Philosophy

Foreword

The modern world has brought on a general attitude that philosophy is something left to academics for purely theoretical discussion. This conception of philosophy as a mere novelty stands in great contrast to the thinkers of antiquity who placed great emphasis on practical philosophy, ethics that are useful in everyday life. Since 2020, I have taken great interest in one of these philosophies: Stoicism. I began practicing it using the books of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus as guides, but continuous practice revealed holes in the Stoic worldview which left Emotion and Sensation largely unaddressed besides generally calling for their limitation. This missing piece led me to make minor modifications to how I practice Stoicism, borrowing ideas from other Greco-Roman philosophies, modern psychology, or just my own experience. Specifically, I started to hone in on Plato’s teaching of the tripartite Soul, the idea consists of three parts called the Reason, Spirit, and Appetite, and I noticed that all philosophies seem to take these parts and only focus on one or two, leaving the other(s) diminished in comparison. Soon, my beliefs began to depart from mere modifications to Stoicism, particularly when I came to the realization that Virtue, the cornerstone of Stoicism, did not suffice as an ultimate good. Rather, I made a simple observation: if there are three parts to the Soul, and they can disagree, why must we assume these parts are ultimately pursuing the same thing? Thus, I came to my present conclusion: there are three ultimate Goods, not one, hence the name Eutraicism (eu- meaning good and tri- meaning three). While this philosophy draws heavily from Stoicism, it also directly incorporates ideas from rival schools such as the Cyrenaics to fill in Stoicism’s gaps in its treatment of the Spirit and the Appetite. With these changes, I aim to achieve a satisfactory framework for the mind’s inner workings that provides a roadmap to leading a Good life.

I. The Fundamental Assumption

1. The assumption which is the foundation to the Eutraic framework is that the Soul (i.e. the self) exists and is best understood as being composed of three parts: Reason, Spirit, and Appetite. 

a. The Reason comprises one’s thinking self, the part with capacity for rationality. 

b. The Spirit comprises one’s emotions, passions, and spirituality.

c. The Appetite comprises one’s sensory experience as well as impulses for needs like food, warmth, sex, drink, etc.

2. All parts individually experience Desire and Aversion, which is the compulsion to move toward or away from something. Thus, they can be in disagreement with one another.

3. Many philosophies seek a single ultimate Good that is assumed to be the intended objective of every action (e.g. happiness, pleasure, virtue), but if there are three parts to the Soul and they can disagree, then they must be valuing different “ultimate Goods.”

a. The Reason’s good is Coherence, meaning the Reason pursues Coherence for nothing other than its inherent value. Coherence is the agreement of ideas.

b. The Spirit’s Good is Love. Like Coherence, Love is pursued for no reason other than itself. 

c. The Appetite’s Good is Pleasure. It is perhaps the easiest example to grasp of a Good having “inherent value;” Pleasure is pursued for no reason other than that it just “feels good.” 

4. In addition to each Good, there is also a state to describe the lack of that Good and one to describe direct opposition to that Good. Both the lack of Good and opposition to Good can be considered aversive compared to the Good itself, but the lack is desirable compared to the opposition. 

a. The lack of Coherence is Ignorance, and the opposite of Coherence is Incoherence

b. The lack of Love is Apathy, and the opposite of Love is Hate. 

c. The lack of Pleasure is Numbness, and the opposite of Pleasure is Pain. 

5. Even those things opposed to Good come about as attempts to pursue Good, no matter how misguided these attempts may be. For example, the Emotions brought on by the loss of Love serve to inform the rest of the Soul of the Spirit’s desire, but these Emotions can devolve into Hate toward whatever/whoever is perceived to be responsible for the loss.

6. Each part has its own unique means to pursue its Good: the Reason utilizes Rationality to experience Coherence; the Spirit utilizes Emotion to experience Love; and the Appetite utilizes Sensation to experience Pleasure. 

Par

II. The Reason

1. The Reason is responsible for all intentional thought and action. Intentional thoughts are the thoughts within our control and are the medium for Rationality, while induced thoughts are sporadic thoughts which “pop up” in the mind induced by the Spirit or Appetite. 

