A Multiple-Choice Test on the Six Commitments

 

A Multiple-Choice Test on the Six Commitments

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

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Instructions: One correct answer per item.

1.

Which commitment holds that the rational faculty is a substance distinct from the body?

A. Ethical Intuitionism
B. Substance Dualism
C. Foundationalism
D. Moral Realism

2.

Substance Dualism is load-bearing for which element of the dichotomy of control?

A. The claim that externals are indifferent
B. The principled boundary between self and external
C. The immediacy of moral perception
D. The correspondence of impressions to reality

3.

Libertarian Free Will denies that assent is:

A. Voluntary
B. Determined by prior causes
C. Correctable through examination
D. Involved in Step 5 of the Five-Step Method

4.

Without Libertarian Free Will, Stoic practice becomes:

A. More rigorous
B. Descriptive of a determined process rather than transformative training
C. Identical to Epicureanism
D. Unaffected, since practice does not depend on genuine choice

5.

Ethical Intuitionism claims that foundational moral truths are known:

A. Through empirical investigation
B. By inference from prior premises
C. Directly and non-inferentially
D. Only after extensive philosophical training

6.

Which theorem does Sterling identify as directly apprehended rather than derived?

A. Th 6 (“The only things in our control…”)
B. Th 8 (“Desires are in our control”)
C. Th 10 (“Only virtue is good, only vice is evil”)
D. Th 14 (valuing only virtue produces happiness)

7.

Foundationalism is necessary to avoid which problem in the examination step?

A. Infinite regress or circularity in justifying the standard
B. The impossibility of genuine choice
C. The subjectivity of moral preference
D. The separation of self from body

8.

Correspondence Theory of Truth holds that an impression is true when it:

A. Feels psychologically useful
B. Matches reality
C. Coheres with the agent’s other beliefs
D. Is endorsed by cultural consensus

9.

Without Correspondence Theory, the question “is this impression accurate?” collapses into:

A. “Is this impression foundational?”
B. “Is this impression useful?”
C. “Is this impression free?”
D. “Is this impression dualist?”

10.

Moral Realism holds that moral facts:

A. Exist independently of anyone’s beliefs about them
B. Are constituted by cultural consensus
C. Are grounded in psychological utility
D. Depend on libertarian free will for their existence

11.

Without Moral Realism, “only virtue is good” reduces to:

A. An empirical hypothesis
B. A statement of preference
C. A theorem of formal logic
D. A claim about substance dualism

12.

In the Five-Step Method, which two commitments jointly ground Step 1 (Reception)?

A. Libertarian Free Will and Moral Realism
B. Substance Dualism and Correspondence Theory
C. Foundationalism and Ethical Intuitionism
D. Moral Realism and Foundationalism

13.

Which two commitments jointly ground Step 4 (Examination), providing both the standard tested against and the objective facts to be matched?

A. Substance Dualism and Libertarian Free Will
B. Foundationalism and Moral Realism
C. Correspondence Theory and Ethical Intuitionism
D. Ethical Intuitionism and Substance Dualism

14.

According to Sterling, removing which single commitment causes Step 4 to “stall without epistemic access to moral reality”?

A. Substance Dualism
B. Ethical Intuitionism
C. Correspondence Theory
D. Libertarian Free Will

15.

All six commitments are asserted to be:

A. Independently optional, with practice surviving on any subset
B. Jointly necessary, with none optional
C. Reducible to Substance Dualism alone
D. A modern addition unrelated to Epictetus’s actual arguments

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Answer Key

1–B, 2–B, 3–B, 4–B, 5–C, 6–C, 7–A, 8–B, 9–B, 10–A, 11–B, 12–B, 13–B, 14–B, 15–B

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