The Complete Integrated System

Sterling's Core Stoicism + Six Commitments + Enchiridion 1-5 + Five Steps

I. The Four Components

What We're Integrating:

Sterling's Core Stoicism - Causal mechanism (theorems)
Sterling's Six Commitments - Metaphysical foundations
Enchiridion Chapters 1-5 - Epictetus's foundational teaching
Epictetus' Five Steps - Practice method

Goal: Seamless integration for real-time use

II. Enchiridion Chapters 1-5: Core Content

Chapter 1: The Fundamental Distinction

"Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions."

Core Teaching:

In our control (eph' hēmin): Judgments, desires, aversions, our actions
Not in our control: Body, externals, outcomes, others' actions
The fundamental distinction upon which everything rests

Sterling's Core Stoicism Connection:

Th 6: "Only beliefs and will are in our control"
Epictetus Chapter 1 = Foundation for Th 6

Six Commitments Connection:

Dualism: Required for in/out distinction (prohairesis ≠ body/world)
Freedom: "In our control" requires libertarian freedom

Chapter 2: Desire and Aversion Properly Directed

"Remember that following desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion promises the avoiding that to which you are averse. However, he who fails to obtain the object of his desire is disappointed, and he who incurs the object of his aversion is wretched. If, then, you confine your aversion to those objects only which are contrary to the natural use of your faculties, which you have in your own control, you will never incur anything to which you are averse. But if you are averse to sickness, or death, or poverty, you will be wretched."

Core Teaching:

Desire only what's in your control (virtue)
Avoid only what's in your control (vice)
Never desire/avoid externals (sets up failure/wretchedness)

Sterling's Core Stoicism Connection:

Th 7: "Desires are caused by beliefs about good and evil"
Th 3: "All unhappiness from having desire + frustration"
Th 10: "Only virtue is good, only vice is evil"
Epictetus Chapter 2 = Practical application of Th 3, 7, 10

The Causal Chain:

Desire external → External doesn't comply → Disappointment (Th 3)
Averse to external → External occurs → Wretchedness (Th 3)
Solution: Desire only virtue → Always achievable → No disappointment

Chapter 3: Everything Has a Price

"With regard to whatever objects give you delight, are useful, or are deeply loved, remember to tell yourself of what general nature they are, beginning from the most insignificant things. If, for example, you are fond of a specific ceramic cup, remind yourself that it is only ceramic cups in general of which you are fond. Then, if it breaks, you will not be disturbed. If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be disturbed if either of them dies."

Core Teaching:

Everything external is fragile (can be lost)
Remind yourself constantly of nature of things
"Only a human" = external, mortal, not in my control
Preparation prevents pathē when loss occurs

Sterling's Core Stoicism Connection:

Th 12: "Things not in our control are never good or evil"
Externals = indifferent (even beloved ones)
Don't treat as genuinely good (though preferred)
Loss of indifferent ≠ loss of good (no real harm)

The Practice:

See thing/person → Remind: "This is external, can be lost"
→ Enjoy appropriately (preferred indifferent)
→ Don't treat as genuinely good
→ If lost: Not devastated (was always indifferent)

Chapter 4: About to Act - Remind Yourself

"When you are going about any action, remind yourself what nature the action is. If you are going to bathe, picture to yourself the things which usually happen in the bath: some people splash the water, some push, some use abusive language, and others steal. Thus you will more safely go about this action if you say to yourself, 'I will now go bathe, and keep my own mind in a state conformable to nature.' And so with regard to every other action. For thus, if any hindrance arises in bathing, you will have it ready to say, 'It was not only to bathe that I desired, but to keep my mind in a state conformable to nature; and I will not keep it if I am bothered at things that happen.'"