2. Rationality is the means of the Reason to experience its Good, Coherence, by allowing it to connect ideas. Coherence is essentially the agreement of ideas, making Rationality a necessity for achieving any form of it; how could ideas agree if they cannot first form associations?

3. Coherence is found in a variety forms, but the forms all have one thing in common: the agreement of ideas.

a. In order to serve as a functional and sensible tool for decision making, morality must be internally Coherent. For instance, if you believe that murder is wrong but that murdering people you do not like is right, then your morality has failed because the ideas within the moral framework lack Coherence.

b. The Coherence between morality and action is what would classically be understood as moral virtue (excellence). In essence, morality informs and justifies action, and the more one’s actions agree with their morality, the more virtuous and thus more Coherent their life. 

c. The perceived Coherence between belief and reality is truth. 

d. More minor forms of Coherence can also be found in aesthetics. The ability of an artwork, style, scene, etc. to internally Cohere makes it desirable to the Reason in a conceptual way which goes beyond the sensory input itself or emotional attachment. 

4. Through Rationality, the Reason is the only part of the Soul capable of making effective judgements about how to pursue all Goods, not just Coherence, as long as it has input from the other parts. 

a. Rationality can be used to pursue and sustain Love for the Spirit more effectively than the Spirit could alone because the unchecked pursuit of Love tends to result in the loss of Love. For instance, your Spirit may feel as though it wants to be around your S/O all the time, but your Reason can utilize Rationality to see that clinginess damages Love more than it promotes it. 

b. Rationality is also helpful in attaining Pleasure for the Appetite. In using Rationality to predict the consequences of actions, Pain can be avoided and Pleasure can be obtained more effectively compared to relying on the pure instinct of the Appetite. 

5. Though the Reason lacks immediate control over the Emotions of the Spirit or the Sensations of the Appetite, the Reason maintains control over intentional reactions to these impressions, and the impressions themselves can be “trained,” or conditioned, over time. Additionally, they can be influenced proactively and managed in the present. 

a. Thought and Emotion are mutually interactive; Thought can induce Emotion, and Emotion can induce thought. Thus, proactively influencing Emotion means making sure not to feed thoughts that can induce Emotion destructive to Love. 

b. Management of Emotion in the present means preventing destructive thoughts induced by Emotion from turning into action.

6. The Reason’s relationship with the Appetite is less pronounced. The actual physical Sensations of the body are almost always beyond the direct control of the thinking mind. However, much like the Spirit, the Appetite can be influenced proactively or managed in the present.

   1. Proactively, one can be mindful of how thoughts may condition the Appetite in a destructive way, and preparations can be made for how to respond to Pleasures and Pains so that the element of surprise does not blind the Reason. 

   2. In the present, one needs to ensure that the Reason is not overtaken by powerful Sensations, as the subservience of the Reason diminishes the ability of the Soul to regulate itself and pursue Goods. Decisions should always be made with the Spirit and Appetite in mind, but not in control. 

7. Virtue is the excellence of thought and action in how they relate to the parts of the Soul and is thus definitionally linked with the Reason, which holds thought and action within its domain. Each part of the soul has its own associated Cardinal Virtue: Wisdom for the Reason, Justice for the Spirit, and Temperance for the Appetite. Each Virtue is also composed of two Secondary Virtues, described in V-VII.

a. Wisdom means having a dominant Reason with a Coherent moral framework. 

b. Justice means showing universal compassion to all people and having the will to execute the actions one sees as right.

c. Temperance means balancing the intake of Pleasure to avoid excess always and deficiency when possible.

8. The key to harnessing control over the Reason is to take responsibility for intentional thought while learning to recognize when induced thoughts are polluting your intentional thoughts. Induced thoughts are not within control, but the Reason does control whether one acts on them or otherwise feeds into them. Mental spirals and harmful Rationalization are examples of intentional thought feeding induced thoughts. Over time, it is possible to condition away induced thoughts, or, more effectively, condition replacement thoughts which fulfill the same needs in ways more conducive to the Goods.

III. The Spirit

1. The Spirit is responsible for passion, motivation, emotions, or, concisely, non-sensory feelings. 

2. Emotion is the means the Spirit uses to experience Love. Emotion is comparable to Sensation in that it is input; it tells you something about what your Spirit wants. It is up to the Reason to decide how/whether to turn the input into thought or action. Thus, Emotions cannot be inherently bad, but the way you process them can diminish Goods. 

