> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.stoicfellowship.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.stoicfellowship.com/wiki/concepts/07-the-things-up-to-us.md). # The Things Up to Us ## Primary Question **What is up to us, and how can that boundary ground responsibility in a causally determined world?** ## Starting Point Tremblay introduces Epictetus’s distinction between what is up to us and what is not. This wiki calls it the **Fundamental Rule**. This outline examines its scope and its implications for freedom, effort, and responsibility. [Faculty of Choice](/wiki/concepts/08-ruling-faculty-and-faculty-of-choice.md) studies the choosing self; the question here is what depends on that agent and in what sense. ## Areas of Study ### 1. Establish the Boundary * Compare “up to us,” “in our power,” and “under our control.” What expectations does each rendering introduce? * Read Epictetus’s lists: judgment, impulse, desire, and aversion; body, property, reputation, and offices. * Distinguish a faculty, its exercise, and the outward result. Use [Impression and Assent](/wiki/concepts/06-impression-and-assent.md) for the psychological process rather than treating every appearance as chosen. ### 2. Explain the Boundary’s Ethical Importance * Ask why Epictetus locates good and bad in the use of choice. The boundary itself cannot prove that virtue alone is good; follow [Virtue](/wiki/concepts/02-virtue-arete.md) for that claim. * Investigate moral freedom as freedom from hindrance in one’s ethical purpose. * Distinguish the question of agency from the question of an external’s value, developed in [Indifferents](/wiki/concepts/09-indifferents-adiaphora.md). ### 3. Distinguish Effort from Guaranteed Results * Compare intending to help, attempting to help, and successfully helping. * Study the reserve clause as a qualification of an appropriate intention when circumstances may prevent its execution or success. * Ask why influence over an outcome differs from the unqualified agency Epictetus attributes to choice, without inventing a third category of moral good. ### 4. Investigate Causal Responsibility * Compare earlier Stoic accounts of what depends on the agent with Epictetus’s ethical emphasis. * Study Chrysippus’s explanation of assent and character in a causally determined world. * Separate being uncoerced from being causally unconditioned. Follow [Living According to Nature](/wiki/concepts/04-living-in-accordance-with-nature.md) for the broader account of cosmic order. ### 5. Apply the Boundary to Social Duties * Ask why limited power over outcomes still leaves reasons to care for bodies, relationships, and institutions. * Examine why another person’s wrongdoing does not remove one’s responsibility to respond justly. * Distinguish technical moral harm from physical injury, loss, and injustice in ordinary language. Test whether the boundary can recognize impaired agency without blaming sufferers. ## Questions and Objections * Can judgment be called up to us when habits, deception, coercion, or illness affect cognition? * Does the theory describe an ordinary person’s current capacities or the freedom toward which training aims? * Could an exclusive emphasis on choice obscure oppression or encourage blaming sufferers? * What reasons for intervention remain when outcomes cannot guarantee happiness? ## Ancient Reading Route 1. [**Epictetus, *****Enchiridion***** 1**](https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html) — Establish the distinction from the text rather than a modern summary. 2. [**Epictetus, *****Discourses***** 1.1**](https://www.stoicsource.com/epictetus/discourses/1.1/) — The special status of the use of impressions and its theological framing. 3. **Epictetus, *****Discourses***** 2.5** — Careful use of indifferent material; test any interpretation implying indifference to conduct or outcomes. 4. **Epictetus, *****Discourses***** 4.1; *****Enchiridion***** 4** — Freedom and a concrete example of an intention qualified by circumstances. 5. **Cicero, *****On Fate***** 39–43** — Early Stoic agency and causal determination, transmitted through a non-Stoic author. 6. **Epictetus, *****Discourses***** 2.10; *****Enchiridion***** 30** — Roles and relationships as a check against withdrawal from responsibility. ## Modern Research Route * **A. A. Long,** [***Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life***](https://academic.oup.com/book/32682) **(Oxford University Press, 2002), “Autonomy and Integrity”** — Investigate the meaning of volition and the ethical basis of autonomy. * **Susanne Bobzien,** [***Determinism and Freedom in Stoic Philosophy***](https://academic.oup.com/book/27236) **(Clarendon Press, 1998)** — Historical and conceptual test of claims about freedom. Avoid importing an uncaused modern will into the ancient account. * **William O. Stephens,** [***Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom***](https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/stoic-ethics-9781441170453/) **(Continuum, 2007)** — Follow the practical connection among desire, dependence, freedom, and happiness; assess how the account handles relationships. ## Suggested Study Result Explain the Fundamental Rule using a failed attempt to help someone. Identify the judgments and intentions, the appropriate effort, and the prevented outcome. Include a serious objection concerning agency and a possible reply. ## Connections [Impression and Assent](/wiki/concepts/06-impression-and-assent.md) · [Faculty of Choice](/wiki/concepts/08-ruling-faculty-and-faculty-of-choice.md) · [Indifferents](/wiki/concepts/09-indifferents-adiaphora.md) *Source note: “Fundamental Rule” is the wiki’s teaching label. Modern annotations provide a research route; they do not imply complete access to the cited books.* --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. 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