Core Teaching:

Before acting: Rehearse what might happen
Expect obstacles (people will be difficult, things will go wrong)
Real goal: Maintain virtue (not achieve external outcome)
When obstacle occurs: "I expected this, virtue maintained"

Sterling's Core Stoicism Connection:

Distinguish: Internal goal (virtue) vs. External goal (outcome)
External outcome: Not guaranteed (not in control)
Internal virtue: Guaranteed (in control)
Success = virtue maintained (regardless of outcome)

The Practice:

Before action:

Identify external goal ("bathe")
Identify internal goal ("maintain virtue")
Rehearse obstacles ("people will splash, push, steal")
Commit to internal goal (virtue regardless of obstacles)

During action:

Obstacle occurs: "Expected this"
Maintain virtue: "Real goal achieved"
External fails: "Doesn't matter, virtue maintained"

Chapter 5: Disturbed by Things or Judgments?

"Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death that it is terrible. When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed will place blame neither on others nor on himself."

Core Teaching:

NOT things that disturb, but judgments about things
Death not terrible (Socrates proved this)
Our judgment "death is terrible" = the problem
Blame progression: Others → Self → No one (perfectly instructed)

Sterling's Core Stoicism Connection:

Th 7: "Desires are caused by beliefs about good and evil"
THE CRANKSHAFT: Judgment → Desire/Aversion → Emotion
Change judgment → Change emotion
This is THE KEY MECHANISM

Five Steps Connection:

This is WHY we examine impressions
Impressions contain judgments
Judgments cause emotions
Examine and correct judgment → Emotion changes

The Causal Analysis:

Wrong:

EVENT: Death approaches
IMPRESSION: "Death is terrible" (judgment)
ASSENT: Accept this judgment
RESULT: Terror (pathē)

Right:

EVENT: Death approaches
IMPRESSION: "Death is terrible" (judgment)
EXAMINATION: "Is death evil? No, external = indifferent"
REFUSE: Don't assent to false judgment
RESULT: No terror (equanimity)

III. The Five Steps Practice Method

Overview

Epictetus tells his students: "Stop! Let me have a moment. Let me see who you are and what you bring with you."

This operationalizes into five distinct cognitive steps:

Step 1: RECEPTION

What happens: Impression arrives (containing propositional judgment)

Enchiridion support:

Ch 5: Impression contains judgment about good/evil
Notice: Impression claims something about reality
Not yet: Assent or refuse
Just: Awareness of mental event

What's required: Dualism (separate receiver for impressions)

Step 2: RECOGNITION

What happens: Distinguish three things:

Event (external, not in my control)
Impression (judgment about event)
Me (prohairesis, can assent or refuse)

Enchiridion support:

Ch 1: Internal/external distinction
Ch 5: Thing vs. judgment about thing
Must see: These three are separate

What's required: Dualism + Correspondence (three distinct things exist)

Step 3: PAUSE

What happens: Suspend assent - create space between impression and response

Epictetus quote: "Stop! Let me have a moment. Let me see who you are and what you bring with you."

Enchiridion support:

Ch 4: Rehearsal creates prepared pause
Ch 5: Space to examine judgment
Odysseus: "Endure, my heart. You have endured worse than this before."

What's required: Libertarian Freedom + Dualism (real power to suspend)

Step 4: EXAMINATION

What happens: Test impression against Enchiridion 1-5 criteria

The Five Tests:

Ch 1 Test: Is this internal or external? (In my control or not?)
Ch 2 Test: Is this virtue, vice, or indifferent?
Ch 3 Test: Is this fragile/losable? (External = can lose)
Ch 4 Test: Can I maintain virtue regardless of outcome?
Ch 5 Test: Is my judgment causing disturbance? (Not the thing itself)

What's required: ALL SIX COMMITMENTS

Foundationalism: Axioms to test against (no infinite regress)
Moral Realism: Objective good/evil to test against
Correspondence: Can impression match reality?
Intuitionism: Direct grasp of categories (internal/external)
Dualism: Examiner separate from examined
Freedom: Could discover true OR false (not predetermined)

Step 5: DECISION

What happens: Assent, refuse assent, or suspend judgment

Three options:

Assent: If examination shows impression is true
Refuse: If examination shows impression contains false judgment
Suspend: If examination is inconclusive (need more information)

Enchiridion support:

All five chapters: Decision based on examination results
Ch 2: Refuse desires/aversions for externals
Ch 5: Refuse false judgments about things

What's required: Libertarian Freedom (real choice between alternatives)

IV. Sterling's Six Philosophical Commitments

Why These Commitments Are Required

The Five Steps method requires specific metaphysical commitments to work. Without them, the steps collapse.

