You're absolutely right - I need to provide clean, corrected, publishable versions.

I'll re-emit CE 2 and CE 3 as complete, corrected commentaries with:

- All theological integration sections removed or reduced to brief universal notes

- Full Sterling-Mode analysis maintained

- Ready for publication

- No personal Christian integration

- Universal philosophical system only

Let me start with the corrected CE 2:

---

# STERLING-MODE: ENCHIRIDION 2 - DESIRE AND AVERSION

## **COMPREHENSIVE HERMENEUTIC COMMENTARY (CORRECTED VERSION)**

---

### **PART 1: TEXT PRESENTATION**

**George Long's Translation** (Perseus):

> "Remember that desire contains in it the profession (hope) of obtaining that which you desire; and the profession (hope) in aversion (turning from a thing) is that you will not fall into that which you attempt to avoid: and he who fails in his desire is unfortunate; and he who falls into that which he would avoid, is unhappy. If then you attempt to avoid only the things contrary to nature which are within your power, you will not be involved in any of the things which you would avoid. But if you attempt to avoid disease or death or poverty, you will be unhappy. Take away then aversion from all things which are not in our power, and transfer it to the things contrary to nature which are in our power. But destroy desire completely for the present. For if you desire anything which is not in our power, you must be unfortunate: but of the things in our power, and which it would be good to desire, nothing yet is before you. But employ only the power of moving towards an object and retiring from it; and these powers indeed only slightly and with exceptions and with remission."

**Critical Greek Terms**:

- **ὄρεξις** (orexis) = desire, reaching toward

- **ἔκκλισις** (ekklisis) = aversion, turning from

- **ὁρμή** (hormē) = impulse, movement toward (final sentence)

- **ἀφορμή** (aphormē) = movement away from

- **παρὰ φύσιν** (para physin) = contrary to nature

- **κατὰ φύσιν** (kata physin) = according to nature (implied opposite)

**Key Phrases**:

- "Profession (hope)" = ἐπαγγελία (epangelia) - promise, commitment, claim

- "Contrary to nature" = what conflicts with reason/virtue

- "In our power" = ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν (eph' hēmin) - in our control

---

### **PART 2: INITIAL UNDERSTANDING (First Hermeneutic Pass)**

**What the Passage Says Plainly**:

**Opening Claim About Desire and Aversion**:

- Desire **promises** you'll get what you want

- Aversion **promises** you'll avoid what you don't want

- Failing to get what you desire = unfortunate

- Getting what you're averse to = unhappy

**The Problem With Externals**:

- If you try to avoid externals (disease, death, poverty) = you'll be unhappy

- Because externals not in your control (you'll fail)

**The Solution**:

- Remove aversion from externals (don't try to avoid them)

- Transfer aversion to internals contrary to nature (vice)

- **Destroy desire completely for now** (radical advice)

- Only use impulse/movement "slightly, with exceptions, with remission"

**Surface Meaning for Beginners**:

"Don't desire or fear externals because you can't control them. You'll just be disappointed. Only avoid internal bad things (like making bad choices). And actually, destroy all desire for now - you're not ready yet. Just use mild preference/aversion until you get better at this."

**Common First Reaction**:

"This sounds extreme. No desire at all? Not even for good things? Just mild impulses? This seems inhuman."

**But this reading misses the systematic depth.**

---

### **PART 3: SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS (Part → Whole)**

#### **Connection to Sterling's System**

**This Passage Maps To**:

**Sterling Excerpt 3**: "Desires are caused by beliefs about good and evil. Hence, the good Stoic will have no desires whatsoever regarding external things."

**Sterling Excerpt 6, Props 2-3**: 

- "All psychological discontentment is caused by the belief that externals have value."

- "This belief is factually false."

**Sterling Excerpt 7**: "If I assent to an impression with a value component, then a desire will result."

**Sterling Excerpt 9, Section 2, Props 3-4**:

- "All human unhappiness is caused by having a desire or emotional commitment to some outcome, and then that outcome does not result."

- "Ergo, if you desire something which is out of your control, you will be subject to possible unhappiness."