3. The Reason and Spirit rely on each other to avoid tearing themselves apart. Without limitation by the Reason, Emotion drives away the Love it pursues, and without limitation by the Spirit, the Reason rationalizes away the will to live at all.

4. Though the Spirit is beyond direct control, Emotional impressions can be conditioned over time through practice.

5. At the beginning of life, the Spirit largely serves the Appetite since the Reason is too undeveloped to guide the Soul, and Emotion is the primary way a nonverbal child can express their wants and needs to others. However, as the child grows up, the Reason becomes a much more capable guide for attaining Goods. Thus, with maturity, the alignment of the Spirit shifts from the Appetite to the Reason. 

IV. The Appetite

1. The Appetite is responsible for impulses, basic needs, Sensation, and the system of pleasure/pain.

2. Sensation is the means the Appetite uses to experience Pleasure. The inputs of the senses provide the basis for observing and interacting with the physical world. 

3. Whereas the Spirit forms more specific Emotional preferences, the Appetite tends to be more generic in its desire so long as there is Pleasure to be had. This is because the Spirit is more conceptual in its desire, pursuing experiences, relationships, fun, etc., while the Appetite directs desires toward Sensations and the satisfaction of basic needs, both of which are entirely physical experiences. 

V. Wisdom (having a dominant Reason with a Coherent framework) 

A. Logic: Coherent rules for applying Rationality

1. In all things, you should be consistently asking yourself the following questions:

a. Does this make my life more Coherent? i.e. does it improve me ethically, contribute to my identity, otherwise fit in my life?

b. Does this promote Love? 

c. Does this fulfill needs and bring Pleasure? 

2. In order to pursue a Good life, one must seek all three Goods, not just one. However, this objective comes with inherent conflicts because the pursuit of one Good often diminishes the pursuit of another. Thus, it is necessary to establish priority. 

a. Priority of Control: 

i. Priority should be awarded based on level of control, with more control corresponding to greater priority. Control makes something easier to improve because it reduces the impact of the unpredictable external world on the outcome. The Stoic “Dichotomy of Control,” adapted for this framework, states that the only things within control are actions and intentional thought, while everything else is in some way out of control. 

b. Priority of Parts: 

i. Firstly, the Reason as a whole must be maintained above all else because the capacity for Rationality is essential to the effective pursuit of Goods. Additionally, The Reason is the only thing entirely under one’s control, encompassing intentional thought and actions. Anything else is more or less uncontrollable depending on external factors. Thus, the Reason should be prioritized above all else as the most controllable and most predictable thing in life.

ii. Secondly, the Spirit should be given special attention secondary to the preservation of the Reason because Love is essential to humans as social-emotional beings. Also, the Spirit provides motivation for the pursuit of Goods and for life itself. 

iii. Lastly, as the most common and base of the three parts, the Appetite receives the least priority. Pleasure is generally the most fleeting and least meaningful Good compared to the other two, and the Reason and Spirit are far more capable of assisting the Appetite than vice versa. 

c. Priority of Present: 

i. As an extension of the Priority of Control, the present should also receive priority over the future because the present moment is certain and more predictable, while the future is full of limitless, hardly controllable possibilities. When an action is taken based on future pursuit of Good, it should also bring Good in the present. For example, choosing not to eat something unhealthy even if it would bring you Pleasure now can be Good in the present by affirming your identity as a healthy person (Coherence) and promoting Compassion toward your own body (Love), but it is a needless denial of Pleasure to avoid it if there is no adverse impact on other Goods.

3. If you determine that your morality or identity is consistently in opposition to Goods, you must seek to repair or replace your faulty ideals, for what is Coherence to the Soul if your supposedly Coherent Reason remains consistently Incoherent with the rest of the Soul? The ideals of the Reason are important, but pursuing Coherence blind to the other Goods is no Coherence at all. Your Reason should agree with and guide a life full of Good. 

4. It is too generic and misleading to aim for simply being a Good person or to be like some other person you deem Good. Instead, aim for what it means to be a “Good You.” Your pursuit of the Good should always take into account the reality of your life, capabilities, passions, etc., and following any other model will only keep you away from your potential. The use of role models for improving character should focus not on how to change yourself to be more like them but instead on how the principles behind their actions can be adapted to your life in a healthy and realistic way. 

