Philosophical · nontheistic
Stoicism
A rational order running through a material cosmos, and a life spent aligning your judgements with it. Its positions on authority, text and ritual land almost exactly where Quaker Christianity does, which is the most interesting near-collision in the matrix.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- C1 Survival of the selfends at deathFurther toward "ends at death" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D2 Centrality of ritualoptional or absentFurther toward "optional or absent" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B3 Institutional authorityindividual conscience decidesFurther toward "individual conscience decides" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B1 Source of truthreason and direct experienceFurther toward "reason and direct experience" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | between nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly existsEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.62 | 0.18 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | leaning impersonal principle or orderEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.25 | 0.16 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | leaning strictly oneEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.20 | 0.14 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | fully present within itEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.92 | 0.06 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | reason and direct experienceEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.92 | 0.05 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning metaphorical, or no text at allEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.78 | 0.13 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | individual conscience decidesEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.88 | 0.08 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | ends at deathEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.15 | 0.12 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | between one life, then judgment and cyclical returnEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.55 | 0.22 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally soundEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.82 | 0.10 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | achieved by effort or insightEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.95 | 0.04 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | optional or absentEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebratedEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.38 | 0.16 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | leaning many valid pathsEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.70 | 0.15 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | leaning an intentional actEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.35 | 0.20 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | an individual choiceEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | leaning animate and itself sacredEpictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters | 0.72 | 0.14 |
Further reading
- Epictetus, Discourses and Enchiridion — The dichotomy of control; the whole D1 position in one idea.
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, books 4 and 7 — Providence and the cosmos as one living thing — the A4 value.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.