- The skill level achieved (outcome)

- Having the skill (can be lost)

- Being better than others at the skill (comparison)

- Recognition for the skill (others' judgment)

**Example - Learning piano:**

**Where virtue operates:**

- Wisdom: "Is learning piano worth my time? Is it according to nature for me?"

- Temperance: "Am I practicing with discipline? Not obsessively?"

- Courage: "Do I persist through difficulty?"

- Justice: "Do I use this skill to contribute to others' well-being?"

**What's external (indifferent):**

- How good you become (outcome, affected by talent, time, injury)

- Whether you become a professional pianist (external circumstances)

- Whether others admire your playing (their judgment)

- Winning competitions (outcomes)

**You can practice virtuously and never become highly skilled** (limited talent, injury occurs, insufficient time).

**You can become highly skilled and not be virtuous** (practiced for vain recognition, used skill to manipulate).

**Virtue is in the judging, choosing, and intending. Skill is an external outcome.**

---

## THE DECISION TREE: VIRTUE OR EXTERNAL?

**Use this flowchart for any situation:**

```

START: Something happened or I'm considering something

↓

QUESTION 1: Is this a mental act (judgment, belief, desire, intention)?

- YES → Go to Question 2

- NO → It's EXTERNAL (indifferent)

↓

QUESTION 2: Is this mental act completely in my control?

(Can external force compel me to believe/judge/intend differently?)

- YES → This is PROHAIRESIS domain (where virtue/vice operate)

- NO → It's EXTERNAL (indifferent)

↓

QUESTION 3: Does this mental act involve EXCELLENCE or CORRUPTION of character?

- Is it wise or foolish? (Wisdom/foolishness)

- Is it just or unjust? (Justice/injustice)  

- Is it courageous or cowardly? (Courage/cowardice)

- Is it temperate or intemperate? (Temperance/intemperance)

YES to excellence → VIRTUE (genuinely good)

YES to corruption → VICE (genuinely evil)

NO to both → EXTERNAL mental content (indifferent, like factual beliefs)

↓

RESULT: You've identified where virtue/vice actually operate

```

---

## PRACTICAL EXERCISES

### **EXERCISE 1: Daily Virtue/External Analysis**

**At the end of each day, pick 3 events and analyze:**

**Event:**

[Describe what happened - this is the external]

**My judgment about it:**

[What did I believe about this event?]

**Was I treating the external as good/evil?**

[Did I judge it as if it affected my virtue?]

**Where did virtue actually operate?**

[What was in my control? How did I use prohairesis?]

**Example:**

**Event:** My presentation at work went poorly; people seemed uninterested

**My judgment:** "This is terrible. I'm inadequate. I've failed."

**Treating external as good/evil?** YES - treating good presentation as genuinely good, poor presentation as genuinely evil

**Where virtue actually operated:**

- Wisdom: Did I prepare well? Did I judge correctly what to present?

- Justice: Did I aim to help my audience?

- Courage: Did I face the challenge despite difficulty?

- Temperance: Did I pursue this with appropriate effort, not excessive anxiety?

**Correction:** "The outcome (poor presentation) is a dispreferred indifferent. Virtue lay in my preparation, intention, and effort. I can learn from this (wisdom) without judging my worth by the outcome."

---

### **EXERCISE 2: The Control Test**

**For any situation causing distress, ask:**

**"Could I maintain virtue if the opposite external happened?"**

**Examples:**

**If you lost your job:**

"Could I be virtuous (wise, just, courageous, temperate) if I lost my job?"

- YES → Job is external (indifferent)

- Virtue ≠ having job

- Virtue = how I respond to having/losing job

**If criticized:**

"Could I be virtuous if criticized?"

- YES → Criticism is external (others' opinion, indifferent)

- Virtue ≠ receiving praise

- Virtue = how I judge and respond to criticism

**If alone:**

"Could I be virtuous while alone?"

- YES → Companionship is external (preferred indifferent)

- Virtue ≠ having relationships

- Virtue = how I relate to self and others when they're present or absent

**If project fails:**

"Could I be virtuous if my project failed?"

