SYSTEMS BUILT FROM TIER 1-2 FOUNDATIONAL VOCABULARY

SYSTEMS BUILT FROM TIER 1-2 FOUNDATIONAL VOCABULARY

MAKING CORRECT USE OF IMPRESSIONS: A Complete Practical Manual Using All 471 Terms of the Stoic 500

The foundational vocabulary of Tiers 1-2 (Terms 1-60) generates thirty systematic structures that establish the cognitive, ethical, and training architecture of Sterling's Stoic framework. These systems organize into five categories: Cognitive Systems explain how impressions become actions through assent and impulse. Ethical Systems establish value location, moral responsibility, and the dichotomy of control. Training Systems provide practical methods for examination, deliberation, and guardianship. Structural Systems define moral agency, self-consistency, and identity. Freedom Systems ground internal sovereignty and orientation. Together, these thirty systems transform foundational Greek terminology into a complete architecture for Stoic practice.

### **COGNITIVE SYSTEMS**

System 1: The Impression-to-Action Sequence

Foundation: Phantasia (1) → Sunkatathesis (2) → Hormē (3) → Action

This is the basic cognitive architecture: impression appears → agent assents (or withholds) → impulse forms → action follows. All voluntary behavior flows through this sequence. The system explains how external events become internal judgments become external actions.

System 2: The Assent Control Mechanism

Foundation: Phantasia (1), Sunkatathesis (2), Prosochē (10)

This system governs voluntary control of belief-formation. Attention (prosochē) enables observation of impressions before automatic assent, creating space for examination. This is the mechanism by which rational agents control what they believe.

System 3: The Judgment Classification System

Foundation: Krisis/Hupolēpsis/Dogma (6), Internal-External-Distinction (33)

Every judgment classifies its object as internal or external, good/evil/indifferent. This system structures all moral evaluation and prevents categorical errors. It's the application layer for the dichotomy.

System 4: The Desire-Aversion Regulatory System

Foundation: Orexis (4), Ekklisis (5), Internal-Domain (21), External-Domain (22)

This system governs the direction of desire and aversion: desire must be restricted to Internal-Good (27), aversion to Internal-Evil (29). Violating this system generates pathē. Following it produces apatheia.

System 5: The Impulse Moderation System

Foundation: Hormē (3), Internal-Aim (13), External-Aim (separate concept)

Impulses toward externals must be moderate, reserved, and detached from outcomes. This system allows practical engagement with preferred indifferents while maintaining internal freedom.

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ETHICAL SYSTEMS

System 6: The Dichotomy of Control

Foundation: Internal-Domain (21), External-Domain (22), Sphere-of-Internals (23), Sphere-of-Externals (24), Internal-Authority (35)

The foundational ethical architecture: reality divides into what's up to you (internals) and what's not (externals). All Stoic practice flows from maintaining this distinction. This is Enchiridion 1 systematized.

System 7: The Value Location System

Foundation: Internal-Good (27), Internal-Evil (29), External-Indifferent (28), Intrinsic-Value (31), Extrinsic-Appearance (32)

Value exists exclusively in the internal domain. Externals possess no intrinsic value despite appearing valuable. This system grounds moral realism while rejecting external goods.

System 8: The Moral Responsibility System

Foundation: Internal-Responsibility (47), External-Non-Responsibility (48), Prohairesis (7), Internal-Causation (separate concept from Tier 5)

Moral responsibility attaches only to internal acts (judgments, choices). External outcomes are not morally evaluable. This system eliminates false guilt and clarifies moral accountability.

System 9: The Ownership and Possession System

Foundation: Internal-Ownership (41), External-Non-Ownership (42), Internal-Authority (35)

You morally own only internals; externals don't belong to you regardless of legal possession. This system enables non-attachment and prevents grief over external loss.

System 10: The Sufficiency System

Foundation: Internal-Sufficiency (53), External-Insufficiency (54), Autarkeia (37)

The ruling faculty contains everything required for virtue and happiness. No external is necessary. This system grounds Stoic self-sufficiency and eliminates dependency.

System 11: The Stability-Instability System

Foundation: Internal-Stability (43), External-Instability (44), Internal-Constancy (59), External-Transience (60)

Internals are stable and constant (virtue doesn't change with circumstances). Externals are unstable and transient (they flux continuously). This system explains why only virtue can ground happiness.

System 12: The Hierarchical Priority System

Foundation: Internal-Primacy (55), External-Subordination (56)

Internal correctness has absolute priority over external outcomes. Externals serve as the field for virtue's expression but never determine virtue. This system structures decision-making. 

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TRAINING SYSTEMS

System 13: The Attention Training System

Foundation: Prosochē (10), Katanoēsis (9), Phantasia (1)

Develop vigilant attention to impressions before they trigger automatic assent. This is the foundational practice enabling all other training.

