DCI Run — “The Unity of the Stoic System” (Anonymous Survey, Argument 7) — Version 1.0

 

DCI Run — “The Unity of the Stoic System” (Anonymous Survey, Argument 7) — Version 1.0

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

Instrument: The Dependence Contest Instrument (DCI) v0.1. Instrument architecture: Dave Kelly.

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Key

• K1–K4: the DCI’s own premises (Section I of the instrument).
• Df1–Df4: the DCI’s definitions: dependence in argument, logical dependence, connection, and the three domains.
• P1–P3, C: the argument under test, set out as premises and conclusion.

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Step 0 — Activation

Source. An anonymous survey, “The Main Arguments That Stoic Ethics Depend on Stoic Physics,” supplied by Dave Kelly on 26 October 2026.

The argument, as the survey states it. “Stoic ethics cannot be separated from Stoic physics without distorting the philosophical system of which it is a part.” Its steps: “Stoic ethics presupposes an account of human nature, rationality, causation, and the good. Stoic physics provides the metaphysical framework for those concepts. Removing that framework changes the interpretation and justification of ethical doctrines. Therefore, Stoic ethics cannot be fully understood as an isolated body of teachings.”

Corpus opened. The Melding Question — Sterling on Stoic Ethics and Other Systems; Sterling, “Physics, Logic, and Ethics,” International Stoic Forum, 2 March 2022. The survey’s attribution to White is unchecked; the verdict does not rest on it.

Self-audit: the argument is quoted from its source. Passed.

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Step 1 — Reconstruction

• P1. Stoic ethics presupposes an account of human nature, rationality, causation and the good. (metaphysical, broad)
• P2. Stoic physics provides the framework for those concepts. (physical, specific)
• P3. Removing that framework changes the interpretation and justification of the ethical doctrines. (claimed consequence)
• C. Stoic ethics cannot be fully understood as an isolated body of teaching.

The survey itself says the argument “establishes systematic integration more readily than strict logical dependence.” Charity reads it at its strongest: P2 as the specific Stoic physics, P3 as a loss of justification. No HALT.

Self-audit: these are the survey’s own steps. Passed.

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Step 2 — Target

The justification of the ethics as a whole. Domain: all three (Df4).

Self-audit: this is the claim the argument needs. Passed.

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Step 3 — Step Test

P2 is a step. It carries the argument from “some metaphysics” (P1) to “Stoic physics” (C). Dependence in argument (Df1).

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Step 4 — Removal Test

Remove P2. Is there a corpus route without the specific Stoic physics?

• Route 1, P1 is granted, and it is broad. The Melding Question: “Stoic ethics, like every ethical theory, is based on metaphysics in the broad sense, and it is.” So K4: some physics is needed, “but I see no reason why the Physics and the Logic have to look anything even remotely like ancient Stoic Physics and Logic.”
• Route 2, the framework is replaceable. The Melding Question: Sterling “does not see that it is, or needs to be, grounded in metaphysics in the robust sense. It can be mixed with a variety of theologies and metaphysical conceptions with little alteration.” The limit is consistency: not Ayer, not Bentham.
• Route 3, connection is not dependence. The Melding Question, on Sterling’s aside about Russell: “a connection is not a dependency.”

A route exists. Verdict: Dependence in argument only.

Self-audit: each route is cited from an opened document. Passed.

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Step 5 — Domain Check

The target spans all three domains. Only positive happiness has a corpus grant (K2), and that grant is to providence, not to the system’s unity. Nothing further is granted.

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Step 6 — Report

Verdict: P2, the specific Stoic physics — Dependence in argument only. C in its weak sense, that the ethics is not an isolated body of teaching — Broad physics only, granted (K4). Sterling agrees the ethics is not isolated, and rejects the idea that each philosophical problem must stand alone.

Route: broad metaphysics granted, robust grounding not needed (The Melding Question; K4); “a connection is not a dependency.”

What this run does not claim: White’s position; how the ancient school understood the unity of its parts.

Ratified by the operator, 26 October 2026.

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Version Note

Version 1.0.

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