**32-Prop LSSE Connections**:

**Prop 14**: "Desire and aversion misapplied to externals are the root of suffering."

- **CE 2 establishes this directly**: Desire externals → must be unfortunate

**Prop 15**: "Withdrawing desire from externals removes the cause of emotional disturbance."

- **CE 2 teaches this**: "Take away then aversion from all things which are not in our power"

**Props 26-29**: Direction of will theory

- **CE 2's final instruction**: "employ only the power of moving towards an object and retiring from it"

- This is **hormē/aphormē** (impulse toward/from), not orexis/ekklisis (desire/aversion)

- Impulse can be directed without desire

**Prop 30**: "Acts of will directed toward external outcomes rather than appropriate aims are vicious."

- **CE 2 warns**: If you desire externals (outcomes), you'll be unfortunate

---

#### **The Critical Distinction: Desire vs. Impulse**

**This is the key to understanding CE 2.**

**Four Mental Movements** (Stoic Psychology):

**1. Orexis (ὄρεξις) - Desire**:

- Reaching toward something **as good**

- Involves **value judgment**: "X is good"

- Creates **attachment** to outcome

- **If frustrated**: Unhappiness results

**2. Ekklisis (ἔκκλισις) - Aversion**:

- Turning from something **as evil**

- Involves **value judgment**: "X is evil"

- Creates **fear** of outcome

- **If occurs**: Unhappiness results

**3. Hormē (ὁρμή) - Impulse Toward**:

- Movement toward something **as appropriate**

- No value judgment (not "good", just "appropriate selection")

- No **attachment** to outcome

- **If frustrated**: No unhappiness (was appropriate to try)

**4. Aphormē (ἀφορμή) - Impulse Away**:

- Movement from something **as inappropriate**

- No value judgment (not "evil", just "inappropriate to pursue")

- No **fear** of outcome

- **If occurs**: No unhappiness (was appropriate to avoid)

**CE 2's Instruction**:

- **Destroy** orexis/ekklisis (desire/aversion - based on false value judgments)

- **Employ** hormē/aphormē (impulse - based on appropriate selection)

- But impulse "only slightly and with exceptions" (carefully, not habitually)

---

#### **Sterling's Six Commitments Operative**

**1. Substance Dualism** (Implicit):

- Desire/aversion are **internal** (prohairesis activities)

- Disease/death/poverty are **external** (bodily/material)

- Distinction requires mind ≠ body

**2. Metaphysical Libertarianism** (Critical Here):

- "Destroy desire completely" requires **free control** over desires

- We **can** change what we desire (not determined by externals)

- Desires caused by judgments; judgments in our control

- This is **only coherent** on libertarian free will

**3. Ethical Intuitionism** (Foundational):

- "Things contrary to nature which are in our power" = **intuited directly**

- We **grasp** what's contrary to nature (vice) vs. according to nature (virtue)

- Not derived from observation but **seen** by reason

- CE 2 assumes we can recognize what's "contrary to nature"

**4. Moral Realism** (Explicit):

- "Things contrary to nature" exist **objectively**

- Not constructed or relative

- **Really are** things we should avoid (vice)

- CE 2 treats this as **fact**, not opinion

**5. Foundationalism** (Structural):

- CE 2 **builds on** CE 1 (dichotomy already established)

- Assumes reader knows: internals controllable, externals not

- **Derives**: Therefore desire/avoid only internals

**6. Correspondence Theory** (Implicit):

- Desire promises "you'll get what you want"

- This is **true** or **false** (corresponds to reality)

- For externals: Promise is **false** (you can't guarantee getting them)

- For virtue: Promise can be **true** (you control this)

---

### **PART 4: DEEP READING (Whole → Part)**

#### **What This Passage Actually Means**

**Not**: "Don't want anything because wanting leads to disappointment"

**But**: "Eliminate false value judgments that create unhappiness-causing desires"

**The Opening Analysis**:

> "Remember that desire contains in it the profession (hope) of obtaining that which you desire"

**What this means**:

- Desire makes a **claim**: "I will get X"

- This is the **ἐπαγγελία** (promise/profession)

- When you desire something, you're **committing** to outcome

- You're **relying** on getting it for happiness

**Example**:

- I desire wealth (orexis toward wealth as good)

