Is Sterling's System a Superior Path to Reason?

ASSUMING THAT ALL OF STERLING'S CLAIMS ARE TRUE, IS HIS SYSTEM A SUPERIOR PATH TO REASON.

YES. IF STERLING'S CLAIMS ARE ALL TRUE, HIS SYSTEM IS THE SUPERIOR PATH TO REASON.

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THE ARGUMENT (FROM WITHIN THE SYSTEM):

IF Sterling's six commitments are true, THEN:

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1. SUBSTANCE DUALISM IS TRUE

**What this means:**

- Your will (rational faculty) is immaterial, distinct from your body

- Body is matter, subject to physical causation

- Will is immaterial, capable of rational self-determination

- You ARE your will, you HAVE a body

**Consequence:**

- Bodily states (pleasure, pain, cravings, sensations) are EXTERNAL to you

- They happen TO your body, not BY your will

- Your wellbeing cannot depend on bodily states (they're not you)

- Only the state of your will determines wellbeing

**Why this matters for reason:**

- If dualism is false (materialism true), then your "reasoning" is just physical causation

- Neural states caused by prior neural states

- No genuine rational agency

- "Reason" would be illusion

- But if dualism is true, reason is real—your will can determine itself through rational principles, not just physical causes

**Therefore:** Substance dualism is NECESSARY for reason to be real at all.

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2. LIBERTARIAN FREE WILL IS TRUE

**What this means:**

- Your will has genuine freedom

- Assent is UP TO YOU

- Not determined by prior causes (physical or psychological)

- You can choose to assent or refuse assent to any impression

**Consequence:**

- You are genuinely responsible for your beliefs

- Your character (virtue/vice) is your doing

- No excuses ("genes made me," "environment made me," "conditioning made me")

- Freedom = responsibility

**Why this matters for reason:**

- If determinism is true, your "reasoning" is just determined output

- Caused by factors outside your control

- Not genuinely rational (just causally produced)

- But if libertarian free will is true, reasoning is genuine—you can determine your beliefs through rational evaluation, not just causal factors

**Therefore:** Libertarian free will is NECESSARY for reasoning to be genuine agency rather than mechanical process.

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3. MORAL REALISM IS TRUE

**What this means:**

- Moral truths exist objectively

- Independent of what anyone believes

- "Virtue is good" is TRUE (not opinion, not preference)

- "Externals are indifferent" is TRUE (not perspective, not construction)

**Consequence:**

- There IS a right way to live

- Not relative to culture, person, preference

- Stoic ethics describes objective reality

- Living contrary to Stoic ethics = living contrary to truth

**Why this matters for reason:**

- If moral anti-realism is true, ethics is just preference/convention

- No objective standard for how to live

- "Reason" in ethics would just be instrumental (means to subjective ends)

- But if moral realism is true, reason can discover objective ethical truth

- Ethics becomes KNOWLEDGE, not opinion

**Therefore:** Moral realism makes ethics a domain of TRUTH, accessible to reason.

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4. ETHICAL INTUITIONISM IS TRUE

**What this means:**

- You can perceive moral truths directly

- Not by inference from more basic premises

- But by rational intuition (like seeing mathematical truths)

- "Virtue is good" is SEEN when you look clearly

- "Externals are indifferent" is RECOGNIZED when vision is unobscured

**Consequence:**

- You don't need elaborate proofs

- You need clear vision

- Set aside fear, wanting, false beliefs (obstructions)

- Look directly at moral reality

- Perceive truth

**Why this matters for reason:**

- If moral knowledge only comes from inference, infinite regress

- Always need more premises to justify current premises

- But if intuitionism is true, some truths are self-evident

- Properly functioning practical reason can SEE them

- Like seeing that valid argument is valid (direct recognition)

**Therefore:** Ethical intuitionism provides FOUNDATION for moral knowledge—direct rational perception of truth.

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## **5. FOUNDATIONALISM IS TRUE**

**What this means:**

- Knowledge rests on foundations

- Some beliefs are basic (not inferred from others)

- These foundations are known directly (by intuition/reason)