System 14: The Examination Methodology

Foundation: Katanoēsis (9), Diakrisis (16), Krisis (6), Internal-External-Distinction (33)

Systematic examination of impressions: observe → discriminate (internal/external) → judge correctly. This is the core Stoic examination protocol.

System 15: The Reflection and Review System

Foundation: Anamnēsis (11), Krisis (6)

Regular retrospective examination of past judgments and actions to identify errors, reinforce principles, and strengthen metacognition. The evening review practice.

System 16: The Deliberation System

Foundation: Bouleusis (12), Logos (8), Sunkatathesis (2)

Rational weighing of possible courses of action before granting assent. This system prevents impulsive action and ensures reason governs impulse.

System 17: The Guardianship Practice

Foundation: Internal-Guardianship (51), Prohairesis (7), Autokrateia (17)

Constant vigilance over the ruling faculty to protect it from corruption. This system maintains prohairesis's integrity.

System 18: The Domain Clarity Practice

Foundation: Domain-Clarity (49), Diakrisis (16), Internal-External-Distinction (33)

Developing automatic capacity to assign each impression to its proper domain. This practice makes the dichotomy instinctive.

System 19: The Alignment Practice

Foundation: Domain-Alignment (50), Orexis (4), Ekklisis (5), Internal-Domain (21)

Practical execution of restricting desire to virtue and aversion to vice. This is the daily implementation of Enchiridion 2.

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STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

System 20: The Moral Faculty Architecture

Foundation: Prohairesis (7), Logos (8), Sunkatathesis (2), Hormē (3)

The structure of moral agency: rational capacity (logos) governs choice (prohairesis) through assent (sunkatathesis) generating impulse (hormē). This is the internal architecture of selfhood.

System 21: The Self-Consistency System

Foundation: Homologia (18), Logos (8), Autokrateia (17)

Internal harmony of judgment, desire, and action. All parts of the soul agree. This system eliminates akrasia and produces unified character.

System 22: The Moral Identity System

Foundation: Tautotēs-Prohairetikē (19), Prohairesis (7), Internal-Ownership (41)

Personal identity grounded in choices rather than externals. Continuity of selfhood through judgments, not body or circumstances.

System 23: The Will and Volition System

Foundation: Boulēsis (14), Bouleusis (12), Prohairesis (7), Logos (8)

Rational will aligned with reason, expressing internal freedom and capacity for rational choice.

System 24: The Intention-Aim System

Foundation: Skopē (13), Skopos-Prohairetikos (15), Internal-Aim (separate but related)

The internal target of action versus external outcome. Moral evaluation applies to intention only. This system separates moral from non-moral success.

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BOUNDARY AND LIMIT SYSTEMS

System 25: The Boundary Recognition System

Foundation: Boundary-Recognition (34), Internal-External-Distinction (33), Diakrisis (16)

Identifying the fixed line dividing internal from external domains. This system prevents category confusion.

System 26: The Domain Integrity System

Foundation: Domain-Integrity (57), Boundary-Recognition (34)

Maintaining the sharp, inviolable boundary between domains. Blurring this boundary destroys the entire framework.

System 27: The Limit Recognition System

Foundation: Internal-Limit (45), External-Limit (46)

Understanding the scope and boundaries of agency: what you can control (internal) versus what nature constrains (external).

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FREEDOM SYSTEMS

**System 28: The Internal Freedom System**

Foundation: Eleutheria Endoterā (20), Prohairesis (7), Internal-Authority (35), Autokrateia (17)

Freedom grounded in correct assent and use of impressions. True freedom is internal sovereignty over judgment, invulnerable to external compulsion.

**System 29: The Self-Command System**

Foundation: Autokrateia (17), Logos (8), Hormē (3), Orexis (4), Ekklisis (5)

Reason's authority over impulses, desires, and aversions. This system establishes autonomy and prevents enslavement to passions or circumstances.

**System 30: The Orientation System**

Foundation: Internal-Orientation (58), External-Indifference (52), Prosochē (10)

The continual turning of all faculties toward the internal domain. This is the final posture: constant internal focus, complete external indifference.

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SUMMARY

These 30 systems are all built from or grounded in Tier 1-2 vocabulary (Terms 1-60). They represent:

- 5 Cognitive Systems (how mind works)

- 7 Ethical Systems (value, responsibility, ownership)

- 7 Training Systems (practical methods)

- 4 Structural Systems (architecture of selfhood)

- 3 Boundary Systems (maintaining dichotomy)

- 4 Freedom Systems (autonomy and sovereignty)

All 30 systems START with Tier 1-2 terms and extend Sterling's systematic framework into practical application.