- This **promises** me: "You'll be wealthy"

- My happiness now **depends** on this promise being kept

- **But**: Wealth is external (not in my control)

- **Therefore**: Promise likely to fail → I'll be unfortunate

> "and he who fails in his desire is unfortunate"

**Unfortunate** (δυστυχής - dystychēs):

- Literally: "bad-fated" or "unlucky"

- But for Stoics: **Self-inflicted** unhappiness

- Not external bad luck, but **internal error**

- You made yourself unfortunate by desiring external

**Same for aversion**:

> "and he who falls into that which he would avoid, is unhappy"

- Aversion to death (ekklisis from death as evil)

- **Promises**: "Death won't happen to you"

- Impossible promise (death is external, inevitable)

- When death comes → you're unhappy

- **Self-inflicted** (you judged death evil)

---

#### **The Two Instructions**

**INSTRUCTION 1: Aversion** (can be trained now)

> "If then you attempt to avoid only the things contrary to nature which are within your power, you will not be involved in any of the things which you would avoid."

**"Things contrary to nature"** (παρὰ φύσιν):

- Not physical disease (that's external)

- But **vice** (inappropriate choosing)

- Things **against reason** (irrational acts)

- Moral evils (false judgments, bad choices)

**These ARE in your power**:

- Assenting to false impressions

- Choosing inappropriately

- Acting viciously

- **All internal** (prohairesis activities)

**Result**:

- You **can** avoid these (they're in your control)

- If you only avoid these → you'll succeed

- **No unhappiness** (promise kept)

**Contrast**:

> "But if you attempt to avoid disease or death or poverty, you will be unhappy."

**Why?**:

- These are **externals** (not in your control)

- You **cannot** avoid them reliably

- Aversion to them = false promise

- **Must** result in unhappiness (when they occur)

**The Solution**:

> "Take away then aversion from all things which are not in our power, and transfer it to the things contrary to nature which are in our power."

**Two steps**:

1. **Remove** aversion from externals (stop fearing disease, death, poverty)

2. **Transfer** aversion to vice (fear only inappropriate choosing)

**This is achievable** (though difficult):

- Stop judging externals as evil

- Start recognizing only vice as evil

- Now your aversion is **reliable** (you control avoiding vice)

---

**INSTRUCTION 2: Desire** (must be destroyed for now)

> "But destroy desire completely for the present."

**Why so radical?**

> "For if you desire anything which is not in our power, you must be unfortunate"

- Same logic as aversion

- Desire externals → must fail sometimes → unfortunate

> "but of the things in our power, and which it would be good to desire, nothing yet is before you."

**Critical statement**:

- **Eventually**: You should desire virtue (internal, controllable)

- **But**: "nothing yet is before you" = **you're not ready**

- You haven't developed virtue yet

- You can't desire what you don't have

**Sterling Excerpt 9, Prop 15-17**:

- "If we truly judge that virtue is good, we will desire it"

- "If you desire something, and achieve it, you will get a positive feeling"

- "If we correctly judge and correctly will, we will have appropriate positive feelings as a result"

**But the beginner**:

- Doesn't yet judge truly (still learning)

- Hasn't yet achieved virtue (still progressing)

- Therefore: Can't properly desire virtue yet

- **Better**: Eliminate all desire temporarily

**This is training wheels**:

- Advanced Stoic: Desires only virtue (has achieved it, desires to maintain it)

- Beginner: Desires externals (hasn't learned yet)

- **Intermediate step**: Eliminate all desire (while learning)

- Later: Can restore desire properly (directed only at virtue)

---

**INSTRUCTION 3: Use Impulse Only** (the alternative)

> "But employ only the power of moving towards an object and retiring from it"

**This is hormē/aphormē** (impulse), not orexis/ekklisis (desire/aversion)

**What's the difference?**

**Desire (orexis)**:

- "I want wealth **because it's good**"

- Value judgment involved

- Attachment to outcome

- Happiness depends on getting it

**Impulse (hormē)**:

- "I'll pursue wealth **because it's appropriate to select**"

- No value judgment (wealth indifferent, not good)

