STOIC-RATIONAL-AGENCY The Six Commitments, the Five Steps, and Propositions Th6–14

 

STOIC-RATIONAL-AGENCY

The Six Commitments, the Five Steps, and Propositions Th6–14

STOIC-RATIONAL-AGENCY
The Six Commitments, the Five Steps, and Propositions Th6–14
│
├─ 1. CONTROL-DICHOTOMY (Th6–9)
│   ├─ In-Our-Control
│   │   ├─ beliefs-and-will-only (Th6)
│   │   ├─ desires-as-belief-entailments (Th7–8)
│   │   └─ assent-as-genuine-origination [C2: libertarian-free-will]
│   ├─ Not-In-Our-Control
│   │   ├─ all-externals-body-reputation-outcomes
│   │   ├─ independent-of-rational-faculty [C1: substance-dualism]
│   │   └─ never-genuine-good-or-evil (Th12)
│   └─ Irrationality-of-Misplaced-Desire (Th9–13)
│       ├─ desiring-externals-involves-false-judgment
│       ├─ false-because-corresponds-to-nothing-real [C5: correspondence]
│       └─ correctable-via-examination-of-impression
│
├─ 2. VALUE-THEORY (Th10–12)
│   ├─ Only-Virtue-Is-Good (Th10)
│   │   ├─ objective-moral-fact-not-preference [C6: moral-realism]
│   │   ├─ directly-apprehensible-by-rational-faculty [C3: ethical-intuitionism]
│   │   └─ foundation-of-entire-normative-structure [C4: foundationalism]
│   ├─ Only-Vice-Is-Evil (Th10)
│   │   ├─ symmetrical-with-virtue-claim
│   │   ├─ makes-false-value-impressions-objectively-false
│   │   └─ grounds-demand-for-correction
│   └─ Externals-As-Indifferents (Th12)
│       ├─ derived-from-Th10-via-foundational-dependency
│       ├─ not-good-not-evil-but-selectable (preferred-indifferents)
│       └─ reclassification-target-at-Five-Step-4
│
├─ 3. RECEPTION (Step-1)
│   ├─ Impression-Arrives
│   │   ├─ truth-claim-about-moral-reality [C6: moral-realism]
│   │   ├─ already-true-or-false-before-agent-acts [C5: correspondence]
│   │   └─ value-component-often-embedded-and-concealed
│   ├─ Moral-Realism-At-Work
│   │   ├─ Th10-as-pre-existing-fact-agent-did-not-set
│   │   ├─ impression-either-matches-or-fails-to-match
│   │   └─ removes-stimulus-only-model-of-impression
│   └─ Correspondence-At-Work
│       ├─ impression-as-testable-claim-not-mere-event
│       ├─ falsity-is-mismatch-with-reality-not-inconvenience
│       └─ examination-possible-because-standard-is-external
│
├─ 4. RECOGNITION-AND-PAUSE (Steps-2–3)
│   ├─ Recognition-Step-2
│   │   ├─ subject-pole-reasserts-itself [C1: substance-dualism]
│   │   ├─ impression-registered-as-claim-not-reality [C5: correspondence]
│   │   └─ three-way-separation-agent-impression-reality
│   ├─ Pause-Step-3
│   │   ├─ gap-between-impression-and-assent-held-open [C2: libertarian-free-will]
│   │   ├─ presentation-is-not-yet-assent [C1: substance-dualism]
│   │   └─ nominal-pause-failure-if-determination-already-run
│   └─ Th6-Foundation
│       ├─ beliefs-in-control-only-if-assent-genuinely-originates
│       ├─ determined-assent-dissolves-control-dichotomy
│       └─ real-pause-requires-real-libertarian-agency
│
├─ 5. EXAMINATION (Step-4)
│   ├─ Moral-Realism-Supplies-Target (Th10)
│   │   ├─ pre-existing-fact-not-agent-constructed-standard
│   │   ├─ virtue-only-good-tested-against-arriving-impression
│   │   └─ examination-is-discovery-not-construction
│   ├─ Foundationalism-Organizes-Test (Th10–13)
│   │   ├─ Th12-derived-from-Th10-traces-failure-to-source
│   │   ├─ Th13-derived-from-Th9-and-Th12-irrationality-located
│   │   └─ correction-foundational-not-case-by-case
│   └─ Ethical-Intuitionism-Provides-Access [C3]
│       ├─ Th10-directly-apprehended-not-inferred
│       ├─ rational-faculty-sees-moral-truth-without-inference-chain
│       └─ without-C3-examination-stalls-no-epistemic-authority
│
├─ 6. DECISION (Step-5)
│   ├─ Libertarian-Free-Will-Closes-Act [C2]
│   │   ├─ agent-genuinely-originates-withholding-of-assent
│   │   ├─ not-determined-output-of-prior-causes
│   │   └─ responsibility-and-formation-depend-on-this
│   ├─ Correspondence-Specifies-Achievement [C5]
│   │   ├─ withholding-assent-aligns-agent-with-moral-fact
│   │   ├─ truth-aligning-act-not-preference-selection
│   │   └─ test-at-examination-alignment-at-decision-distinct-moments
│   └─ Th14-Payoff
│       ├─ value-only-virtue-yields-true-judgment
│       ├─ true-judgment-yields-immunity-to-unhappiness
│       └─ eudaimonia-guaranteed-by-correct-assent-pattern
│
└─ 7. SYSTEMATIC-INTEGRATION
    ├─ Logical-Spine
    │   ├─ Th6-control-dichotomy-grounds-Th7-desires-as-beliefs
    │   ├─ Th8-desires-in-control-requires-Th10-only-virtue-good
    │   ├─ Th12-externals-indifferent-derived-from-Th10
    │   └─ Th14-eudaimonia-guaranteed-closes-the-chain
    ├─ Commitment-Distribution-Across-Steps
    │   ├─ C1-substance-dualism: Recognition-Pause
    │   ├─ C2-libertarian-free-will: Pause-Decision
    │   ├─ C3-ethical-intuitionism: Examination
    │   ├─ C4-foundationalism: Examination
    │   ├─ C5-correspondence: Reception-Recognition-Decision
    │   └─ C6-moral-realism: Reception-Examination
    └─ Failure-Modes
        ├─ remove-C1: no-self-external-boundary-dichotomy-dissolves
        ├─ remove-C2: pause-nominal-decision-predetermined
        ├─ remove-C3: examination-stalls-no-moral-epistemic-access
        ├─ remove-C4: no-systematic-correction-case-by-case-only
        ├─ remove-C5: falsity-loses-meaning-truth-subjective
        └─ remove-C6: Th10-becomes-preference-normative-force-gone

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Excerpt from "Core Stoicism"

Th 6) The only things in our control are our

beliefs and will, and anything entailed by our

beliefs and will.

Th 7) Desires are caused by beliefs (judgments)

about good and evil. [You desire what you judge

to be good, and desire to avoid what you judge to

be evil.]

8) Ergo, Desires are in our control.

9) By 5 and 8, desiring things out of our control

is irrational.

Th 10) The only thing actually good is virtue, the

only thing actually evil is vice.

11) Ergo, since virtue and vice are types of acts

of will, they are in our control.

12) Ergo, things that are not in our control [externals] are

never good or evil.

13) [cf 9, above] Desiring things out of our control is

irrational, since it involves false judgment.

14) Ergo, if we value only virtue, we will both judge truly

and be immune to all unhappiness.

Framework: Grant C. Sterling, Eastern Illinois University. Analysis and synthesis: Dave Kelly. Prose rendering: Claude (Anthropic), 2026.