Stoic News

By Dave Kelly

Friday, December 12, 2025

Proto-Indo-European Roots Reveal Six Philosophical Commitments Directly

Proto-Indo-European Roots Reveal the Six Philosophical Commitments Directly


Substance dualism
Metaphysical libertarianism
Ethical intuitionism
Foundationalism
Correspondence theory of truth
Moral realism



SUBSTANCE DUALISM THROUGH PIE ROOTS


\*dwo- meant "two, dual." Reality divides fundamentally. Two kinds.

\*steh₂- meant "to stand." Substance is what stands by itself. Two things stand: body and mind. Both substances.


\*upo "under" + \*steh₂- "stand" gives substance. What stands underneath. Body stands underneath physical features. Mind stands underneath mental features. Two different standings.


\*bʰuH- meant "to be, grow, become." Physical being. What grows in space.


\*men- meant "to think, mind." Mental being. What thinks.


Different roots for different modes of being. Different substances.


\*gʰew- meant "to pour." Soul poured into body like water in a cup. What's poured isn't the vessel. Two substances.


\*s(w)e- meant "self, oneself." The reflexive. Points to the agent. Self = mind, not body.


\*welh₁- meant "to will, choose." The choosing substance. Bodies don't will. Minds will. The root identifies which substance you are.


\*h₂en-ti- meant "opposite, against." Body takes space, divides, others see. Mind takes no space, doesn't divide, private. Opposite properties mean different substances.


\*tḱei- meant "to settle, dwell." Mind dwells in body. Dwelling shows temporary residence, not identity. Dweller isn't dwelling.


The roots teach it. Two stands. Two beings. Mind poured into body. Self is the pourer. Will is mental. Opposite properties. Temporary dwelling.


Substance dualism is in the language itself.



METAPHYSICAL LIBERTARIANISM THROUGH PIE ROOTS


\*lewdʰ- meant "people, free." Greek ἐλεύθερος (eleutheros) "free," Latin liber "free." The root connects freedom with being fully human, not slave. Free = self-determining.


\*welh₁- meant "to wish, will, choose." Latin voluntas "will," English will. The choosing itself. Genuine selection, not compulsion.


\*h₂eg- meant "to drive, lead, act." Agent drives action from within. Not driven by external causes. Self-originating motion.


\*bʰewdʰ- meant "to wake, be aware." Conscious deliberation. Free choice requires awareness. The awake-root shows freedom needs consciousness, not mechanism.


\*per- meant "forward, through, first." Greek πρῶτος (protos) "first." The first mover. Libertarian will is first cause in its own causal chain. Originates, doesn't just transmit.


\*gene- meant "to beget, produce, give birth." Your choice begets action. Generates new causal chains. The birth-root shows will as productive origin, not passive link.


\*kel- meant "to drive, set in motion." Active, not passive. The will drives. It doesn't just respond. Self-moving, not merely moved.


\*wer- meant "to turn, bend." Related to "verse" (turning). You can turn choice differently. Could bend the other way. Real alternatives exist. The turning-root shows genuine options.


The roots teach it. Free = self-determining. Will = genuine choosing. Agent drives from within. Conscious, not mechanical. First mover. Begets action. Self-moving. Could turn otherwise.


Libertarian freedom is in the language itself.



ETHICAL INTUITIONISM THROUGH PIE ROOTS


\*weid- meant "to see, know." Greek εἶδον (eidon) "I saw" → οἶδα (oida) "I know." Knowledge as direct seeing. Not inference - immediate vision.


\*ǵneh₃- meant "to know, recognize." Greek γιγνώσκω (gignosko), Latin cognosco. Direct recognition. The mind grasps truth immediately.


\*men- meant "to think, mind, remember." Mental capacity for direct insight. The thinking-root shows mind can apprehend without deriving.


\*leuk- meant "light, brightness, to see clearly." Latin lux "light," Greek λευκός (leukos) "bright, clear." Moral truths shine clearly to rational mind. Self-evident, like light.


\*prek- meant "to ask, request, pray." But also "to discern, perceive clearly." The discerning-root. Some truths are perceived directly, not proven.


\*dhē- meant "to set, put, place." But also "to perceive, look at." Direct perception. Thesis comes from this - what is set before the mind to see.


\*swād- meant "sweet, pleasing." Related to "suave." The fitting-root. Good fits, pleases rational intuition. Mind recognizes fittingness directly.


\*ar- meant "to fit together properly." Greek ἁρμόζω (harmozo) "to fit, join." Virtue fits human nature. Mind sees the fit immediately. No derivation needed.


The roots teach it. Know = see directly. Recognize without proving. Mind grasps immediately. Moral truths shine clearly. Perceived, not derived. Set before the mind. Fittingness recognized. Direct vision.


Ethical intuitionism is in the language itself.