5. You have no obligation to hold an opinion on everything. Every time you form an opinion, it needs to Cohere with your existing morality, meaning Coherence becomes exponentially more difficult the more opinions you hold. Be careful about what stances you take, ensuring the stances maintain or contribute to Coherence.

6. While internal Coherence, which has the highest degree of control, is the primary concern of the Reason, external forms of Coherence that you have the capacity to impact are also worth consideration. For instance, ecosystems are Coherent systems of which humans are a fundamental part. However, ecosystems are presently being flooded with Incoherence through anthropogenic disturbance as well as invasion by foreign species. For anyone with the capacity to steward land, increasing the Coherence of the ecosystem through restoration of native species and removal of invasive ones becomes a responsibility in the pursuit of Good. Our homes and communities are similar opportunities to contribute external Coherence where possible. 

7. Silence should be your default, only speaking when you have something to say. When a situation feels like it has no Good response, remember that you are not required to think, speak, or form opinions about it. If you must speak in an unfavorable situation, a moment of silence gives you the opportunity to think and ensure your Reason is in control before forming a response that could place Goods in jeopardy.

B. Equanimity: the ability to maintain internal stability in the face of uncontrollable factors

1. Equanimity is achieved by maintaining the Reason’s supremacy within the Soul and accepting the things beyond one’s control. Acceptance involves discarding expectation in favor of acknowledging realities of the present moment, taking life for how it is and not perceptions of how it “should” be or should have been. Once the Reason can accept the things beyond its control, the Spirit and Appetite can be conditioned to follow. 

2. Equanimity does not demand the erasure of Emotion or Sensation. Instead, it calls for the Reason to prevail above the other parts of the Soul, with Emotion and Sensation serving as informational input, not as essential directives.

3. While it is advantageous to the maintenance of Equanimity to be mentally prepared for the unknowable possibilities of the future including undesirable outcomes, forming an expectation for undesirable outcomes will only purport a Hateful outlook which works against Equanimity. Promote acceptance, not expectation. 

4. There is no single ideal state of being because such a concept is simply too generalized and removed from reality. However, there is an ideal present, and the only thing it requires is taking whatever present action best pursues Goods. Only the present is actually experienced, and the present moment is finite in its possibilities. No matter the situation, if one is taking the action that best aids their pursuit of Good, then they have controlled all they can; no state could possibly be better when one is doing their best given the circumstances. However, you cannot handle the past, present, and future all at once, and you have no reason to. The past was already your present, and the future will be soon, so if you are always occupied foremost with the present, you will handle everything in due time. 

5. As long as viable paths forward are available, minimize specific planning for the future down to what is actually necessary at the present moment. Plan opportunities, not details. A Coherent view of the future is one which accepts the inevitability of change by maintaining the best opportunities.

6. Whenever an Impression (initial, uncontrollable thought/opinion/observation) finds that there is a threat to Good, it can either pass to the Appetite for a “fight or flight” response if it is immediate or to the Reason for Rationalizing potential futures if it is not immediate. In either case, the perception that the threat is unresolved will lead to Anxiety, which lets the Spirit take the reins, acting as an impetus for further action. While helpful in theory, Anxiety generally does more harm than Good by cyclically feeding itself and driving away the Good it seeks to cultivate. Anxiety is an Emotion, and thus technically within the domain of the Spirit, but it is a particular type of Emotion which is inherently forward-looking, meaning it generally requires input from the Reason before moving forward because the Spirit is not capable of Rationally linking causes and consequences on its own. This window of control where the Reason’s judgements determine what happens next is the best point of intervention to preserve Equanimity. Rather than letting the Reason drive itself into the ground devising aversive potential futures, feeding Anxiety, focus instead on the ways Good can be pursued in any of the outcomes, or, if possible, simply tell yourself “That is something ‘future-me’ can figure out when I have the necessary information.” What feels like important planning can really just devolve into Anxiety-driven nonsense each time a layer of hypotheticals is added. 

