Working my way through Irvines A guide to the good life. Has been insightful so far, helped me brush up on my history, as well as compound basic concepts that need compounding in my head. Just hit the section on externals. He gives the intro of Epictetus dichotomy of control- what is in our power and what isnt. However, Irvine introduces a trichotomy (I was just as disappointed when I found out this wasnt a real word) of control. Basically that we have things that we partially control, and things we completely control or don;t have any sway over whatsoever. Until now, Ive always based my reflections when relevant on this dichotomy that I had learned of very early in my Stoic quest. It seems strange that such a simple concept that there can be a sort of grey area in terms of things external to us, is completely coherent. My question is, has anyone ever consciously seen control as a trichotomy, with the grey area being things we can partially control, or until now in your Stoic learnings has it been a strict dichotomy? Are things in/out of your control organized differently, to different parameters and definitions? To be honest this issue first came to my mind when considering the body as an external- it is heavily influenced by your decisions in its maintenance, and therefore simply cannot be totally out of your control. However, for whatever the reason, I didnt make the logical jump to realize this opens a new category of things in our control.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 04:08:13 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015