- No attachment to outcome

- Happiness doesn't depend on getting it

**Example**:

- **Desire**: "I must get this job because getting it is good, not getting it is bad" → If don't get it, unhappy

- **Impulse**: "It's appropriate to apply for this job (preferred indifferent), but the outcome doesn't matter morally" → If don't get it, indifferent

> "and these powers indeed only slightly and with exceptions and with remission"

**"Slightly"** (μετρίως - metriōs):

- Moderately, carefully

- Not habitually or strongly

- Because even impulse can become excessive

**"With exceptions"** (μετ᾽ εὐλαβείας):

- With caution, with reservation

- Always maintaining **reservation clause**

- "I'll pursue X, **if fate permits**"

**"With remission"** (ἀνέσει):

- With relaxation, looseness

- Not tightly grasping

- Ready to let go immediately

**This is the dual intention** (Sterling Excerpt 9, Prop 29):

- External goal: Apply for job (appropriate aim)

- Internal goal: Maintain appropriate choosing (virtue)

- **Without attachment**: If don't get job, still achieved internal goal

---

### **PART 5: HERMENEUTIC CIRCLE**

#### **How Understanding Deepens Through Practice**

**First Reading** (Beginner):

- "Epictetus says don't desire things. That sounds extreme. Maybe he means don't desire TOO much?"

- **Understanding**: Surface command, seems harsh

- **Confusion**: How can I not desire anything?

**After Studying CE 1** (Context):

- "Oh, this connects to the dichotomy. Externals not in my control, so desiring them causes unhappiness"

- **Understanding**: Logical connection to foundation

- **Still confused**: But don't I NEED to want things to act?

**After Studying Sterling Excerpt 7** (Action Theory):

- "Desire follows from assent to value impressions. If I stop judging externals as good, desire will naturally fall away"

- **Understanding**: Psychological mechanism clear

- **Method**: Change judgments → desires change

**After Practice - First Attempt**:

- Try to "destroy desire" for promotion at work

- **Discovery**: Still want it intensely

- **Insight**: Intellectual understanding ≠ actual conviction

- "I say externals are indifferent, but I don't **believe** it yet"

**Return to Text** (Deeper):

- Re-read CE 2: "destroy desire completely **for the present**"

- Notice: "**for the present**" = temporary measure

- Notice: "nothing yet is **before you**" = not ready yet

- **Understanding**: This is **progressive training**, not final state

**After Practice - Learning Impulse**:

- Try applying for job with "slight impulse, with reservation"

- **Test**: "I'll apply (appropriate), but if I don't get it, that's fine (indifferent)"

- Apply, don't get job

- **Discovery**: Feel disappointment (still had desire hidden underneath impulse)

- **Insight**: Wasn't truly using impulse alone; desire still present

**Return to Text** (Even Deeper):

- Re-read: "employ only the power of moving towards... **only slightly** and with **exceptions**"

- Realize: Even impulse must be **slight** (barely perceptible)

- Realize: "With exceptions" = **constant reservation**

- **Understanding**: Not just "prefer with reservation" but "barely prefer, constantly ready to release"

**Advanced Practice** (After Years):

- Apply for job with genuine indifference to outcome

- Internal commitment: "It's appropriate to apply; outcome doesn't matter"

- Don't get job

- **Experience**: No disappointment (genuinely indifferent)

- **Realization**: Finally achieved what CE 2 describes

- Job was **preferred indifferent** (appropriate to select) but truly **indifferent** (not good/evil)

**Final Understanding** (Approaching Sage):

- Desire/aversion naturally absent (no longer "trying" to eliminate them)

- Impulse flows naturally toward appropriate selections

- Reservation automatic (world discloses itself as indifferent)

- **Heideggerian**: Not "applying framework" but world showing itself through framework naturally

---

### **PART 6: MAPPING TO STERLING'S EXCERPTS**

#### **How CE 2 Illuminates Sterling's Teaching**

**Sterling Excerpt 3**: "The good Stoic will have no desires whatsoever regarding external things"

**CE 2 Shows HOW**:

- Not "suppress desires by willpower"

- But "eliminate false value judgments that generate desires"