7. Despite its nearly universal reverence in society, hope is a destructive construct which impedes the pursuit of Love and Coherence. Definitionally, hope requires the formation of an expectation about a future event and implies a desire toward this expectation. Forming desires about uncertain future events sets up the opportunity for disappointment, a detriment to Equanimity because it prevents Emotional and Rational acceptance of uncontrollable factors. Rather than relying on hope, focus on how you can make the most of the present and how you can adapt to whatever circumstances you find yourself in.

8. Like hope, trust is based entirely on expectation. In childhood, trust is a natural consequence of dependence upon parents and other guardians. However, as you gain agency through maturity, your own Reason becomes more trustworthy than any other person could be. Thus, using trust as the backbone of relationships becomes largely impractical for maintaining them, just like mistrust is, because it involves setting expectations for others’ behaviors that are based on rigid hypotheticals instead of the reality of the present. Rather than forming expectations for others (i.e. trust), simply address situations individually on the basis of how they affect the parts of your Soul. Involving trust only serves to cloud your judgement and communication. The single viable expectation to set for others is that they will act in the pursuit of Good, whatever it is that Good looks like to them. With this strategy, relationships can be based not on expectations, but on observations about how others' conceptions of Good complement or strain your own. 

9. Fortune consists of events whose outcomes are not controlled by intent (e.g. weather, stumbling upon something, gambling, etc.). Fortune must be accepted because there is simply nothing else to do but to accept it; it is definitionally beyond anyone’s control. Deciding how Fortune “ought'' to go implies you have an understanding of reality deep enough to warrant such a judgement about events and their consequences, which is impossible given the immense complexity of causation on a universal scale. Instead of forming opinions about Fortune, learn to accept and eventually Love what it brings. 

10. In situations where a part of the Soul is being uncontrollably deprived of a Good, the opportunity for Diversion arises. Diversion is the practice of finding controllable ways to pursue Goods when uncontrollable factors impede them, maintaining Equanimity.

a. Primary Diversion involves finding a different way to pursue the affected Good. 

b. Secondary Diversion involves pursuing the unaffected Goods in place of the affected Good as a distraction. 

c. Primary Diversion is the more effective of the two because it hits the Incoherence at its source, while Secondary Diversion is a much more temporary solution as it intentionally ignores the source of discontent.

VI. Justice (showing universal compassion to all people and having the will to execute the actions one sees as right)

A. Courage: the will to do what is right in spite of internal Emotional pressures and external Social pressures

1. Through the Reason, one can know on the surface what is right and what is wrong, but acting on that Wisdom requires the support of the Spirit. 

2. Take control of your life. You own your intent. There is nothing and nobody else to blame when you fail to uphold Virtues.

3. Hold the temporary nature of all things close and recognize your innate mortality so as to be Emotionally prepared to let go when necessary to maintain or pursue Good free from unhealthy attachments. 

4. Condition your Emotions not to submit to your Appetite. There is no necessity for Pain or the loss of Pleasure to dictate how you feel Emotionally, especially when they cloud judgement. 

5. Although Emotion does not necessitate action, it does have to be acknowledged. Face your Emotions head on so that you may use their input in your Rational decision making.

6. Lack of effective communication degrades the Spirit because it promotes Ignorance, the primary fuel for Apathy and Hate. You must have the Courage to share your inner state when such action is necessary in the pursuit of Good.

7. It similarly takes Courage to refuse communication when it is clearly opposed to Love, namely gossip. Because gossip usually involves secretive derision of others to their own peers, it is inherently anti-social and thus harmful to Love. If information must be communicated or criticism relayed, it needs no audience, only the attention of those who are directly relevant.

8. Letting the Spirit dominate your Soul strains those you Love the most. Emotions are inherently unpredictable and egoistic, and when they are prioritized, your own actions become unpredictable and egoistic, particularly around those you Love, the natural targets of Emotion. When someone lets their Spirit rule, they may be considered by their loved ones to be clingy, dramatic, moody, impatient, etc., which are all just adjectives describing one who acts based on immediate Emotional inputs to pursue Love, inadvertently impeding that pursuit. Courage demands seeing past feelings and instead pursuing Love in a more Coherent way.

