Complete Sterling ISF Vocabulary PIE Root Extraction and Definitive Usage Analysis

 MACHINE OUTPUT (Claude)

PROCESSING REQUEST: Complete Sterling ISF vocabulary PIE root extraction and definitive usage analysis

CORPUS: "Core Stoicism" by Grant Sterling (ISF post, September 19, 2005)

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**SYSTEMATIC VOCABULARY EXTRACTION AND PIE ROOT ANALYSIS**

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**DOMAIN 1: EPISTEMOLOGICAL FOUNDATION**

**THEOREM**

PIE Root: *teh₂- (to see, look at, observe)

   - Greek theorein (to look at, behold, contemplate)

Basic Meaning: That which is beheld/observed

Sterling Deployment: "Basic principles of Stoicism" - foundational propositions requiring intellectual vision

Architectural Function: System built on what can be intellectually perceived

**PRINCIPLE**

PIE Root: *per- (forward, first) + *kap- (to grasp, take)

   - Latin principium (beginning, foundation)

Basic Meaning: First taking, original grasp

Sterling Deployment: "Basic principles" - what is grasped first, foundational

Architectural Function: Starting points for systematic derivation

**PROOF / PROVE**

PIE Root: *per- (forward, through) + *bʰuH- (to grow, become)

   - Latin probare (to test, prove good)

Basic Meaning: To test thoroughly, make good

Sterling Deployment: "Proof might be offered" - establishing truth through testing

Architectural Function: Epistemic validation method

**INTUITION**

PIE Root: *tew- (to pay attention to, observe)

   - Latin intueri (to look at, consider)

Basic Meaning: Direct looking/seeing

Sterling Deployment: "Defensible only by appeal to intuition" - direct intellectual perception

Architectural Function: Foundational knowledge access (Commitment 3, 4)

**OBVIOUS**

PIE Root: *epi- (toward, at) + *weid- (to see)

   - Latin obvius (in the way, exposed to view)

Basic Meaning: Lying in the way of sight

Sterling Deployment: "Empirical propositions the Stoics thought were obvious"

Architectural Function: Self-presenting truths requiring no derivation

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**DOMAIN 2: DESIRE AND EMOTION ARCHITECTURE**

**WANT**

PIE Root: *wēn- (to desire, strive for)

Basic Meaning: Lacking, desiring what is absent

Sterling Deployment: "Everyone wants happiness" (Th 1)

Architectural Function: Universal human telos-orientation

**HAPPINESS**

PIE Root: *hap- (chance, luck, fortune)

Basic Meaning: What befalls by chance

Sterling Deployment: "Complete happiness" - uninterrupted positive state

Architectural Function: Telos of system

**Semantic Irony:** Word from chance; Sterling argues happiness controllable through reason

**DESIRE**

PIE Root: *de- (from, away) + *sidus (star, constellation)

   - Latin desiderare (to long for, miss)

Basic Meaning: Cease contemplating stars, awareness of absence

Sterling Deployment: "Desire or emotional commitment to some outcome" (Th 3)

Architectural Function: Source of unhappiness when directed at uncontrollables

**Semantic Structure:** Turning from celestial to earthly - Sterling's system: bring desires down to controllables

**EMOTION / EMOTIONAL**

PIE Root: *mew- (to push away, move)

   - Latin emovere (to move out, disturb)

Basic Meaning: Moving out from, disturbance

Sterling Deployment: "Desire or emotional commitment"

Architectural Function: Movements of soul requiring rational governance

**COMMITMENT**

PIE Root: *kom- (together, with) + *meit- (to exchange, send)

   - Latin committere (to join, entrust)

Basic Meaning: Sending together, joining

Sterling Deployment: "Emotional commitment to outcome"

Architectural Function: Binding self to outcome through judgment

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**DOMAIN 3: CONTROL ARCHITECTURE (CENTRAL TO SYSTEM)**

**CONTROL**

PIE Root: *kom- (together) + *h₂ent- (front, forehead) + *reh₁- (to roll, count)

   - Medieval Latin contrarotulus (counter-roll, check-roll)

Basic Meaning: Counter-register, checking account

Sterling Deployment: "Things in our control" / "out of our control" (Th 6) - MASTER DISTINCTION

Architectural Function: **FOUNDATIONAL DICHOTOMY** - Internal/External division

**Semantic Precision:** Accounting metaphor - what counts on our ledger vs. external ledger

**POSSIBLE / POSSIBILITY**

PIE Root: *poti- (powerful, able) + *es- (to be)

   - Latin possibilis (that can be)