1. DUALISM

Claim: Prohairesis (rational faculty) is ontologically separate from body and external world

Required for:

Step 1 (Reception): Separate receiver for impressions
Step 2 (Recognition): Distinguish impression from event
Step 3 (Pause): Observer separate from observed
Step 4 (Examination): Examiner not identical to examined

Without it: Brain examining brain states (circular), no separate receiver, can't distinguish three things

2. LIBERTARIAN FREEDOM

Claim: Agents have real power to choose otherwise (not determined by prior causes)

Required for:

Step 3 (Pause): Real suspension (not just predetermined delay)
Step 4 (Examination): Could discover true OR false (not predetermined outcome)
Step 5 (Decision): Genuine choice (not experiencing predetermined result)

Without it: "Pause" is neural delay, examination is theater, decision is illusion

3. CORRESPONDENCE THEORY OF TRUTH

Claim: Truth = matching reality (not coherence or pragmatic usefulness)

Required for:

Step 1 (Reception): Impression makes claim about reality
Step 2 (Recognition): Event is objective (not mental construct)
Step 4 (Examination): Can test if impression matches reality

Without it: No objective reality to test against, only coherence with other beliefs (circular)

4. MORAL REALISM

Claim: Objective good and evil exist (not subjective preferences or social constructs)

Required for:

Step 4 (Examination): Can test if X is genuinely good/evil
Binding force: "Virtue is good" not just opinion

Without it: "Virtue is good" = Stoic preference (no more binding than hedonist preference)

5. FOUNDATIONALISM

Claim: Knowledge rests on self-evident axioms (not infinite regress or circular reasoning)

Required for:

Step 4 (Examination): Terminate testing in self-evident truths
Th 10: "Only virtue is good" = foundational axiom
Th 12: "Externals are indifferent" = foundational axiom

Without it: "Why is virtue good?" → "Because..." → "Why?" → infinite regress → paralysis

6. INTUITIONISM (Rational Intuition)

Claim: Direct rational grasp of categories (good/evil, internal/external) without inference from sense data

Required for:

Step 2 (Recognition): Immediate recognition "this is external"
Step 4 (Examination): Real-time categorization (too slow if must prove everything)
Enchiridion Ch 1, 3: Instant distinction internal/external

Without it: Must prove from observation → too slow for real-time practice

V. Integration Map: How Components Connect

SIX COMMITMENTS (Metaphysical Foundation)
    ↓ [enable]
ENCHIRIDION 1-5 (Fundamental Teachings)
    │
    ├─ Ch 1: Internal/External distinction
    ├─ Ch 2: Desire/Aversion properly directed
    ├─ Ch 3: Everything external is fragile
    ├─ Ch 4: Rehearse obstacles, maintain virtue
    └─ Ch 5: Judgments disturb, not things
    ↓ [systematized in]
CORE STOICISM (Theorems - Causal Mechanism)
    │
    ├─ Th 6: Only beliefs/will in control (Ch 1)
    ├─ Th 7: Judgments → Desires → Emotions (Ch 5)
    ├─ Th 3: Desire + Frustration = Unhappiness (Ch 2)
    ├─ Th 10: Only virtue good, only vice evil (Ch 2)
    └─ Th 12: Externals never good/evil (Ch 3)
    ↓ [guides]
FIVE STEPS (Practice Method)
    │
    ├─ Reception: Impression arrives
    ├─ Recognition: Three things distinct (Ch 1)
    ├─ Pause: Suspend assent
    ├─ Examination: Test judgment (Ch 5)
    └─ Decision: Refuse false, accept true
    ↓ [produces]
EUDAIMONIA (Complete happiness through virtue alone)