9. Courage is necessary to avoid succumbing to fear. Even though fear’s theoretical ultimate objective is the pursuit or preservation of Love (like any Emotion), in practice it acts contrary to Love. Fear is destructive to relationships because it induces one to attempt to control their environment and the people around them for the purpose of protection, which is a futile pursuit that will scorn the people and environments it affects. Your loved ones should feel free to pursue Good as it appears to them, and you can make your willingness to offer guidance and support known without forcing it upon them. 

B. Compassion: social Love as expressed through actions, words, and thoughts

1. Compassion promotes Love because Compassion is Love, just as a controllable Virtue. You will find no trouble pursuing Love if you are conditioning your Spirit to feel a sense of Love for the people and things around you, not letting your Reason feed into thoughts of hatred, anger, or revenge. 

2. Universal Compassion, applying Compassion in all circumstances (even when faced with Hate), is a rule without exception that you must incorporate into your morality and condition your Spirit to follow; the consideration of how you can express Love through your actions will become the Spirit’s habit with consistent practice. Love is a Good, and as such, letting it inform your acts and thoughts can only make them better. 

3. Perspective shifts are the simplest way to place yourself in a Compassionate mindset. When someone does something that makes you feel hatred, anger, fear, etc., place your mind outside the situation and look upon it objectively. Depending on the context, the following prompts are worth consideration:

a. What is the function of this person’s behavior? Why did they think that this was the right way to act?

b. How do the actions of the person who upset you reflect a way you may have acted in the past?

c. Have you seen a similar situation happen to someone else and brushed it off?

d. What may be pitiable about this person’s situation? Try to convert your Hate into pity.

4. Even when confronted with horrible people or circumstances, your own Compassion is within your control and marks the true unconquerable beauty within yourself.

5. There is no justifiable reason to perpetuate anger because it is, by its origins in Hate, directly antagonistic to Love. Anger is simply an Emotional response to your own failure to align your expectations with reality. For instance, if you are angry because someone hit you in the face, you were likely caught off guard by an assumption that you were not going to get hit in the face. If you are angry not because of the hit itself, but because of the reservations you hold about how people should treat others, you are angered by your false expectation that your values are going to be shared and respected by the world around you. Anger should never be cultivated or acted upon; any legitimate, just action will have calm reasoning behind it, not anger. 

VII. Temperance (balancing the intake of Pleasure to avoid excess always and deficiency when possible) 

A. Discipline: the ability to dismiss the desires and aversions of the Appetite when necessary to maintain the Priority of Parts. 

1. Pleasure should never take priority over Love or Reason. Pleasure is fleeting and largely beyond control, making it unreliable in a position of priority.

2. Just as Emotion does not necessitate action, neither does Sensation. When Sensation gets in the way of higher priorities, acknowledge what you feel, but consider it inactionable.

3. Pleasures should be enjoyed with the knowledge that they can be revoked by external circumstances at any time and ought to be relinquished willingly if they impede other Goods.

4. While Pleasure is a Good, experiencing Pleasure in excess means raising the desires of the Appetite above the other parts of the Soul, placing the Reason and the Spirit in a dangerously weak position. Even if there is nothing inherently wrong with experiencing any amount of Pleasure, the prospect of placing the Appetite at the helm throws the Soul off balance, and avoiding excess prevents this issue. 

B. Sensuality: the appreciation and enjoyment of the Senses. 

1. As one of the three Goods, Pleasure cannot be shunned in the pursuit of a Good life. Though Ascetic lifestyles purport enlightenment through the rejection of Pleasure, this view entirely ignores the simple truth that humans are physical beings. If being human is inherently physical, then to be Good humans, we must also be Good physical beings, which necessitates Pleasure. 

2. As described in the Priority of Present, present Pleasure should take priority over uncertain future Pleasure because present Pleasure is knowingly accessible in the moment, while future Pleasures are entirely theoretical and their accessibility is inherently unknown. 

3. Frequently take stock of your present Sensory experience; there is no reason to avoid Pleasure or allow for Pain where there is an ethical opportunity for improvement. For instance, the addition of stimuli via music or the subtraction of stimuli via earplugs could make a traditionally aversive Sensory experience like studying more Pleasurable, minimizing the strain placed on the Appetite as well as preventing harsh Emotional reactions to aversive stimuli.