- All other knowledge justified by tracing back to foundations

**Consequence:**

- Stoic system rests on axioms:

  - "Only virtue is good, only vice is evil"

  - "Externals are indifferent"

  - "Some things are up to us, some are not"

- These aren't proven from more basic premises

- They're recognized when you examine clearly

- Everything else follows from these

**Why this matters for reason:**

- If foundationalism is false (coherentism or skepticism), knowledge impossible

- Coherentism: beliefs justified by mutual support (circular)

- Skepticism: no justified beliefs (self-refuting)

- But if foundationalism is true, knowledge is possible

- Reason can discover foundations and build from them

**Therefore:** Foundationalism makes SYSTEMATIC KNOWLEDGE possible—including ethical knowledge.

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6. CORRESPONDENCE THEORY OF TRUTH IS TRUE

**What this means:**

- Beliefs are true when they correspond to reality

- False when they don't correspond

- Truth independent of what we want/prefer/believe

- "Externals are indifferent" is true if externals ARE indifferent in reality

**Consequence:**

- Can't make something true by believing it

- Can't make something false by disbelieving it

- Reality is what it is

- Our beliefs either match or don't match

**Why this matters for reason:**

- If correspondence theory is false (pragmatism, coherence theory), truth becomes subjective/relative

- "True" = "works for me" or "fits my system"

- No objective standard

- But if correspondence theory is true, truth is objective

- Reason aims at matching belief to reality

- Not constructing convenient narratives

**Therefore:** Correspondence theory makes truth OBJECTIVE—reason's goal is REALITY, not comfort.

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NOW: WHY THIS MAKES STERLING'S SYSTEM THE SUPERIOR PATH TO REASON

IF all six commitments are true:

**1. Reason is real** (dualism, libertarian free will)

- Not illusion

- Not mechanical process

- Genuine rational agency

**2. Ethics is knowledge** (moral realism, intuitionism)

- Not opinion

- Not preference

- Objective truth

**3. Knowledge is possible** (foundationalism)

- Not circular

- Not infinite regress

- Rests on rational foundations

**4. Truth is objective** (correspondence theory)

- Not relative

- Not constructed

- Matches reality

**5. You can access truth directly** (intuitionism)

- Don't need infinite arguments

- Can perceive foundations

- When vision is clear

**6. You have genuine control** (libertarian free will, dichotomy of control)

- Over your beliefs (assent)

- Over your character (virtue/vice)

- Not over externals (but don't need them)

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## **THEREFORE: THE STOIC PRACTICE**

Examination of impressions becomes:

**Not:** therapy, coping mechanism, preference

**But:** ALIGNING BELIEF WITH REALITY

When you examine "this external is terrible":

- You're testing whether belief corresponds to reality

- Reality: externals ARE indifferent (moral realism)

- You can SEE this when you look clearly (intuitionism)

- The belief "externals matter" is FALSE (correspondence theory)

- You can refuse assent (libertarian free will)

- This is the only thing in your control (dichotomy of control)

- Your wellbeing depends only on this (virtue is the only good)

Therefore examination is:

- Discovering truth (not constructing comfort)

- Using reason properly (aligning belief with reality)

- Achieving freedom (control over what's genuinely yours)

- Living well (virtue = wellbeing)

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WHY SUPERIOR TO OTHER PATHS:

Modern therapy/psychology:

**Claim:** Help you feel better

**Problem:** If feelings are just subjective responses, why trust them? If externals don't actually matter (moral realism), therapy based on "feeling better about externals" rests on false foundations.

**Sterling's system:** Don't aim at feeling better. Aim at TRUTH. When you see truth (externals indifferent), mental suffering dissolves BECAUSE it was based on falsehood. Not because you made yourself feel better, but because you removed false belief.

Modern Stoicism (Holiday, Irvine, etc.):

**Claim:** Stoic techniques are useful

**Problem:** If you don't accept the six commitments, why should techniques work? Why are externals indifferent? "Because it's useful to think so" = pragmatism, not truth. Unstable foundation.

