The Five-Step Method in Terms of Core Stoicism

The Five-Step Method in terms of Core Stoicism.

Step One: Impression

An impression appears in consciousness. By Th 7, desires are caused by beliefs (judgments) about good and evil. The impression does not arrive as neutral data but as formatted judgment. "I have been harmed" already contains the complete evaluative structure: harm is evil (judgment of value), harm has occurred (judgment of fact), therefore evil has occurred to me.

This is the origin point of desire. Before the desire to retaliate, before the desire to avoid, before any emotional response, the impression has already made its judgment about good and evil. By Th 7, this judgment will generate corresponding desire if assented to.

The impression carries implicit correspondence claims. It claims to match reality—both factual reality (an event occurred) and moral reality (the event was evil). By Th 10, only virtue is actually good and only vice is actually evil. But the impression claims an external event possesses evil quality.

The impression arrives with phenomenological authority. It does not present itself as "a claim that might be false." It presents itself as "what is the case." This is why automatic assent is the default. The impression seems to be reality itself, not a representation requiring verification.

Step Two: Recognition

Recognition separates what the impression conflates. It distinguishes three ontologically distinct things: the external event (words spoken, actions taken), the impression (mental representation making claims about that event), and prohairesis (the rational faculty to which the impression appears).

This separation operationalizes Th 6: the only things in our control are our beliefs and will. The external event is not in our control. But the impression is not the external event—it is a representation. And our response to that representation (assent or refusal) is entirely in our control.

Recognition reveals that the impression "I have been harmed" is already the judgment referenced in Th 7. It is not pre-judgmental experience awaiting evaluation. It has already judged that harm (evil) exists in the external event. Seeing this is seeing the judgment-structure that will generate desire if accepted.

By recognizing the impression as representation rather than reality, we create the logical space required for Th 12 to apply: things not in our control (externals) are never good or evil. The external event cannot be evil. Only the impression claims it is. Recognition separates the claim from what is claimed.

Step Three: Pause

The impression presses toward assent. By Th 7, if we judge something evil, we desire to avoid it. The impression "I am harmed" carries the judgment "evil has occurred," which will generate defensive or retaliatory desire if assented to.

The pause suspends this automatic movement. By Th 8, desires are in our control because desires are caused by judgments (Th 7) and judgments are in our control (Th 6). The pause is Th 8 becoming experientially real.

By Th 3, all unhappiness is caused by having a desire for some outcome and that outcome not resulting. By Th 4, if we desire something out of our control, we become subject to possible unhappiness. The pause interrupts the chain: impression → automatic assent → judgment of evil → desire for external outcome → vulnerability to unhappiness.

The pause demonstrates that assent is genuinely in our control. By Th 6, beliefs are in our control. But this remains abstract until the pause makes it concrete. The impression can arrive with force, the body can react automatically, but assent—the rational endorsement of the impression's claim—can be withheld.

This suspension is required for Th 2 to be achievable: if you want happiness, it would be irrational to accept incomplete happiness if you could get complete happiness. By Th 5, desiring things out of our control is irrational (if it is possible to control our desires). The pause is where we exercise that control, making complete happiness possible.

Step Four: Examination

The suspended impression now faces rational testing. By Th 10, the only thing actually good is virtue, the only thing actually evil is vice. The impression claims "I am harmed"—that evil has occurred to me through an external event.

Examination applies the foundational structure. By Th 11, since virtue and vice are types of acts of will, they are in our control. By Th 12, things not in our control (externals) are never good or evil. The insult, the dangerous driving, the disrespect—these are all external events. By Th 12, they cannot be evil.

The examination tests correspondence: Does the impression's claim match reality as defined by Th 10-12? The impression says: "External event X is evil (has harmed me)." Reality as structured by Stoic axioms says: "Only vice is evil, externals are indifferent." The claims do not match.

By Th 13, desiring things out of our control is irrational since it involves false judgment. Examination reveals the false judgment. The impression judges the external to be evil. This judgment is false by Th 10-12. Therefore assenting to it would be irrational by Th 13.

Examination implements Th 14: if we value only virtue, we will both judge truly and be immune to all unhappiness. The examination is the mechanism of true judgment—testing impressions against the standard of what is actually good and evil (virtue and vice alone).

By Th 25-26, some things are appropriate objects at which to aim though not genuinely good (life, health, respectful treatment). The examination distinguishes between appropriate preference (I prefer not to be insulted) and false value judgment (being insulted is evil). This distinction is essential to Th 28-29: virtue consists of pursuing appropriate objects without desiring external outcomes as genuinely good.

Step Five: Decision

Examination has revealed the impression is false. Now comes the choice: assent to truth or assent to falsehood. By Th 6, this choice is in our control. By Th 15, if we truly judge that virtue is good, we will desire it.

The decision to refuse false assent is itself virtuous. By Th 27, virtue consists of rational acts of will, vice of irrational acts of will. By Th 13, assenting to the claim that externals are evil is irrational. Therefore refusing this false claim is rational—which means virtuous.

By Th 28, any act that aims at an external object of desire is not virtuous, since all desires for externals are irrational. The decision refuses to desire the external outcome (being respected, not being cut off in traffic). By Th 29, virtue consists of pursuing appropriate objects without desiring the external outcomes themselves. We can prefer respectful treatment while not judging disrespect as evil.

The decision enacts Th 14: valuing only virtue. We choose correct judgment (virtue) over the emotional satisfaction of self-righteous anger (which requires judging the external as evil). This choice is entirely in our control (Th 6, Th 11).

By Th 16, if you desire something and achieve it, you will get a positive feeling. We desired virtue (correct judgment). The decision to refuse false assent and maintain true judgment achieves this virtue. By Th 17, if we correctly judge and correctly will, we will have appropriate positive feelings as a result.

By Th 3, all unhappiness is caused by desiring some outcome and that outcome not resulting. The decision refuses to desire the external outcome that did not occur (respectful treatment). We desired only virtue (true judgment), which we achieved. By Th 4-5, we have eliminated the possibility of unhappiness by not desiring what is out of our control.

The decision completes the proof of Th 2*: complete happiness is possible. The external event (insult, dangerous driving) occurred. We experienced no unhappiness because we valued only virtue (Th 14), which we achieved through correct judgment. Our happiness was uninterrupted by external circumstances because we desired nothing external.

The Complete Integration

The five steps implement the logical structure that proves complete, continual happiness is possible and in our control:

Impression reveals Th 7: desires come from judgments about good and evil, and impressions arrive as these judgments.

Recognition implements Th 6: separating what's in our control (judgment about the impression) from what's not (the external event).

Pause implements Th 8: demonstrating that desires are actually in our control because we can control the judgments that generate them.

Examination implements Th 10-14: testing impressions against the foundational truth that only virtue/vice are good/evil, exposing false judgments about externals.

Decision implements Th 14-17, 27-29: choosing to value only virtue, making rational acts of will, achieving desired virtue, experiencing appropriate positive feeling.

By Th 1, everyone wants happiness. By Th 2, it would be irrational to accept incomplete happiness if complete happiness is possible. The five steps prove and achieve Th 2*: complete happiness is possible. Through correct use of impressions—recognition, pause, examination, and decision—we guarantee continual uninterrupted happiness by judging correctly and valuing only what is actually good (virtue alone).

```