Sterling's Core Stoicism: A Simplified Account

 

Sterling's Core Stoicism: A Simplified Account

The following is a simplified account of the philosophical system developed by Grant C. Sterling and the practical methodology that flows from it. It draws together the work of Michael Tremblay on Epictetan moral psychology, the taxonomy of externals, and the systematic dogmata required for the examination of impressions.

The Core Idea

Sterling's Core Stoicism takes Epictetus's practical system — the examination of impressions, the dichotomy of control, the primacy of virtue — and grounds it in six philosophical commitments that replace Stoic physics without requiring theology. The Stoic physical framework, with its providential Logos and cosmic determinism, is set aside as philosophically problematic. What remains is Epictetus's ethics and practice, re-grounded in commitments that are more defensible and that do the same philosophical work. Providence is optional. The system stands on its own merits. A theist can add Providence on top. A non-theist has a fully coherent Stoicism without it.

The Six Commitments and What They Do

Substance dualism preserves the reality of the self doing the examining. There is a genuine rational faculty — the hegemonikon — distinct from the body and its automatic reactions. Without a real self there is no examination, only mechanism.

Libertarian free will preserves the genuine agency of the pause. Assent is really up to the practitioner in a strong sense — not merely the inevitable output of prior causes operating through him. Without genuine agency the entire Stoic practical program is incoherent.

Moral realism guarantees that what the examination tests against is objectively real. Virtue really is the only good. Externals really are indifferent. These are facts about moral reality, not preferences or conventions.

Ethical intuitionism explains how the result of the examination is perceived directly rather than reasoned toward discursively. The trained practitioner sees immediately whether an impression corresponds to moral reality — the way the eye sees that black is not white — without needing to construct an argument on the spot.

Foundationalism provides the pre-settled beliefs the examination draws on. The practitioner does not begin from scratch with each impression. He brings already-settled dogmata to the examination. Without foundationalism the examination generates an infinite regress.

Correspondence theory of truth specifies what a successful examination means. The judgment either accurately represents moral reality or it does not. This is the correspondence audit — the structure Sterling built the Sterling Logic Engine around.

The Examination Step by Step

An impression arrives. Substance dualism and libertarian free will make the pause a genuine act of a real agent — not a mechanical delay but a genuine withholding of assent. Inside the pause, foundationalism supplies the pre-settled dogmata that do not need to be derived under pressure. Moral realism guarantees those dogmata reflect objective reality rather than personal preference. Correspondence theory frames the test: does this impression accurately represent moral reality? Ethical intuitionism delivers the verdict directly — the trained moral perception apprehends immediately whether the impression passes or fails. Assent or refusal follows.

Why Training Is Required

Michael Tremblay's scholarship on Epictetus establishes that there are two failure modes that prevent the examination from functioning as intended.

Precipitancy is failure before the examination begins — the agent does not pause and does not invoke his dogmata. He assents unreflectively to how the situation appears. The cure is the pause itself, cultivated through training until it becomes habitual.

Weakness is failure during the examination — the agent pauses, correctly derives the right conclusion from his dogmata, and then vomits the conclusion because the dogmata have not been sufficiently digested. The precept is present but not fully his own. Under the pressure of a vivid impression he rejects the correct conclusion rather than the false belief.

Digestion is the process that closes the gap. It consists of working general principles through every particular object in the practitioner's life until no contradictory belief remains and the principle governs assent reliably without effort. Theory supplies the principle. Training works it through the particulars. Only when a principle has been fully digested can it hold under pressure.

The Dogmata Themselves

Everything external to the prohairesis falls into five categories. SOMA covers the body in all its states. KTĒMATA covers possessions and material things. ALLOI covers other people — their existence, actions, choices, and welfare. DOXA covers reputation and social standing. SYMBAINONTA covers events and outcomes of all kinds.

For each category the practitioner needs three levels of dogma. The general dogma covers the entire category: my body is neither good nor evil, my possessions are neither good nor evil, the actions and welfare of others are neither good nor evil, my reputation is neither good nor evil, all events and outcomes are neither good nor evil. The situation-specific dogma formulates the principle for each item within the category: death is neither good nor evil, this illness is neither good nor evil, this betrayal is neither good nor evil. The role-specific action dogma specifies what correct action looks like given the practitioner's particular roles: as father I should care for my children's welfare as a preferred indifferent without treating their suffering as evil to my prohairesis.

All three levels must be digested — worked through the specific particulars of the practitioner's actual life — before the examination can function reliably.

The Whole System in One Sentence

A real self with genuine agency pauses before a real impression, applies pre-settled and digested beliefs about objective moral reality, perceives directly whether the impression corresponds to that reality, and assents or refuses accordingly.

That is Core Stoicism. Epictetus built it. Sterling grounded it philosophically. Tremblay confirmed its epistemological structure. The taxonomy organizes the objects it must address. The dogmata give it specific content. The training makes it operative.