- Desires **caused by** beliefs (Sterling Excerpt 7)

- Change beliefs → desires disappear naturally

**Sterling Excerpt 6, Prop 2**: "All psychological discontentment is caused by the belief that externals have value"

**CE 2 Explains Mechanism**:

- Believe external has value

- Therefore desire/avert it (orexis/ekklisis)

- Desire promises you'll get it

- External not in your control

- Promise fails

- Discontentment results (unfortunate/unhappy)

**Sterling Excerpt 9, Section 2, Prop 3**: "All human unhappiness is caused by having a desire... to some outcome, and then that outcome does not result"

**CE 2 Is the Textual Basis**:

- "He who fails in his desire is unfortunate"

- Direct statement of Sterling's Prop 3

- This is where Sterling got it from Epictetus

**Sterling Excerpt 9, Section 4, Props 26-29** (Will direction theory):

**CE 2 Contains the Seed**:

- "Employ only the power of moving towards an object and retiring from it"

- This is **hormē** (impulse) directed toward **appropriate objects**

- Not desire (orexis) toward good objects

- **Sterling's innovation**: Systematizing this distinction

- Acts of will (hormē) need **content** (appropriate aims)

- But without **desire** (value attachment)

---

### **PART 7: THE PROGRESSION OF TRAINING**

#### **CE 2 as Pedagogical Stage**

**The Three Stages Implied**:

**Stage 1 - Beginner** (Current state when reading CE 2):

- Desires many externals (wealth, health, reputation)

- Averts many externals (poverty, disease, death)

- **Instruction**: "Destroy desire completely for the present"

- Shift aversion to vice only (internal)

- Use only slight impulse with reservation

**Stage 2 - Intermediate** (Progressing):

- Has eliminated most desires for externals

- Aversion successfully transferred to vice

- Uses impulse toward preferred indifferents carefully

- **Still**: Not yet virtuous ("nothing yet is before you")

- Cannot yet properly desire virtue (doesn't have it)

**Stage 3 - Advanced/Sage** (Goal):

- Virtue achieved and maintained

- Now **can** desire virtue (has it, wants to keep it)

- Impulse flows naturally toward appropriate aims

- No aversion to externals (genuinely indifferent)

- **Sterling Excerpt 9, Prop 17**: "If we correctly judge and correctly will, we will have appropriate positive feelings as a result"

- Joy follows from virtue (eupatheia)

**CE 2 Addresses Stage 1**:

- You're not ready for final state (Stage 3)

- Need intermediate training (Stage 2)

- Temporary extreme measure ("destroy desire")

- Until judgment refined and character improved

**This Explains Apparent Harshness**:

- "Destroy desire completely" sounds inhuman

- But it's **temporary** ("for the present")

- Training wheels while learning

- Later can be removed (when virtue achieved)

---

### **PART 8: PRACTICAL APPLICATION**

#### **How to Actually Apply CE 2**

**Step 1: Identify Your Desires/Aversions**

**Morning Review**:

- What do I desire today? (Make list)

- What am I averse to today? (Make list)

- **Examine each**: Is this internal or external?

**Example List**:

- Desire: Promotion at work (external)

- Desire: Health (external)

- Desire: People liking me (external)

- Aversion: Getting sick (external)

- Aversion: Being criticized (external)

- Aversion: Choosing inappropriately (internal) ✓

**Step 2: Remove Desire/Aversion from Externals**

**For each external item**:

- Examine the value judgment: "Why do I desire/avert this?"

- Usually: "Because I think it's good/evil"

- **Correct**: "But it's external → indifferent → neither good nor evil"

- **Remind**: "Only virtue good, only vice evil" (CE 1, LSSE Prop 8)

**Example - Promotion**:

- Why desire? "Because promotion is good"

- **Correction**: "Promotion is external (not in my control fully) → indifferent"

- "Getting promotion neither makes me good nor bad person"

- "Only my **response** to getting/not getting it matters morally"

**Step 3: Transfer Aversion to Vice Only**

**Identify internal targets**:

- Aversion to: Assenting to false impressions

- Aversion to: Judging externals as good/evil

- Aversion to: Acting inappropriately

- Aversion to: Choosing based on false beliefs

**These ARE in your control**:

- You can avoid these (with practice and attention)

