Stoicism says nobody does wrong on purpose: every bad act begins in a mistaken judgement about what is good. But does that survive contact with clear-eyed cruelty, compulsive habit and modern moral psychology?
I test the claim against Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Medea, research on psychopathy and the Stoics' own internal disagreement. Then I keep the practical part that still works: catching one assent before it hardens into action.
Sources and further reading:
- Epictetus, Discourses 1.28 and 2.17 - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.1, 7.26 and 11.18 - Cicero, On Fate 42-43 - Aharoni, Sinnott-Armstrong and Kiehl, “Can Psychopathic Offenders Discern Moral Wrongs?” (2012) - Aharoni, Sinnott-Armstrong and Kiehl, “What's Wrong? Moral Understanding in Psychopathic Offenders” (2014) - Kühn and Gallinat, “Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Associated With Pornography Consumption” (2014) - Grubbs et al., “Pornography Problems Due to Moral Incongruence” (2019)
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