ChatGPT Calls Stoic Philosophy 'Radicalism'

Mini-scroll with Sotiris Rex and ChatGPT

Perhaps it is cheeky of me to refer to the following as a “mini-scroll,” but I think

The Starfire Codes

will see it as an homage to her epic—and increasingly Substack-famous—Saturday feature called The Scroll. This will be just a short snippet of conversation, though, so maybe it would be better to call it a micro-scroll. Or whatever. Aaaanyway…

It began with this post from

Sotiris Rex

:

First of all—the faces of the Stoics, at least as portrayed in their statues, make them look like absolute philosopher-badasses. And Sotiris is right. Democracy is a full-blown scam.

I replied,

Here too, I was being cheeky, in that I made it sound like I was asking Sotiris to do my research for me. In reality, I planned to look into Zenon/Zeno further, since I already love everything I’ve learned about other Stoics. But I did want to hear if he had any particular interesting tidbit.

His response was fair enough,

and it caused me to wonder what ChatGPT might say.

So far, my experience with ChatGPT has been pretty good. It makes errors, but it seems to try to answer my questions honestly.

However, I have also noticed it sliding in little bits of political correctness and regime-friendly talking points. And we all know what is likely coming next. Just as Google once did honest searches but then became increasingly curated to establish a narrative, we can expect ChatGPT to do the same.

So I (half-jokingly) said,

And then I went over to ChatGPT to find out.

My goal, however, was not to trick ChatGPT into saying anything like that. I really did just want to learn a bit more. My first prompt was just the words “Zenon of Citium,” as if I were doing any search-engine search.

The response was biographical in nature: birthplace, influences, core ideas, etc. I wanted to hear more about the voluntaryism part, so this was my next prompt:

“I have heard him described as the father of stateless voluntaryism.”

Note the noncommittal nature of of the prompt. I am not leading, or revealing any personal inclinations; I am simply giving ChatGPT the opportunity to express its own “opinion.”

Here was the response:

---

That’s a provocative and intriguing description — Zeno of Citium as the “father of stateless voluntaryism” — and while it’s not historically conventional, there is a philosophical basis for interpreting him that way, particularly if one reads Stoicism through a political-libertarian or anarchist lens.

Why Might Zeno Be Called the "Father of Stateless Voluntaryism"?

1. His Republic (Politeia)

Zeno’s lost work Republic (Politeia) diverged sharply from Plato’s vision:

• No courts, no law codes, no police, no temples, no money, no government in the conventional sense.

• All people would live as friends, guided by reason and virtue rather than external coercion or laws.

• He envisioned a society where self-governing individuals lived in harmony with nature and with one another.

This anticipates many core elements of voluntaryism, which emphasizes:

• Non-coercion

• Voluntary association

• Natural law over statutory law

• Skepticism of centralized authority

2. Influence from the Cynics

Zeno was heavily influenced by Cynicism, particularly Diogenes of Sinope, who famously rejected social conventions, state authority, and artificial institutions.

Zeno's Stoicism keeps the Cynic ethic of self-rule and inner freedom, but systematizes it into a universal rational order.

3. Emphasis on Inner Law and Moral Autonomy

• For Zeno, the wise man is self-sufficient and obeys the law of nature, not arbitrary political laws.

• Moral law is universal and internal, not enforced by state violence.

This fits the voluntaryist ideal of individual sovereignty and ethical self-governance without a monopolistic state.

Cautions:

• Zeno was not an anarchist in a modern sense, and the term "voluntaryism" is post-Enlightenment.

• His Stoic successors (e.g. Seneca, Marcus Aurelius) often worked within state structures, not against them.

• There’s no evidence Zeno actively opposed state authority as a political activist; rather, he proposed an ideal society grounded in virtue rather than law.

Conclusion:

Calling Zeno the “father of stateless voluntaryism” is a philosophical reinterpretation, not a historical classification — but it's defensible if we mean that he:

• Rejected coercive institutions in his ideal society

• Advocated for voluntary cooperation guided by reason and virtue

• Believed moral law comes from nature, not government

Would you like a quote from later Stoics that supports this interpretation, or a summary comparison between Zeno’s Republic and Plato’s?

---

This seemed pretty neutral, which is good.

Responding to the verbiage in one of its bullet points, I next asked the question that any good market-anarchist would ask:

“Did he propose any system of voluntary institutions for dealing with those who choose not to ‘live as friends, guided by reason and virtue’?

And that’s when it happened: ChatGPT’s response began with this:

Excellent and incisive question — and one that touches the very heart of the limitations (or radicalism) in Zeno’s vision. (emphasis mine)

Now, one could argue that ChatGPT didn’t mean “radicalism” in the sense of “a philosophy that is a threat to the state,” but rather in the sense that it is radical to suggest that people can “live as friends, guided by reason and virtue” without any institutions to deal with criminals and irrational people. I get that. It could be either.

But I do find it very interesting that the word I imagined it might sneak in, as part of a sub rosa regime-friendly narrative, is exactly the word it ended up using.