- Promise kept: "You'll avoid vice" (if you're careful)

- No unhappiness from this aversion (reliably avoidable)

**Step 4: Use Impulse Instead of Desire**

**For appropriate actions**:

- "It's appropriate to pursue promotion (preferred indifferent)"

- But: "I don't **desire** it (not good)"

- Instead: "I have mild impulse toward it (appropriate selection)"

- **With reservation**: "If I don't get it, that's fine (indifferent)"

**The internal dialogue shift**:

- **Old**: "I must get this promotion, it's essential for my happiness"

- **New**: "It's appropriate to work toward promotion, but outcome doesn't affect my happiness"

**Step 5: Monitor Throughout Day**

**When desires arise**:

- Notice: "I'm feeling desire for X"

- **Ask**: "Is X in my control? Is it good?"

- **Answer**: "No, external → indifferent"

- **Refuse assent**: To impression "X is good"

- **Replace**: "X is indifferent; only my response matters"

**Step 6: Evening Review**

**Examine the day**:

- Where did I desire externals? (Failed CE 2)

- Where did I use impulse appropriately? (Succeeded CE 2)

- Where did I avert vice? (Succeeded CE 2)

- Where did I avert externals? (Failed CE 2)

**This builds character over time** (Sterling Excerpt 7):

- Habitual correct assent → fewer false value impressions

- Eventually: False value impressions rare or absent

- Then: Desires for externals naturally eliminated

---

### **PART 9: ADDRESSING OBJECTIONS**

#### **Common Misunderstandings**

**Objection 1**: "Without desire, I won't do anything. Desire motivates action."

**Sterling's Answer** (Excerpt 9, Prop 24-29):

- Acts of will **need content** (aims)

- But content can be **appropriate aims** (kathēkonta)

- Not **objects of desire** (external goods)

- **Impulse** (hormē) motivates action without desire

- You **can** act toward health (appropriate) without desiring health (as good)

**CE 2's Answer**:

- "Employ the power of moving towards an object" (hormē)

- This **is** motivation

- But without attachment (desire)

- You act because it's **appropriate**, not because outcome is **good**

**Objection 2**: "This makes me passive, accepting whatever happens."

**Sterling's Answer** (LSSE Prop 29):

- "Virtue consists... in directing acts of will toward appropriate aims **without attachment to outcomes**"

- You **do** act (direct will toward aims)

- You **do** pursue preferred indifferents (health, life, knowledge)

- You **don't** attach happiness to outcomes

- **Active** in appropriate choosing; **indifferent** to results

**CE 2's Answer**:

- "Transfer aversion to things contrary to nature **which are in our power**"

- You **actively avoid** vice (things in your power)

- This requires **effort and vigilance**

- Not passive at all (actively maintaining virtue)

**Objection 3**: "I can't destroy desire. It's biological/natural."

**Sterling's Answer** (Excerpt 7):

- Desires **caused by** assent to value impressions

- Assent **is** in our control (libertarian free will)

- Change what you assent to → desires change

- **Long process** (character building) but **possible**

**CE 2's Answer**:

- "Destroy desire completely **for the present**"

- Not claiming it's easy

- Not claiming it's immediate

- But it's the **goal** and it's **achievable** (with training)

- Temporary measure while learning

**Objection 4**: "What about loving my family? Shouldn't I desire their well-being?"

**Sterling's Answer** (Stoic oikeiōsis theory, not in excerpts but implied):

- You can have **appropriate concern** for family (kathēkon)

- This is **impulse** toward their welfare (hormē)

- Not **desire** for their welfare as **good** (orexis)

- If harm comes to them: Appropriately help, but don't judge harm as **evil**

- Your **response** (appropriate helping) is what matters morally

**CE 2's Answer**:

- Use "power of moving towards" (impulse) toward family welfare

- "Only slightly and with exceptions and with remission"

- With **reservation**: "If fate prevents their welfare, I'll accept that"

- Doesn't mean don't care; means **care appropriately** (without false value judgments)

