WHAT PHILOSOPHICAL COMMITMENTS KILLED CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE MODERN ERA

This is THE crucial question for understanding why ancient philosophy became impossible.

THE SIX MODERN REJECTIONS (1600-1900)

Modern philosophy systematically rejected all six classical commitments:

Substance Dualism → Rejected for Materialism/Physicalism
Libertarian Freedom → Rejected for Determinism/Compatibilism
Correspondence Theory → Rejected for Coherence/Pragmatism
Moral Realism → Rejected for Subjectivism/Emotivism/Constructivism
Foundationalism → Rejected for Coherentism/Skepticism
Ethical Intuitionism → Rejected for Empiricism/Naturalism

Result: All ancient philosophical systems (Stoic, Platonic, Aristotelian) became impossible simultaneously.

1. REJECTION OF SUBSTANCE DUALISM

Classical Position (All Ancient Schools):

Mind/soul distinct from body
Rational faculty (nous, prohairesis) not reducible to matter
Mental events not identical with physical events

Modern Rejection:

Descartes (1641) - Last major dualist, but:

Made dualism seem problematic (interaction problem)
Separated mind/body more extremely than ancients
Created "ghost in machine" problem

Hobbes (1651) - First major physicalist:

"There is no incorporeal substance"
Mind = matter in motion
All mental events = physical events

Materialism becomes dominant (1700s-present):

La Mettrie: Man a Machine (1748)
Modern neuroscience: Mind = brain
Physicalism: Mental states = brain states

What This Killed:

Stoic pause - Requires prohairesis distinct from body (nowhere for non-physical suspension)
Platonic ascent - Requires soul separate from material world
Aristotelian nous - Requires rational faculty distinct from matter
All ancient ethics - Require rational soul not governed by physical law alone

2. REJECTION OF LIBERTARIAN FREEDOM

Classical Position (Stoic, Platonic, Aristotelian):

Agent can choose otherwise (genuine alternatives)
Choice not determined by prior physical/psychological states
Assent is "up to us" (eph' hēmin)
Freedom from determination, not just from coercion

Modern Rejection:

Spinoza (1677):

All events determined by prior causes
"Free will" = illusion
Humans = part of nature's causal chain

Hume (1748):

All events causally determined
"Liberty" = acting without external constraint (compatibilism)
No libertarian freedom (would violate causation)

Determinism becomes dominant (1700s-present):

Laplace: Universe = deterministic machine
Darwin: Humans = evolved animals (natural selection determines)
Modern neuroscience: Brain states determine choices

Modern "solution": Compatibilism

"Free" = uncoerced (not: undetermined)
Can do what you want (but want is determined)
Redefines "freedom" to preserve responsibility

What This Killed:

Stoic pause - Impossible if assent determined by prior states
Moral responsibility - Can't be responsible if couldn't choose otherwise
Ancient virtue ethics - Virtue requires choice (not just determined behavior)
Training/habituation - Makes no sense if all determined

3. REJECTION OF CORRESPONDENCE THEORY OF TRUTH

Classical Position (Universal in Ancient Philosophy):

Truth = correspondence to reality
Judgment true if matches what is
Objective reality independent of mind

Modern Rejection:

Kant (1781):

Can't know "things in themselves" (noumena)
Only know appearances (phenomena)
Mind structures experience (not passive reception)
Truth = coherence within mental categories

Pragmatism (James, Peirce 1870s-1900s):

Truth = what works
No correspondence to independent reality
Truth = useful belief

Coherence Theory (Idealists 1800s):

Truth = coherence with other beliefs
No external reality to correspond to

Postmodernism (1960s-present):

Truth = social construction
No objective reality
All interpretation

What This Killed:

Stoic examination - Can't test impression against reality if no knowable reality
Platonic Forms - Can't correspond to transcendent reality
Aristotelian science - Can't demonstrate from first principles about reality
All ancient epistemology - Requires knowable objective reality

4. REJECTION OF MORAL REALISM

Classical Position (Stoic, Platonic, Aristotelian):

Good and evil exist objectively
Virtue really is good (not just seems good)
Moral facts independent of opinion/culture/preference

Modern Rejection:

Hume (1739):

"Is/ought" gap (can't derive values from facts)
Morality = sentiment/feeling (not reason)
No objective moral facts

Emotivism (Ayer 1936, Stevenson 1944):

Moral judgments = expressions of emotion
"Murder is wrong" = "Boo murder!"
No truth value (not fact-stating)

Cultural Relativism (20th century):

Morality = cultural construction
No universal moral truths
Different cultures, different moralities

Moral Constructivism (Rawls, Kantians):

Moral facts constructed by reason/agreement
Not discovered in reality
Created by rational agents

What This Killed:

Stoic examination - Can't test "Is this truly good?" if no objective good
Platonic Form of Good - Doesn't exist objectively
Aristotelian eudaimonia - Not objective flourishing (just preference)
All virtue ethics - Virtues not objectively excellent (just valued)

5. REJECTION OF FOUNDATIONALISM

Classical Position (Universal in Ancient Philosophy):

Knowledge requires foundations (first principles)
Some truths self-evident (not requiring proof)
Justification terminates in basic beliefs
Axioms ground all other knowledge

Modern Rejection:

Skepticism (Hume 1748):

Infinite regress unsolved
No certain foundations
All beliefs potentially doubtable

Coherentism (20th century):

Beliefs justified by coherence (not foundations)
No bedrock (circular justification okay)
Web of belief (Quine)

Pragmatism:

No foundations needed
Start where we are
Justification = what works

What This Killed:

Stoic axioms (Th 10, 12) - Can't terminate justification
Platonic unhypothetical first principles - Forms not foundational
Aristotelian demonstration - Can't prove from archai
All ancient science - Requires axioms as starting points

6. REJECTION OF ETHICAL INTUITIONISM

Classical Position (Stoic, Platonic, Aristotelian):

Can directly apprehend moral truths
Rational intuition grasps good/evil
Not all knowledge from empirical observation
Nous/phronēsis perceives moral reality

Modern Rejection:

Empiricism (Locke 1689, Hume 1739):

All knowledge from sense experience
No innate ideas
No a priori moral knowledge
Mind = blank slate

Naturalism (19th-20th century):

Only natural/scientific knowledge valid
Moral knowledge must be empirical
No special faculty for ethics

Emotivism (already mentioned):

No moral knowledge at all
Just expressions of feeling

What This Killed:

Stoic recognition - Can't directly apprehend virtue/vice/indifferent
Platonic noēsis - Can't intuit Forms
Aristotelian phronēsis - Can't perceive moral particulars
All ancient ethical practice - Requires immediate moral perception

THE TIMELINE OF DESTRUCTION

1600-1700: Foundations Cracked

Descartes (1641): Dualism problematic
Hobbes (1651): Materialism proposed
Spinoza (1677): Determinism argued
Locke (1689): Empiricism dominant

1700-1800: Classical System Collapsing

Hume (1739-1748):

Determinism/compatibilism
Moral subjectivism
Empiricism
Skepticism about foundations

Kant (1781):

Things-in-themselves unknowable
Correspondence impossible
Categorical imperative (not intuition)

1800-1900: Complete Rejection

Utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill):

Consequentialism (not virtue)
Pleasure = good (hedonism)
No moral realism (preferences)

Darwin (1859):

Humans = evolved animals
Naturalism dominant
No special rational soul

Nietzsche (1880s):

Morality = human creation
No objective values
"God is dead"

1900-present: Total Dominance

Logical Positivism (1920s-1950s):

Only empirical statements meaningful
Moral claims = nonsense (emotivism)

Neuroscience (1950s-present):

Mind = brain
Free will = illusion
Determinism confirmed

Postmodernism (1960s-present):

All truth constructed
No objective reality
Interpretation all the way down

THE COMPLETE MODERN PACKAGE

The Six Modern Commitments (Replacement System):

Physicalism (not dualism)
Determinism/Compatibilism (not libertarian freedom)
Coherence/Pragmatism (not correspondence)
Moral Subjectivism/Constructivism (not moral realism)
Coherentism/Skepticism (not foundationalism)
Empiricism/Naturalism (not intuitionism)

Result: Classical philosophy becomes structurally impossible.

WHY ALL ANCIENT SYSTEMS DIED SIMULTANEOUSLY

They All Required the Same Six:

Stoicism requires all six → Impossible
Platonism requires all six → Impossible
Aristotelianism requires all six → Impossible
Ancient epistemology requires all six → Impossible

Epicureanism (only partial acceptance) survives in modified form (utilitarianism, hedonism)

THE MODERN ALTERNATIVES THAT EMERGED

To Replace Ancient Philosophy:

Ethics:

Utilitarianism (consequences, not virtue)
Deontology (rules, not character)
Emotivism (no moral facts)

Epistemology:

Empiricism (all knowledge from senses)
Coherentism (no foundations)
Pragmatism (truth = what works)

Metaphysics:

Physicalism (mind = brain)
Naturalism (only nature exists)
Scientific materialism

All incompatible with ancient philosophy.