**Sterling's system:** Techniques work BECAUSE the doctrines are TRUE. Externals ARE indifferent (metaphysically, ethically). You're not adopting useful fiction. You're discovering reality.

Aristotelian virtue ethics:

**Claim:** Virtue requires external goods (health, wealth, friends) for eudaimonia

**Problem:** Makes wellbeing depend on externals. But externals not in your control. Therefore wellbeing not in your control. But if libertarian free will is true, wellbeing SHOULD be in your control (otherwise freedom is incomplete).

**Sterling's system:** Virtue is SUFFICIENT for wellbeing. Externals are indifferent. Wellbeing is entirely in your control (depends only on virtue). Freedom is complete—nothing outside your control can harm you.

Buddhism:

**Claim:** Eliminate suffering by eliminating desire

**Problem:** Eliminates engagement with world. Treats all desires as problematic. No distinction between rational preference and pathological attachment.

**Sterling's system:** Don't eliminate desire. Eliminate FALSE BELIEF. You can prefer things (rational selection of preferred indifferents). Just don't believe wellbeing depends on them. Remain engaged with world. Live actively. Just without false beliefs.

Christianity

**Claim:** Virtue requires grace, faith, divine assistance

**Problem:** Makes virtue depend on externals (God's grace). Not in your control. Creates anxiety about salvation.

**Sterling's system:** Virtue is entirely in your control. Depends only on your will. No external assistance needed. Freedom is complete. You are sufficient.

Skepticism:

**Claim:** Can't know truth, suspend judgment on everything

**Problem:** If true, refutes itself (can't know skepticism is true). Paralyzed in practice (can't act without beliefs). Denies rational foundations.

**Sterling's system:** Can know truth. Directly. Through rational intuition. Foundations are accessible. Knowledge is possible. Act from knowledge, not suspended judgment.

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THE BOTTOM LINE (IF STERLING'S CLAIMS ARE TRUE):

Sterling's system is superior because it's the only path that:

1. **Takes reason seriously** (not reducing it to biology, conditioning, or pragmatic tool)

2. **Provides objective ethics** (not opinion, preference, or convention)

3. **Makes wellbeing entirely in your control** (depends only on virtue)

4. **Offers complete freedom** (nothing external can harm you)

5. **Grounds in metaphysical truth** (not useful fiction or coping mechanism)

6. **Accessible through reason alone** (no faith, grace, or external assistance needed)

7. **Systematically consistent** (all six commitments support each other)

8. **Practically effective** (examination eliminates mental suffering because it eliminates false belief)

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IF YOU WANT TO LIVE BY REASON:

**And IF Sterling's six commitments are true:**

**THEN:** Stoic examination is the only rational path.

**Because:**

- It's the only path that treats reason as real (dualism, libertarian free will)

- It's the only path with objective ethical truth (moral realism)

- It's the only path that makes wellbeing depend only on what's in your control (virtue alone sufficient)

- It's the only path where you're genuinely free (nothing external can harm you)

- It's the only path where ethics is knowledge (not opinion or convention)

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THEREFORE:

**IF** all six commitments are true,

**THEN** Sterling's system isn't just "a" path to reason,

**BUT** the ONLY consistent, complete path to living by reason.

All other paths either:

- Deny reason's reality (materialism, determinism)

- Deny ethical objectivity (anti-realism, relativism)

- Make wellbeing depend on externals (Aristotle, therapy, modern Stoicism)

- Require non-rational elements (faith, grace, luck)

- Rest on unstable foundations (pragmatism, coherentism, skepticism)

**Sterling's system alone:**

- Affirms reason's reality

- Provides ethical objectivity

- Makes wellbeing entirely in your control

- Requires only reason

- Rests on stable foundations

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CONCLUSION:

**Yes. IF Sterling's claims are true, his system is THE superior path to reason.**

Not just superior. THE ONLY fully rational path.

All others are either:

- Irrational (deny reason)

- Incomplete (partial truth)

- Inconsistent (internal contradictions)

- Impractical (can't actually live by them)

Sterling's system is:

- Fully rational

- Complete

- Consistent

- Practical

**Therefore: SUPERIOR.**

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