Sterling's Core Stoicism: The Six Philosophical Commitments
Introduction
Grant C. Sterling's Stoicism rests on six philosophical commitments that replace classical Stoic metaphysics while preserving and grounding authentic Stoic ethical practice. These commitments form a coherent philosophical system that makes Stoic ethics defensible on modern philosophical grounds. Each commitment is essential - remove any one and the system becomes incoherent or collapses into something other than Stoicism.
The six commitments are:
- Substance Dualism
- Metaphysical Libertarianism
- Ethical Intuitionism
- Foundationalism
- Correspondence Theory of Truth
- Moral Realism
1. Substance Dualism
The Commitment
Substance dualism holds that mind and matter are distinct kinds of substances. The rational soul (mind, consciousness, will) is metaphysically separate from the physical body and external world.
Foundation for Stoic Practice
Sterling explicitly grounds Stoic practice in substance dualism: "I am my soul/prohairesis/inner self" and "Everything else, including my body, is an external."
This metaphysical distinction is absolutely foundational to Stoic ethics because:
It grounds the internal/external distinction. The entire Stoic system depends on the claim that "only things directly related to virtue (beliefs, desires, will) are in our control" while "all things not in our control ('externals') are neither good nor evil." Without substance dualism, this distinction has no metaphysical basis - it becomes arbitrary where we draw the line between self and world.
It defines personal identity. Sterling states: "My identity is defined as the rational part of me, the part that chooses." If we are not fundamentally distinct from our bodies and the physical world, then the Stoic claim that only internal things can be good or bad for us makes no sense. Physical health, bodily pleasure and pain, external events - all would be equally constitutive of who we are.
It makes the practice coherent. When Sterling says "I receive impressions" and "what is in our control is how we react to them," this requires a metaphysical distinction between the rational choosing self and everything else (including the impression-receiving apparatus). The practice of assenting or withholding assent requires a self that stands in some sense apart from the stream of impressions.
Textual Support
From the Sterling texts:
"My identity is defined as the rational part of me, the part that chooses. Therefore, only things that this part of me does can really be good or bad for me. Anything external to my will cannot be good or evil."
"Everything else, including my body, is an external."
This isn't incidental - it's the metaphysical foundation that makes Stoic practice possible.
2. Metaphysical Libertarianism
The Commitment
Metaphysical libertarianism holds that human beings possess genuine free will - the capacity to make choices that are not determined by prior causes. When we choose, we could genuinely have chosen otherwise.
Foundation for Stoic Practice
Sterling's entire system pivots on libertarian free will. The core Stoic practice is described as: "Choosing whether or not to assent to impressions is the only thing in our control...and yet, everything critical to leading the best possible life is contained in that one act."
This requires libertarianism because:
Control requires genuine alternatives. If our assents are deterministically caused by prior mental states, brain events, or external factors, then the claim that "judgment is in our control" becomes hollow. Sterling states: "we can actually guarantee [eudaimonia] by simply judging correctly." This guarantee only makes sense if we have genuine libertarian power over our judgments.
Moral responsibility requires libertarian agency. The entire framework assumes we are responsible for our assents: "If I get my assents right, then I have guaranteed eudaimonia. If I get one wrong, I cannot have eudaimonia." This responsibility only makes sense if we could truly have assented differently. Compatibilist "control" (doing what you want when what you want is determined) wouldn't ground this kind of responsibility.
The internal/external distinction requires it. Sterling distinguishes what is "in our control" from externals. But on determinism, nothing is ultimately in our control in the libertarian sense - our choices are just as much part of the causal chain as external events. The bright line Sterling draws only works with libertarian free will.
Textual Support
"Choosing whether or not to assent to impressions is the only thing in our control."
"I control my beliefs, and so by disciplining myself to stop thinking of externals as being good or evil, I will be able to become morally better and have more joy in life."
"Judgment is in our control. Hence, not only is perfect continual happiness possible, it is actually in our control--we can actually guarantee it by simply judging correctly."