SPECIFIC MODERN FIGURES & THEIR REJECTIONS

Descartes (1596-1650):

Kept dualism (briefly)
But made it problematic (interaction problem)
Started modern turn

Hobbes (1588-1679):

Rejected dualism → Materialism
Rejected freedom → Determinism
Social contract (not virtue)

Spinoza (1632-1677):

Rejected freedom → Complete determinism
Rejected transcendence → God = Nature
Rejected correspondence → Mind = Nature knowing itself

Locke (1632-1704):

Rejected intuitionism → Empiricism (all knowledge from experience)
Rejected innate ideas → Blank slate
Natural rights (not virtue)

Hume (1711-1776):

Rejected freedom → Compatibilism
Rejected moral realism → Emotivism
Rejected foundationalism → Skepticism
Rejected intuitionism → Empiricism
Rejected correspondence → Pragmatic coherence

Hume = Most destructive to ancient philosophy

Kant (1724-1804):

Rejected correspondence → Phenomenal/noumenal split
Rejected intuitionism → Categorical imperative
Tried to save freedom (transcendental idealism) but failed to preserve libertarian version

Bentham/Mill (1748-1832, 1806-1873):

Rejected virtue ethics → Utilitarianism
Rejected moral realism → Hedonism (pleasure = good)
Consequences not character

Darwin (1809-1882):

Naturalism → Humans = animals
Evolution → No special rational soul
Biology → Undermines dualism

Ayer (1910-1989):

Logical positivism
Moral statements = meaningless (emotivism)
Only empirical statements meaningful

THE RESULT: CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY IMPOSSIBLE

Modern Student Trying Stoicism:

Has modern commitments:

Mind = brain (physicalism)
Choice = determined (compatibilism)
Truth = coherence/pragmatic (not correspondence)
Morality = subjective/constructed (not real)
No foundations (coherentism)
No moral intuition (empiricism)

Tries to practice Stoicism:

Pause? Impossible (no non-physical prohairesis)
Examine? Against what standard? (no foundations, no objective good)
Test correspondence? To what? (can't know reality, no moral facts)
Recognize virtue? How? (no intuition, no objective virtue)
Choose? Not really (determined by brain states)
Responsible? Only compatibilist sense (not genuine authorship)

Result: "Stoicism" becomes therapeutic technique (not philosophical practice)

CONTEMPORARY ATTEMPTS TO REVIVE

Modern Virtue Ethics (MacIntyre, Foot, Hursthouse):

What they keep:

Some moral realism (virtues objectively good)
Character focus (not just consequences/rules)
Eudaimonia as goal

What they typically reject:

Dualism (accept physicalism)
Libertarian freedom (accept compatibilism)
Intuitionism (prefer naturalism)
Strong foundationalism

Result: Weakened system (virtue ethics without full infrastructure)

STERLING'S INSIGHT APPLIED BROADLY

Sterling Showed for Stoicism:

Six commitments are necessary conditions (not optional)

The Broader Truth:

Six commitments are necessary for all classical philosophy:

Platonism requires all six
Aristotelianism requires all six
Stoicism requires all six
Classical epistemology requires all six
Ancient science requires all six

Modern Rejection:

1600-1900: Systematically rejected all six

Result: All classical systems collapse simultaneously

Modern philosophy: Built on opposite commitments (six modern counter-commitments)

THE IRONY

Moderns Think:

"We've progressed beyond ancient philosophy"

Sterling's Point:

"You've rejected the foundations that made ancient philosophy possible, then declared it doesn't work"

It's like:

Removing engine from car
Wondering why car doesn't work
Declaring "cars are impossible"

Modern philosophy: Removed six commitments (infrastructure)

Then declared: Ancient philosophy doesn't work

Of course it doesn't - you removed the necessary conditions!

SUMMARY TABLE

Commitment	Classical	Modern Replacement	What It Killed
Metaphysics	Substance Dualism	Physicalism/Materialism	Pause, Platonic ascent, rational soul
Freedom	Libertarian	Determinism/Compatibilism	Responsibility, choice, virtue as chosen
Truth	Correspondence	Coherence/Pragmatism	Examination, testing, Platonic Forms
Ethics	Moral Realism	Subjectivism/Emotivism	Objective virtue, examination standards
Epistemology	Foundationalism	Coherentism/Skepticism	Axioms, first principles, demonstration
Moral Knowledge	Intuitionism	Empiricism/Naturalism	Recognition, phronēsis, noēsis

CONCLUSION

What Killed Classical Philosophy?

The systematic rejection (1600-1900) of all six classical commitments and their replacement with opposite commitments:

Dualism → Physicalism
Libertarian freedom → Determinism/Compatibilism
Correspondence → Coherence/Pragmatism
Moral realism → Subjectivism/Constructivism
Foundationalism → Coherentism/Skepticism
Intuitionism → Empiricism/Naturalism

This didn't just kill Stoicism - it killed all of ancient philosophy simultaneously (Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic).

Modern philosophy: Built on opposite foundations, then wonders why ancient systems "don't work anymore."

Sterling's contribution: Showing these aren't optional - they're necessary conditions. Remove them = ancient philosophy becomes structurally impossible.

Monday, January 19, 2026