Enchiridion 1, Rebuilt from First Principles Under Sterling’s Six Commitments

Goal: Show how every clause of Ench. 1 follows (not merely harmonizes) with Sterling’s six philosophical commitments: (1) Substance dualism, (2) Libertarian free will, (3) Ethical intuitionism, (4) Foundationalism, (5) Correspondence theory of truth, (6) Moral realism. I’ll use your register—Reason’s order in place of “Nature.”

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0) The six commitments—one-line precis

1. Dualism: I (prohairesis: the rational faculty that assents/chooses) am not my body or circumstances.

2. Libertarian freedom: Prohairesis is truly self-causing in choice; it cannot be compelled.

3. Ethical intuitionism: Core moral axioms (virtue alone good, vice alone evil) are directly knowable by rational perception.

4. Foundationalism: Those axioms are bedrock; inquiry terminates there without regress.

5. Correspondence: The axioms are true because they match what is—Reason’s order—not because they console.

6. Moral realism: The axioms are objectively binding for all rational agents.

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1) Recasting Ench. 1’s claims as consequences of the six

A. The basic division: “Some things are up to us, others are not.”

From Dualism (1): The self = prohairesis (assent, choice, desire/aversion). Body, property, reputation, office = not-self.

From Correspondence (5): This is a description of reality’s structure, not a therapeutic fiction.

Ergo (with Foundationalism 4): The “up to us / not up to us” distinction is axiomatic structure, not an optional heuristic.

Mapping to the text: “Conception, choice, desire, aversion… our own doing” = operations of prohairesis. “Body, property, reputation, office… not our own” = externals.

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B. Modal status: “What’s up to us is free/unhindered; what’s not is servile/hinderable.”

From Libertarian freedom (2): No external chain can necessitate assent; hence prohairesis is free.

From Dualism (1): Externals, being outside prohairesis, are exposed to interference; hence hinderable.

From Correspondence (5): The modal contrast (free vs. hinderable) is a metaphysical fact about Reason’s order.

Text fit: “Free, unhindered, unimpeded” vs. “weak, servile, subject to hindrance.”

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C. Source of disturbance: “If you treat the servile as free… you’ll grieve, be in turmoil, and blame gods and men.”

From Ethical intuitionism (3) + Foundationalism (4): The foundational value insight—only virtue is good, only vice evil—means externals carry no value.

From Moral realism (6): Mis-valuing externals is objectively false.

Mechanism (implied): False value judgment → misdirected desire/aversion → pathos (disturbance).

Ergo: Turmoil is the signature of contradicted bedrock, not bad luck.

Text fit: “Hampered, will grieve, will be in turmoil, will blame…”

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D. Promise of invulnerability: “If you think only what is yours is yours… no compulsion, no hindrance, no enemies, no harm.”

From Libertarian freedom (2): Nothing can compel assent; therefore compulsion is impossible when one refuses the false valuation of externals.

From Moral realism (6): “Harm” = corruption of prohairesis; externals can’t touch it.

Ergo (with Foundationalism 4): The text’s bold promises are deductive consequences of the value/control bedrock.

Text fit: “No one will exert compulsion… no one will harm you.”

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E. Priority rule: “Give up some pursuits entirely; defer others; don’t try to keep externals and freedom.”

From Foundationalism (4): When aims conflict, the foundational good (virtue/right use of prohairesis) lexically dominates.

From Moral realism (6): This priority is not taste; it’s objective ranking.

Ergo: Office/wealth are permissible materials, not constituents of the good; freedom first.

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F. Method of impressions: “Name it ‘external impression,’ then test: in my control or not? If not: ‘It is nothing to me.’”

From Ethical intuitionism (3): The control test is a way to see the bedrock, not to invent it.

From Correspondence (5): The formula works because it aligns assent to what is.

From Libertarian freedom (2): The test presupposes live power to withhold assent.

Ergo: The practice is the operationalization of the six commitments.

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2) The formal skeleton (tight)

1. Axiom (Intuitionism + Foundationalism): Only the right use of prohairesis (virtue) is good; only its misuse (vice) is evil; externals are indifferent.

2. Fact (Dualism): Prohairesis = “ours”; externals ≠ “ours.”

3. Modal corollary (Libertarian freedom): Assent/choice are un-compellable; externals are hinderable.

4. Value-control bridge (Realism + Correspondence): Since only “ours” bears good/evil, no external event can harm or benefit us in the moral sense; that’s how reality is.

5. Therefore (Method): Classify each impression by control; deny value to what is not “ours”; withhold assent where externals tempt valuation.

6. Closure: Misfortune dissolves (no thwarted desire/fear of externals); freedom and happiness follow as necessary effects of true judgment.

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3) What Ench. 1 is not doing (and why that’s correct)

Not psychological voluntarism: It’s not “strong willpower beats pain.” It’s the cognitive relocation of value so that pain never rises to the status of evil.

Not relativism or useful fiction: The criterion is realism: beliefs are true because they match Reason’s order; the peace that follows is diagnostic, not constitutive, of truth.

Not world-denial: Externals remain the material of action; they’re just not constituents of the good.

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4) Practice protocol (operational, zero fluff)

1. Label: “External impression detected.”

2. Test: “Control or not?” — if not, immediate verdict: “Nothing to me (in value).”

3. Re-center: “Only prohairesis can be good/evil; guard assent.”

4. Choose: Act where reason prescribes; add reserve clause internally (“if this accords with Reason’s order”).

5. Audit: Any disturbance → locate the hidden external you treated as good/evil; withdraw assent.

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5) Why the chapter’s promises are strict, not motivational

If harm = only vice in prohairesis, and assent cannot be forced, then no external can harm you.

If disturbance = false valuation of externals, and valuation is retractable by rational sight, then disturbance is optional.

These are entailments of the six commitments, not slogans.

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6) One-line synthesis

Ench. 1 instructs you to align assent with what is (Reason’s order): treat only the use of prohairesis as good/evil, classify all else as indifferent, and your life becomes literally un-compellable, invulnerable, and tranquil—because that’s how reality is built.