The emphasis on genuine control, discipline, and guarantee requires libertarian agency.
3. Ethical Intuitionism
The Commitment
Ethical intuitionism holds that we have direct rational access to moral truths. We can know what is good, right, appropriate, or virtuous through rational intuition or insight, not merely through inference from non-moral facts.
Foundation for Stoic Practice
Sterling's system requires that we can rationally discern what is appropriate (kathēkon):
Rational selection of ends. "Choose objectively correct, rational ends." But how do we know what ends are "objectively correct"? Sterling assumes we can rationally discern this - that some ends are "appropriate objects at which to aim" even though they're not good in themselves. This requires ethical intuition.
Recognition of virtue. "Virtue consists of rational acts of will, vice of irrational acts of will." But we must be able to recognize what counts as rational vs. irrational. The text assumes this is accessible through proper use of reason - an intuitionistic claim.
Appropriateness judgments. In the lunch example, Sterling evaluates: "Given these considerations, I think it was correct...rational...appropriate of me to agree to accompany him." This judgment isn't derived from factual premises alone - it's a direct rational assessment of what's appropriate given the circumstances.
The practice itself. Making correct use of impressions requires being able to discern which impressions accurately represent value. "This belief is factually false" regarding externals having value. But we need rational access to this moral fact to judge correctly.
Textual Support
"Identify rational goals to pursue."
"Choose objectively correct, rational ends."
"My choice to agree to go was based on several considerations...Given these considerations, I think it was correct...rational...appropriate."
"Any act that aims at an [external] object of desire is not virtuous, since all desires [for externals] are irrational."
Sterling assumes throughout that rationality can directly grasp what is appropriate, virtuous, correct.
4. Foundationalism
The Commitment
Foundationalism holds that knowledge has a hierarchical structure, with basic beliefs that are self-evident or immediately justified serving as the foundation for all other knowledge.
Foundation for Stoic Practice
Sterling's entire presentation is explicitly foundationalist. The system is built from secure foundational truths:
Basic metaphysical truths. "I am my soul/prohairesis/inner self" and "Everything else, including my body, is an external." These aren't derived - they're presented as foundational truths about what we are.
Basic value truths. "Only virtue is good and only vice is evil" and "All things not in our control ('externals') are neither good nor evil." These are presented as foundational value facts from which everything else follows.
Logical structure. The "Representation of Stoicism in Propositional Logic Form" (Section 9) makes the foundationalist structure explicit. The system begins with numbered theorems (foundations) and derives conclusions through logical inference.
Certainty and guarantee. Sterling claims we can "guarantee" eudaimonia through correct judgment. This certainty requires a foundationalist structure - if our basic principles were merely probable or subject to perpetual revision, no such guarantee would be possible.
Textual Support
The clearest evidence is Section 9's logical structure:
"Section One: Identity
Th 1) I am defined by my rational will, my choice, my assent.
2) Ergo, only what is related to my rational will is properly me, properly mine.
Th 3) Things not properly mine are therefore externals."
This proceeds from foundational theorems (Th) to derived conclusions (numbered without Th). Each section builds systematically on secure foundations.
"Hence, not only is perfect continual happiness possible, it is actually in our control--we can actually guarantee it by simply judging correctly."
The language of guarantee and certainty reflects foundationalist confidence in the system's basic principles.
5. Correspondence Theory of Truth
The Commitment
The correspondence theory of truth holds that a belief or statement is true when it corresponds to objective reality - when it accurately represents how things actually are in the world.
Foundation for Stoic Practice
Sterling's entire account of impressions and assent requires correspondence theory:
Impressions as propositional. "Those impressions are cognitive, propositional--they are not uninterpreted raw data, but rather ideas that claim that the world is a certain way." Impressions make claims about reality that can be true or false.
Assent as truth-judgment. "We can accept that a given impression is true, or reject it as unproven or false." The practice of assenting is fundamentally about judging whether the impression corresponds to reality.
Correct vs. incorrect assent. "If I get my assents right, then I have guaranteed eudaimonia. If I get one wrong, I cannot have eudaimonia." Getting assent "right" means assenting when and only when the impression truly corresponds to how things are.