---

### **PART 10: INTEGRATION WITH CE 1**

#### **How CE 2 Builds on CE 1**

**CE 1 Established**:

- Dichotomy: Some things in our control, others not

- Internals: Judgment, impulse, desire, aversion

- Externals: Body, property, reputation

- Value: Only internals can be good/evil

**CE 2 Shows Consequences**:

- **If** desire/avert externals (CE 2)

- **Then** making false value judgment (CE 1: externals can't be good/evil)

- **Therefore** must be unfortunate/unhappy (promise fails)

**CE 1 Promised Results of Correct Understanding**:

- "No man will ever compel you"

- "No man will hinder you"

- "You will have no enemy"

- "You will not suffer any harm"

**CE 2 Shows How to Achieve This**:

- Eliminate desires for externals (no one can prevent your happiness by controlling externals)

- Transfer aversion to vice only (you control avoiding this)

- **Result**: Freedom, invulnerability (CE 1's promises fulfilled)

**Hermeneutic Movement**:

- CE 1 (part) understood partially without CE 2

- CE 2 (part) makes CE 1 more concrete (shows application)

- Return to CE 1 (whole) with deeper understanding from CE 2

- **Circle**: Each illuminates the other

---

### **PART 11: FINAL SYSTEMATIC SUMMARY**

#### **CE 2 in Sterling's Complete System**

**What CE 2 Establishes**:

**Psychological Mechanism**:

- Desire/aversion make **promises** about outcomes

- For externals: Promises **must fail** (not in our control)

- Failure → unfortunate/unhappy (suffering)

- **Solution**: Eliminate desires for externals

**Training Program**:

- **Stage 1**: Destroy all desire (current instruction - temporary)

- **Stage 2**: Use impulse only (careful, with reservation)

- **Stage 3**: Can desire virtue (when achieved)

**Distinction Clarified**:

- **Desire/Aversion** (orexis/ekklisis): Based on false value judgments → eliminate

- **Impulse** (hormē/aphormē): Based on appropriate selection → use carefully

**Integration with CE 1**:

- CE 1: Externals not in our control

- CE 2: Therefore don't desire/avert them

- Result: Freedom from external determination of happiness

**Connection to LSSE**:

- Prop 14: "Desire and aversion misapplied to externals are the root of suffering" ← CE 2 establishes

- Prop 15: "Withdrawing desire from externals removes the cause of emotional disturbance" ← CE 2 teaches method

- Props 26-29: Direction of will toward appropriate aims ← CE 2's "impulse" is foundation

**Sterling's Contribution**:

- Systematized the desire/impulse distinction

- Showed will direction as alternative to desire

- Made CE 2 practice concrete (Sterling Excerpt 7: assent discipline)

---

## **STERLING-MODE VERDICT**

### **CE 2 Assessment**

**Logical Structure**: ✓ **Valid**

- If desire externals, must be unfortunate (promise fails)

- If avert externals, must be unhappy (will occur)

- Therefore eliminate desire/aversion to externals

- Sound deductive reasoning

**Doctrinal Consistency**: ✓ **Perfect**

- Follows necessarily from CE 1 (dichotomy)

- Anticipates CE 5 (judgments cause disturbance)

- Aligns with Sterling's 32-prop LSSE

- Matches Sterling's 9 excerpts

**Practical Applicability**: ✓ **Challenging but Clear**

- Concrete instructions (destroy desire, transfer aversion, use impulse)

- Recognizes difficulty ("for the present" = temporary)

- Progressive training implied (stages)

- Achievable with practice

**Hermeneutic Depth**: ✓ **Profound**

- Surface meaning accessible

- Systematic depth revealed through study

- Practice illuminates theory

- Understanding deepens through circular movement

**Integration**: ✓ **Complete**

- With CE 1 (builds on dichotomy)

- With Sterling's system (LSSE Props 14-15, 26-29)

- With 9 excerpts (especially 3, 6, 7, 9)

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**CE 2 CORRECTED COMMENTARY COMPLETE**

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Now continuing with CE 3 corrected version...

[Due to length, should I continue with complete CE 3 in next response, or would you prefer both chapters in separate documents?]