VI. Why Each Step Requires Specific Commitments

Step	Primary Commitments Required	What Breaks Without Them
1. Reception	Dualism, Correspondence	No separate receiver, no truth claim to test
2. Recognition	Dualism, Correspondence	Can't distinguish three things (all physical/fused)
3. Pause	Libertarian Freedom, Dualism	Pause = illusion (just predetermined delay)
4. Examination	ALL SIX	Circular, infinite regress, too slow, or predetermined
5. Decision	Libertarian Freedom (+ all supporting examination)	Decision predetermined or arbitrary

VII. Application to Personality Disorders

The Training Method

Each personality disorder represents a systematic pattern of false value judgments that have become habitual and automatic.

The Five Steps provide the training method to:

Recognize the characteristic false judgments of each type
Pause before automatically assenting
Examine against Stoic criteria (Enchiridion 1-5)
Refuse false judgments about externals
Practice correct judgment until it becomes natural

Example: Schizoid Type

Characteristic False Judgment: "Relationships are genuinely bad (evil), solitude is genuinely good"

Five Steps Training:

Reception: Impression arises: "Social invitation - this is intrusive and bad"
Recognition: Distinguish:
- Event: Social invitation (external)
- Impression: "This is intrusive and bad" (judgment)
- Me: Can assent or refuse
Pause: "Stop! Let me see who you are and what you bring"
Examination:
- Ch 1: Social connection is external (not in my control)
- Ch 2: Neither virtue nor vice (indifferent)
- Ch 3: All relationships fragile (can be lost)
- Ch 4: Can maintain virtue whether I attend or not
- Ch 5: My judgment "relationships are bad" causes aversion (not the invitation itself)
Decision: Refuse false judgment that relationships are genuinely bad; recognize as preferred indifferent

Result: Can pursue appropriate object of aim (social connection as preferred indifferent) without falsely treating it as genuinely good/bad

VIII. Quick Reference Cards

CARD 1: Enchiridion 1-5 Essentials

CH 1: Some things in control, others not
Focus on what's in control (prohairesis)

CH 2: Desire only what's in control (virtue)
Avoid only what's in control (vice)

CH 3: Everything external is fragile
Remind yourself: Can be lost

CH 4: Before acting, rehearse obstacles
Real goal: Maintain virtue

CH 5: Judgments disturb, not things
Change judgment → Change emotion

CARD 2: Core Stoicism + Enchiridion

Th 6 = Ch 1: Only beliefs/will in control
Th 7 = Ch 5: Judgments → Desires → Emotions
Th 3 = Ch 2: Wrong desire → Frustration → Pathē
Th 10 = Ch 2: Only virtue good, only vice evil
Th 12 = Ch 3: Externals never good/evil
Th 14 = Result: Value only virtue → Eudaimonia

CARD 3: Five Steps + Enchiridion Tests

1. RECEPTION: Impression arrives (Ch 5)

2. RECOGNITION: Three things (Ch 1)

Event (external)
Impression (judgment)
Me (prohairesis)

3. PAUSE: Suspend (Ch 4)

4. EXAMINATION: Test all five

Ch 1: Internal/External?
Ch 2: Virtue/Vice/Indifferent?
Ch 3: Fragile/Losable?
Ch 4: Can maintain virtue?
Ch 5: Judgment disturbing?

5. DECISION: Refuse false, accept true

IX. The Complete Integration Statement

"Epictetus's Enchiridion Chapters 1-5 provide the fundamental Stoic teachings (internal/external distinction, proper desire/aversion, fragility of externals, obstacle rehearsal, judgments as cause of disturbance), which are systematized in G. Sterling's Core Stoicism theorems (Th 6, 7, 3, 10, 12, 14), applied through the Five Steps practice method (Reception, Recognition, Pause, Examination, Decision), all enabled by G. Sterling's six metaphysical commitments (Dualism, Freedom, Correspondence, Realism, Foundationalism, Intuitionism), producing eudaimonia when practiced correctly."

This integration makes the complete system ready at hand for real-time use.

Stoic News

Wednesday, January 21, 2026