The Two Disciplines: Theory and Practice in Core Stoicism

 

The Two Disciplines: Theory and Practice in Core Stoicism

The discipline of assent is the method by which the other two disciplines are practiced. Philosophy, as Hadot understood it, consists in the discipline of desire and the discipline of action — the two arenas in which Stoic training is actually lived.

Sterling provides the theoretical foundation for both. The discipline of desire rests on the theorem that if we value only virtue we will both judge truly and be immune to all unhappiness. The discipline of action rests on the theorem that virtue consists in the pursuit of appropriate objects of aim rather than the pursuit of the objects of our desires.

The practice Sterling prescribes follows directly: do not assent to impressions that depict externals as either good or evil; and if that first discipline fails, do not assent to the subsequent impressions that depict immoral responses to those apparent goods and evils as being appropriate.

Theory and practice are one continuous structure. The theorems specify what is true. The practice implements what the theorems require. The discipline of assent is the mechanism that connects them.