Basic Meaning: Having power to be

Sterling Deployment: "Complete happiness is possible" (2*), "possibility of complete happiness"

Architectural Function: Modal claim - within human power domain

**SUBJECT**

PIE Root: *sub- (under) + *yē- (to throw)

   - Latin subicere (to throw under, place under)

Basic Meaning: Thrown under, placed under

Sterling Deployment: "Subject to possible unhappiness"

Architectural Function: Vulnerability structure - what lies under external influence

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**DOMAIN 4: RATIONAL STRUCTURE**

**RATIONAL / IRRATIONAL**

PIE Root: *h₂er- (to fit together) + *rei- (to count, reckon)

   - Latin ratio (reckoning, calculation, reason)

Basic Meaning: Fitting account, proper reckoning

Sterling Deployment: "Irrational to accept incomplete happiness" (Th 2), "irrational to desire things out of control" (5, 9, 13)

Architectural Function: **CORE NORMATIVE STANDARD** - fitting with control structure

**Semantic Precision:** Rationality = proper accounting between control/non-control

**REASON**

PIE Root: *rei- (to count, reckon, think)

Basic Meaning: Reckoning, calculation

Sterling Deployment: Implied throughout rational/irrational usage

Architectural Function: Faculty enabling proper accounting

**BELIEF**

PIE Root: *leubʰ- (to care, desire, love, be pleasing)

   - Old English belefan (to believe, trust)

Basic Meaning: To hold dear, trust

Sterling Deployment: "The only things in our control are our beliefs and will" (Th 6)

Architectural Function: **PRIMARY CONTROLLABLE** - mental assent

**Semantic Connection:** Belief = what we hold, possess internally

**WILL**

PIE Root: *wel- (to wish, choose)

Basic Meaning: Wishing, choosing, volition

Sterling Deployment: "Beliefs and will" (Th 6), "acts of will" (Th 24, 27)

Architectural Function: **PRIMARY CONTROLLABLE** - volitional acts

**Semantic Precision:** Pure choosing capacity

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**DOMAIN 5: JUDGMENT ARCHITECTURE**

**JUDGE / JUDGMENT**

PIE Root: *yewes- (law, right) + *deiḱ- (to show, point out)

   - Latin iudex (judge), iudicare (to judge)

Basic Meaning: Showing forth what is right/lawful

Sterling Deployment: "Desires are caused by beliefs (judgments) about good and evil" (Th 7), "judge truly" (throughout)

Architectural Function: **CAUSAL MECHANISM** - judgments generate desires

**Semantic Precision:** Showing forth value = assigning good/evil

**TRUE / TRUTH**

PIE Root: *deru- / *dru- (firm, solid, steadfast, tree)

   - Old English treowe (faithful, trustworthy)

Basic Meaning: Firm, steadfast, reliable

Sterling Deployment: "Judge truly" (Th 7, 14, Section conclusion), "true theorems"

Architectural Function: Correspondence to reality (Commitment 5)

**Semantic Foundation:** Truth = steadfast reliability, firmness

**FALSE**

PIE Root: *g̑ʰel- (to deceive, trick)

   - Latin fallere (to deceive, trick, fail)

Basic Meaning: Deception, failure

Sterling Deployment: "False judgment" (13), "irrational since it involves false judgment"

Architectural Function: Deviation from reality

**Semantic Opposition:** False = failure of correspondence

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**DOMAIN 6: VALUE ARCHITECTURE**

**GOOD**

PIE Root: *gʰedʰ- (to unite, join, fit, be associated)

Basic Meaning: Fitting together, suitable

Sterling Deployment: "The only thing actually good is virtue" (Th 10), "judge to be good" (Th 7)

Architectural Function: **SOLE GENUINE VALUE** = virtue

**Semantic Precision:** Good = what fits with rational nature

**EVIL**

PIE Root: *upelo- (exceeding proper limits) from *upo (up, over)

Basic Meaning: Going beyond bounds

Sterling Deployment: "The only thing actually evil is vice" (Th 10), "desire to avoid what you judge to be evil" (Th 7)

Architectural Function: **SOLE GENUINE DISVALUE** = vice

**Semantic Precision:** Evil = transgression of rational bounds

**VIRTUE**

PIE Root: *wi-ro- (man, hero) 

   - Latin vir (man) → virtus (manliness, excellence)

Basic Meaning: Manly excellence, strength of character

Sterling Deployment: "The only thing actually good is virtue" (Th 10), "virtue consists of rational acts of will" (Th 27)

