Exercises for Sound Judgment

What do the Stoics mean by intelligence? And how do you actually develop it?

Caleb breaks down prudence into six trainable components from the ancient Stoic Arius Didymus: sound judgment, circumspection, shrewdness, sensibleness, soundness of aim, and ingenuity. Each gets a week. Each gets concrete exercises.

This isn’t abstract philosophy. It’s a practical program for sharpening your thinking in whatever domain matters to you.

(00:00) A Framework for Stoic Intelligence

(04:50) Week 1: Sound Judgment — Knowing What to Do and How

(12:50) Week 2: Circumspection — Keeping Your Perception Current

(20:20) Week 3: Shrewdness — Acting Right Without Deliberation

(28:40) Week 4: Sensibleness — Discerning Better from Worse

(32:50) Week 5: Soundness of Aim — Hitting Your Target

(37:10) Week 6: Ingenuity — Finding a Way Through

(41:40) Closing Thoughts

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Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations:

https://ancientlyre.com/