Value claims have truth-values. "This belief is factually false. (Note that this is not a psychological claim--it is a value claim.)" Even value beliefs can be objectively true or false - they either correspond to value facts or they don't.
Coherence requires correspondence. Without correspondence theory, "correct use of impressions" becomes meaningless. Correct according to what standard? Pragmatic usefulness? Social consensus? Sterling's system requires an objective standard: correspondence to reality, including value reality.
Textual Support
"Those impressions are cognitive, propositional--they are not uninterpreted raw data, but rather ideas that claim that the world is a certain way."
"We can accept that a given impression is true, or reject it as unproven or false."
"All beliefs that externals have value are, hence, false."
"This belief is factually false. (Note that this is not a psychological claim--it is a value claim.)"
Sterling consistently treats beliefs - including value beliefs - as having objective truth-values based on correspondence to reality.
6. Moral Realism
The Commitment
Moral realism holds that there are objective moral facts that exist independently of human beliefs, attitudes, or conventions. Moral truths are discovered, not invented.
Foundation for Stoic Practice
Moral realism is absolutely essential to Sterling's Stoicism - without it, the entire system becomes subjective preference:
Objective value facts. "Only virtue is good and only vice is evil" is presented not as a preference or decision, but as an objective fact about value. "No externals are ever good or evil" - this isn't "we shouldn't value externals" but "externals objectively lack value."
False value beliefs. "All beliefs that externals have value are, hence, false." This only makes sense if there are objective value facts that beliefs can fail to correspond to. Without moral realism, calling a value belief "false" is incoherent - it would just be a different preference.
Rational vs. irrational. Sterling repeatedly distinguishes rational from irrational choices, appropriate from inappropriate ends. These aren't merely conventional or preferential distinctions - they're objective. "Choose objectively correct, rational ends."
Eudaimonia as objective. "Eudaimonia consists in both complete psychological contentment and complete moral perfection." This isn't defined by individual preference - it's an objective state of affairs, the proper human good.
The system collapses without it. If there are no objective moral facts, then the entire Stoic project reduces to: "If you happen to prefer X, then do Y." But Sterling presents it as: "These are the objective facts about value and human nature; therefore, this is how you ought to live."
Textual Support
"Only virtue is good and only vice is evil."
"All things not in our control ('externals') are neither good nor evil."
"All beliefs that externals have value are, hence, false."
"This belief is factually false. (Note that this is not a psychological claim--it is a value claim.)"
"Choose objectively correct, rational ends."
The language throughout treats value as objective fact, not subjective preference.
The Systematic Integration
These six commitments form a coherent whole that makes Sterling's Stoicism possible:
Substance Dualism establishes what we are (rational souls) and grounds the internal/external distinction.
Metaphysical Libertarianism gives us genuine control over assent, making us responsible for our judgments.
Moral Realism establishes objective value facts that our judgments can get right or wrong.
Correspondence Theory of Truth defines what "getting it right" means - accurately representing reality, including value reality.
Ethical Intuitionism explains how we access those moral facts - through rational insight.
Foundationalism provides the structure - secure basic principles from which the system is built.
Remove any one of these commitments and the system fails:
- Without dualism: no principled internal/external distinction
- Without libertarianism: no genuine control, no meaningful responsibility
- Without moral realism: no objective facts to get right or wrong
- Without correspondence theory: no standard for correct assent
- Without intuitionism: no access to moral facts
- Without foundationalism: no secure basis for the system's certainty
This is why Sterling needed to replace classical Stoic metaphysics. The ancient Stoics' materialist monism, determinism, and cosmic theology are philosophically untenable. But Stoic ethics requires certain metaphysical foundations. Sterling's six commitments provide those foundations on modern philosophical terms.
The result is a Stoicism grounded in human nature and rational capacity, free of cosmological commitments, but preserving the essential structure of Stoic practice: making correct use of impressions to achieve eudaimonia through virtue.
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