Architectural Function: **SOLE GOOD** - rational willing

**Semantic Evolution:** Excellence specific to rational agency

**VICE**

PIE Root: *weik- (to bend, wind, turn aside)

   - Latin vitium (fault, defect, blemish)

Basic Meaning: Bent, twisted, defective

Sterling Deployment: "The only thing actually evil is vice" (Th 10), "vice of irrational acts of will" (Th 27)

Architectural Function: **SOLE EVIL** - irrational willing

**Semantic Precision:** Vice = deviation from straight rational course

**VALUE**

PIE Root: *wal- (to be strong, be worth)

   - Latin valere (to be strong, be worth)

Basic Meaning: Strength, worth

Sterling Deployment: "If we value only virtue" (14), "judgments about value" (Th 18)

Architectural Function: Assignment of worth through judgment

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**DOMAIN 7: EXTERNAL GOODS**

**EXTERNAL**

PIE Root: *eǵʰs (out) + *tero- (beyond)

   - Latin externus (outward, external)

Basic Meaning: Beyond, outside

Sterling Deployment: "Things not in our control [externals]" (12), "external objects of desire" (28, 29)

Architectural Function: **CRITICAL CATEGORY** - outside control domain

**Semantic Precision:** Beyond boundary of will

**OBJECT**

PIE Root: *h₁epi- (toward) + *yē- (to throw)

   - Latin obiectum (thrown before, presented)

Basic Meaning: Thrown before, lying in the way

Sterling Deployment: "Appropriate objects at which to aim" (Th 25), "objects of desire" (28, 29)

Architectural Function: Targets of will (appropriate vs. desired)

**APPROPRIATE**

PIE Root: *h₂epo- (off, away) + *per- (forward) + *peh₃- (to own)

   - Latin appropriare (to make one's own)

Basic Meaning: Making one's own, proper to oneself

Sterling Deployment: "Appropriate objects at which to aim" (Th 25), "appropriate positive feelings" (Section Three heading, Th 22, 23)

Architectural Function: **CRUCIAL DISTINCTION** - appropriate aim ≠ desired outcome

**Semantic Precision:** What properly belongs to pursuit (not outcome)

**AIM**

PIE Root: *ai- (to give, assign) → *aes- (to value, estimate)

   - Latin aestimare (to value, estimate, aim at)

Basic Meaning: Setting value, directing estimation

Sterling Deployment: "Result at which one aims" (Th 24), "aims at an object" (28, 29)

Architectural Function: Direction of will (content specification)

**PURSUE / PURSUIT**

PIE Root: *per- (forward, through) + *sekʷ- (to follow)

   - Latin prosequi (to follow forward)

Basic Meaning: Following forward toward target

Sterling Deployment: "Pursuit of appropriate objects of aim" (29), "not the pursuit of external objects of desires"

Architectural Function: Active engagement with appropriate targets

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**DOMAIN 8: FEELING AND AFFECT**

**FEELING**

PIE Root: *pōl- (to touch, feel)

   - Germanic *fōlijan (to feel, perceive by touch)

Basic Meaning: Tactile sensation, direct perception

Sterling Deployment: "Positive feeling" (Th 16, 17), "appropriate positive feelings" (throughout Section 3)

Architectural Function: Affective results of judgment/action

**Semantic Structure:** Direct contact/experience (non-cognitive)

**POSITIVE**

PIE Root: *apo- (off, away) + *sinə- (to lay, set)

   - Latin ponere (to place, put, set)

Basic Meaning: That which is set down, established

Sterling Deployment: "Positive feelings" (Th 16-19, 22, 23), "positively happy" (23)

Architectural Function: Established/present (vs. negative/absent) affect

**PLEASURE**

PIE Root: *plāk- (to be flat, spread out) → *pleh₂- (to fill, be full)

   - Latin placere (to please, be acceptable)

Basic Meaning: Satisfying, filling, acceptable

Sterling Deployment: "Physical and sensory pleasures" (23), "pleasure" among appropriate aims (Th 26)

Architectural Function: Natural positive affect (Th 18-19)

**UNHAPPINESS**

PIE Root: *un- (not) + *hap- (chance, fortune)

Basic Meaning: Not befalling by good fortune

Sterling Deployment: "All human unhappiness" (Th 3), "subject to possible unhappiness" (4), "immune to all unhappiness" (14)

Architectural Function: **NEGATIVE STATE TO ELIMINATE** - caused by desiring uncontrollables

**Semantic Irony:** Sterling eliminates chance-based state through rational control

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**DOMAIN 9: AGENCY AND ACTION**