FOUNDATIONALISM THROUGH PIE ROOTS


\*bʰudʰ-men- meant "bottom, foundation, base." Greek πυθμήν (pythmen) "bottom," Latin fundus "foundation." The bottom-root. Knowledge needs a bottom to rest on.


\*steh₂- meant "to stand." Foundations stand firm. Don't shift. Knowledge built on what stands, not what moves.


\*dʰeh₁- meant "to set, put, place." Greek τίθημι (tithemi) "place, set." Foundations are placed first. Everything else built on them. The setting-root shows priority.


\*sed- meant "to sit, settle." Latin sedere "to sit." What settles down, secure and unmoving. Foundations settle. They don't float.


\*per- meant "forward, first, before." First principles. What comes before everything else. The first-root shows foundational priority.


\*rad- meant "root, branch, base." Latin radix "root." Knowledge grows from roots. Roots go down first, deepest, support everything above.


\*ǵenu- meant "knee, angle." Related to "foundation, base." The knee-root. What bends to support weight. Foundations bear the load.


\*ker- meant "hard, solid, firm." Foundation must be solid. Not soft, not shifting. The hardness-root shows security.


\*men- meant "to remain, stay, endure." Latin manere "to remain." Foundations remain. Don't change. The staying-root shows permanence.


\*wer- meant "true, trustworthy, firm." Latin verus "true." Foundations must be trustworthy. Secure truths, not doubted.


The roots teach it. Bottom supports. Stands firm. Placed first. Settled secure. First principles. Deep roots. Bears weight. Hard and solid. Remains unchanged. Trustworthy truth.


Foundationalism is in the language itself.



CORRESPONDENCE THEORY OF TRUTH THROUGH PIE ROOTS


\*wer- meant "true, trustworthy." Latin verus "true," German wahr. Truth is trustworthy because it matches reality. The true-root connects truth to reliability through correspondence.


\*h₁es- meant "to be, exist." Truth concerns what IS. Beliefs correspond to being, to reality as it stands.


\*ar- meant "to fit, join together." Greek ἁρμόζω (harmozo) "to fit." Truth = beliefs fitting reality. Proper alignment. The fitting-root shows correspondence as match.


\*h₂ent- meant "front, face, opposite." Greek ἀντί (anti) "facing, opposite." Truth faces reality. Doesn't turn away. Correspondence = facing facts directly.


\*med- meant "to measure." Greek μέτρον (metron) "measure." Truth measured against reality. Reality is the standard. The measuring-root shows reality as measure.


\*sekʷ- meant "to follow." Latin sequor "to follow." Truth follows reality. Doesn't lead it. Reality comes first, truth follows after. The following-root shows direction of correspondence.


\*bʰuH- meant "to be, become." What truly becomes, what actually is. Truth tracks being, becoming as it occurs.


\*weǵ- meant "to be strong, lively." Reality that stands firm. Truth corresponds to what stands, what is vigorous and real.


\*sker- meant "to cut, separate, distinguish." Truth cuts between what matches reality and what doesn't. The cutting-root shows truth separating by correspondence.


The roots teach it. True = matching what is. Fitting reality. Facing what exists. Measured against being. Follows what becomes. Tracks the real. Cuts by correspondence to fact.


Correspondence theory is in the language itself.



MORAL REALISM THROUGH PIE ROOTS


\END*h₁es- meant "to be, exist." Moral facts ARE. Have being. Exist independently. Not created by human mind. Objective existence.


\*h₁reǵ- meant "to straighten, direct, rule." Latin rectus "straight, right," Greek ὀρέγω (orego) "reach toward right." Right = objectively straight. Not bent by opinion. The straightness-root shows moral order in reality itself.


\*dʰeh₁- meant "to set, put, establish." Moral order established in nature of things. Not constructed by humans. Set there prior to us. The setting-root shows prior establishment.


\*med- meant "to measure, rule." Moral standard measures our actions. We don't make the measure. The measuring-root shows objective standard independent of us.


\*steh₂- meant "to stand." Moral truths stand firm. Don't shift with opinion or culture. Stand regardless of what anyone thinks.


\*ǵen- meant "to beget, produce, be born." Latin genus, Greek γένος (genos). Natural moral order. Born from nature of things. The birth-root shows natural origin, not human construction.


\*wer- meant "true, real." Moral truths are true facts about reality. Not preferences, not conventions. Real. The truth-root shows objectivity.


\*per- meant "first, before, prior." Moral facts prior to human opinion. First in order of being. The priority-root shows independence from human thought.


\*bʰuH- meant "to grow, become naturally." Moral order grows from nature. Natural law. The growing-root shows natural foundation.


\*men- meant "to project, stand out, tower." Moral facts project from reality. Stand out as features of the world. The projecting-root shows real existence.


The roots teach it. Moral facts ARE. Objectively straight. Established in reality. Measure us, we don't make measure. Stand firm. Born from nature. True facts. Prior to opinion. Natural order. Project from world.


Moral realism is in the language itself.



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