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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
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    Perspectives
    108,905
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    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that A Stoic must not be discontented with anything that happens in the world

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Stoic cosmology distinguishes between the rational whole (which is good) and particular events (which may be genuinely bad for rational agents).
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    • 2.Marcus Aurelius himself acknowledges in the Meditations that vicious acts by others are real evils, not merely apparent ones, warranting moral correction.
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    • 3.Endorsing providence at the cosmic level is logically compatible with localized discontent that motivates rational agents to fulfill their duties as co-governors of the world.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Epictetus and Chrysippus both held that the Stoic sage appropriately experiences eupatheiai—positive rational emotions including caution and wishing—directed at worldly outcomes.
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    • 2.If rational wishing and caution toward events are constitutive of Stoic wisdom, then a blanket prohibition on discontent misrepresents Stoic moral psychology by conflating passion with rational response.
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    • 3.The Stoic distinction between preferred and dispreferred indifferents entails that the sage can rationally orient toward the world as better or worse, which licenses a form of normative discontent.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.A Stoic must believe the world is providentially run
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    • 2.Being discontented with what happens in the world contradicts believing the world is providentially run
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    • 3.One who finds fault with things as they are implicitly commits to the world being the result of random causes rather than providence
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