**ACT / ACTION**

PIE Root: *h₂eǵ- (to drive, draw out, move)

   - Latin agere (to drive, do, act)

Basic Meaning: Driving, setting in motion

Sterling Deployment: "Acts of will" (Th 24, 27), "act that aims at" (28), "act virtuously" (29)

Architectural Function: Volitional movement/execution

**PERFORM**

PIE Root: *per- (through, thoroughly) + *fornir (to furnish, complete)

   - Latin per + formare (to form completely)

Basic Meaning: Completing through-and-through, fulfilling

Sterling Deployment: "In order to perform an act of will" (Th 24)

Architectural Function: Actualizing volition

**RESULT / OUTCOME**

PIE Root: *ret- (to spring back, rebound)

   - Latin resultare (to spring back, rebound)

Basic Meaning: What springs back, consequence

Sterling Deployment: "Outcome does not result" (Th 3), "result at which one aims" (Th 24), "result from desires" (Th 16, 18)

Architectural Function: Consequences (controllable internal vs. uncontrollable external)

**ACHIEVE**

PIE Root: *ad- (to, toward) + *kap- (head, chief)

   - Latin *ad caput venire (to come to a head)

Basic Meaning: Come to completion, reach goal

Sterling Deployment: "Desire something and achieve it" (Th 16)

Architectural Function: Successful attainment (only secure with internals)

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**DOMAIN 10: NATURE AND PROVIDENCE**

**NATURE / NATURAL**

PIE Root: *ǵenh₁- (to give birth, beget, produce)

   - Latin natura (birth, nature, course of things)

Basic Meaning: That which is born/generated, innate character

Sterling Deployment: "Universe is, or is governed by, Nature" (Th 20), "Natural...is exactly as it should be" (Th 21)

Architectural Function: Cosmic rational order, divine governance

**Semantic Foundation:** Nature = what generates/produces according to inherent principle

**PROVIDENCE**

PIE Root: *pro- (before, forward) + *weid- (to see, know)

   - Latin providere (to foresee, provide for)

Basic Meaning: Seeing beforehand, foreseeing care

Sterling Deployment: "Governed by Providence" (Th 20), "Natural or governed by Providence" (Th 21)

Architectural Function: Divine rational ordering

**Semantic Precision:** Foresight = rational planning/care

**GOD / GODS**

PIE Root: *ǵʰew- (to pour, make libation) → *ǵʰu-to- (that which is invoked)

   - Germanic *gudan (god)

Basic Meaning: That which is called upon, invoked

Sterling Deployment: "God or the gods" (Th 20), "governed by...God" (Th 21)

Architectural Function: Divine rational principle governing cosmos

**UNIVERSE**

PIE Root: *oi-no- (one) + *wert- (to turn)

   - Latin universum (turned into one, whole)

Basic Meaning: Turned into unity, all taken together

Sterling Deployment: "The universe is...Nature, Providence, God" (Th 20)

Architectural Function: Totality of rational order

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**DOMAIN 11: LOGICAL AND SYSTEMATIC STRUCTURE**

**ERGO**

PIE Root: (Latin particle, from *reg- "to move straight, direct")

Basic Meaning: Therefore, consequently

Sterling Deployment: Used 11 times to mark logical consequences

Architectural Function: Deductive progression markers

**Structural Role:** Shows systematic derivation pattern

**CONNECT / CONNECTION**

PIE Root: *kom- (together) + *neḱ- (to bind)

   - Latin connectere (to bind together)

Basic Meaning: Binding together

Sterling Deployment: "How the ideas of Stoicism are connected" (introduction), "how they flow"

Architectural Function: Systematic integration principle

**Meta-philosophical:** Sterling emphasizes systematic unity

**FLOW**

PIE Root: *plew- (to flow, float)

Basic Meaning: Flowing, streaming

Sterling Deployment: "How they flow" (introduction)

Architectural Function: Natural derivation sequence

**Semantic Metaphor:** Ideas flow from principles like water from source

**SUPPORT / UNDERMINE**

PIE Root (support): *sub- (under) + *per- (to bring)

   - Latin supportare (to carry from under)

Basic Meaning: Carrying from underneath

Sterling Deployment: "Denying one principle may undermine support for others" (final comment)

Architectural Function: Foundational dependency structure

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**SEMANTIC ARCHITECTURE ANALYSIS**

**PRIMARY ROOT CLUSTERS:**

**CLUSTER 1: ACCOUNTING/RECKONING ROOTS**

- Control (*contrarotulus - counter-roll/check)

