Does Stoic Ethics Depend on the Dichotomy of Internals and Externals?

ChatGPT:

Yes.
Stoic ethics depends on the dichotomy — structurally, logically, and functionally.
Without it, Stoic ethics cannot even be stated, let alone justified or practiced.

Below is the exact dependence structure.

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1. What “depends on” means here

It does not mean:

• The dichotomy is justified by ethics, or
• The dichotomy is valuable because of ethics.

It means:

Stoic ethical claims presuppose the dichotomy as a factual distinction about agency.

So the dependence is one-way:

Dichotomy (internals / externals)
        ↓
Moral realism about good and bad
        ↓
Virtue = correct use of internals
        ↓
Stoic ethics

Not the other way around.

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2. What collapses if the dichotomy is denied

If you remove the dichotomy:

• There is no principled way to distinguish responsibility from luck.
• There is no principled way to distinguish virtue from success.
• There is no principled way to distinguish moral error from misfortune.
• There is no principled way to ground freedom.

Then:

• “Virtue is the only good” becomes unintelligible.
• “Externals are indifferent” becomes arbitrary.
• Praise and blame lose their footing.
• Moral training becomes incoherent.

So Stoic ethics does not just use the dichotomy — it requires it.

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3. Why Epictetus starts with the dichotomy

This is not pedagogical coincidence.

Epictetus begins with the dichotomy because:

• Ethics needs a domain.
• Responsibility needs a boundary.
• Training needs a target.

The dichotomy supplies all three.

It tells you:

• Where moral work is possible,
• Where it is not,
• And therefore what ethics is about at all.

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4. Summary

Claim	Status
Stoic ethics presupposes the dichotomy	True
The dichotomy is justified by Stoic ethics	False
The dichotomy is optional or pragmatic	False
The dichotomy is metaphysically prior	True
The dichotomy defines the scope of ethics	True

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Final answer

Yes — Stoic ethics depends on the dichotomy of internals and externals.
It is the condition of possibility for Stoic moral responsibility, value, freedom, and practice.

Remove the dichotomy, and Stoic ethics has no object.