- YES → Success is external outcome (indifferent)

- Virtue ≠ successful outcome

- Virtue = how I approach the work (wisdom in planning, justice in treatment of others, courage in persisting, temperance in effort)

**The test reveals:**

If you can maintain virtue regardless of external state → that external is indifferent

If your virtue would be impossible without it → you're confusing virtue with external

---

### **EXERCISE 3: Where Is Excellence?**

**For any area of life, ask:**

**"Where does excellence (virtue) actually lie here?"**

**Example - At Work:**

**NOT in these externals:**

- Getting promoted

- Being recognized

- Earning more money

- Having prestigious title

- Succeeding at all projects

**BUT in this internal (prohairesis):**

- Wisdom: Making good judgments about priorities, learning from experience

- Justice: Treating colleagues fairly, fulfilling commitments, contributing to common good

- Courage: Facing challenges, persisting despite setbacks, speaking truth appropriately

- Temperance: Working diligently without obsession, pursuing advancement appropriately (as preferred indifferent, not necessity)

**Example - In Relationships:**

**NOT in these externals:**

- Having a relationship

- Partner's behavior toward you

- Relationship lasting forever

- Partner never criticizing you

- Others approving of your relationship

**BUT in this internal (prohairesis):**

- Wisdom: Understanding relationships as preferred indifferents, seeing clearly what's happening

- Justice: Treating partner fairly, fulfilling commitments, respecting their prohairesis

- Courage: Being vulnerable appropriately, facing relationship challenges, maintaining boundaries

- Temperance: Desiring relationship appropriately (as preferred indifferent, not as necessity for worth)

**The exercise trains you to SEE where virtue actually operates vs. where you've been locating it (in externals).**

---

## THE MOMENT-TO-MOMENT PRACTICE

### **Real-Time Distinction in Daily Life**

**When something happens (good or bad), immediately ask:**

**1. "What's the external here?"**

- Identify the event, outcome, others' action, circumstance

- Name it: "This is an external - not in my complete control"

**2. "What's my immediate judgment?"**

- Notice your automatic thought

- "I'm thinking: _______"

**3. "Is this judgment treating the external as genuinely good or evil?"**

- "Am I judging as if this external affects my virtue?"

- "Am I making my worth/happiness depend on this external?"

**4. "Where is virtue actually operating right now?"**

- "What's in my control in this moment?"

- "How can I use prohairesis excellently right now?"

**Example - Someone cuts you off in traffic:**

**1. External:** Their action (cutting you off) - not in your control, indifferent

**2. Your judgment:** "That jerk! How dare they! This is terrible!"

**3. False value judgment:** Treating their action as if it genuinely harmed you; treating smooth traffic as genuinely good

**4. Where virtue operates:**

- Wisdom: "Their action is an external (indifferent). I'm not genuinely harmed. I can respond calmly."

- Justice: "They're human, make mistakes. I don't need to retaliate."

- Courage: "I can face this minor irritation without disturbance."

- Temperance: "I prefer smooth traffic but don't need it for well-being."

**The practice:** Catch yourself, distinguish external from virtue, redirect to what's controlled.

---

## SUMMARY: THE PRACTICAL DISTINCTION

**The simple version:**

**VIRTUE = How you use what you control (prohairesis)**

- Your judgments

- Your beliefs about value  

- Your intentions

- Your choices

- Your character

**EXTERNAL = Everything else (indifferent)**

- Outcomes

- Others' actions/opinions

- Your body

- Possessions

- Circumstances

- Results

**The test: "Is this completely in my control?"**

- YES → Prohairesis domain (virtue/vice possible)

- NO → External (indifferent)

**The practice:**

1. Identify the external

2. Notice your judgment about it

3. Catch false value judgment (treating external as good/evil)

4. Redirect to virtue (excellence in how you use prohairesis)

5. Engage with external appropriately (pursue/avoid as preferred/dispreferred indifferent while maintaining it's indifferent to virtue)

**The result:**

- Clear about what you control (where virtue operates)

- Clear about what you don't (externals - indifferent)

- No longer confusing the two

- Freedom from dependence on externals for virtue/happiness

- Stable eudaimonia based on virtue

This is the foundation of Stoic practice and the correction for all 16 types' false value judgments.