- Rational (*ratio - reckoning, account)

- Judge (*iudicare - show what's right/lawful)

**System Built On:** Proper accounting between internal/external ledgers

**CLUSTER 2: FITTING/ORDERING ROOTS**

- Good (*ghedh- unite, fit together)

- Appropriate (*appropriare - make one's own properly)

- True (*dreu- firm, steadfast)

**System Built On:** What fits with rational nature

**CLUSTER 3: DEVIATION/TRANSGRESSION ROOTS**

- Evil (*upelo- exceeding limits)

- Vice (*weik- bent, twisted)

- False (*ghel- deceive, fail)

**System Built On:** Deviation from rational order

**CLUSTER 4: SEEING/PERCEIVING ROOTS**

- Theorem (*thea- behold, observe)

- Intuition (*intueri - look at directly)

- Obvious (*obvius - lying in view)

- Providence (*providere - foresee)

**System Built On:** Direct intellectual perception

**CLUSTER 5: GRASPING/POSSESSING ROOTS**

- Principle (*principium - first grasp)

- Belief (*leubh- hold dear, possess)

- Control (counter-register - what we hold)

**System Built On:** What we can grasp/possess vs. what escapes grasp

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**DEFINITIVE DEPLOYMENT PATTERNS:**

**1. CONTROL ARCHITECTURE**

Sterling uses accounting/checking metaphor roots:

- Control = counter-roll (what's on our account vs. external account)

- Rational = proper reckoning (accounting correctly for control boundaries)

- Subject = thrown under (placed under external power)

**Reveals:** System conceptualized as accounting problem - sorting what belongs on which ledger

**2. VALUE ARCHITECTURE**

Sterling uses fitting/transgression metaphor roots:

- Good = fitting together (what coheres with rational nature)

- Evil = exceeding limits (what transgresses boundaries)

- Virtue = excellence (optimal functioning)

- Vice = bent/twisted (deviation from straight course)

**Reveals:** Ethics as geometry - staying within proper bounds vs. transgressing

**3. EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE**

Sterling uses seeing/grasping metaphor roots:

- Theorem = what is beheld (intellectual vision)

- Intuition = direct looking (unmediated perception)

- Principle = first grasp (foundational possession)

- Truth = firm/steadfast (reliable correspondence)

**Reveals:** Knowledge as direct perception of stable reality

**4. HAPPINESS ARCHITECTURE** 

Sterling deploys ironic root meanings:

- Happiness from *hap- (chance/fortune)

- Desire from *desiderare (away from stars - longing for what's absent)

- Control from counter-roll (checking/accounting)

**Reveals:** System transforms chance-based happiness into controlled happiness by bringing desire down from uncontrollable stars to controllable internals

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**DEFINITIVE PHILOSOPHICAL CLAIMS FROM ROOT ANALYSIS:**

**CLAIM 1: STERLING'S SYSTEM IS FUNDAMENTALLY AN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM**

Core vocabulary built on:

- Checking/reckoning (*control, rational, judge)

- Proper sorting (internal/external ledgers)

- Correct calculation (what goes where)

**CLAIM 2: ETHICS AS GEOMETRIC ORDERING**

Value vocabulary built on:

- Fitting/joining vs. exceeding/bending

- Staying within bounds vs. transgression

- Proper limits vs. deviation

**CLAIM 3: FOUNDATIONALIST EPISTEMOLOGY ENCODED IN VOCABULARY**

Epistemic vocabulary built on:

- Direct vision/perception

- First grasping

- Firm/steadfast reliability

- Self-presentation to sight

**CLAIM 4: IRONIC TRANSFORMATION STRUCTURE**

Sterling transforms:

- Happiness (*hap- chance) → controllable

- Desire (*desiderare - from stars) → brought down to earth

- Control (*contrarotulus - check register) → what we possess

System = bringing chance-based, celestial longing under rational accounting control

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**CONCLUSION:**

Sterling's vocabulary selection reveals system architecture:

- Built on accounting/reckoning foundations

- Organized by fitting/transgression geometry

- Grounded in direct perception epistemology

- Transforms chance into control through proper accounting

PIE roots show Sterling's system is not arbitrary terminology but deployment of fundamental semantic structures:

- Control metaphor: Accounting

- Value metaphor: Geometric ordering

- Knowledge metaphor: Direct vision

- Transformation: Chance → Rational mastery

**DEFINITIVE CLAIM:** Sterling's Core Stoicism systematically deploys PIE semantic foundations to construct philosophically precise framework. Root analysis reveals conceptual architecture at deepest level.

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