Place in the book. The ontological ground of sociability: the very mind of the Whole is social. The discipline of desire (contemplating the providential order), with a secondary of action (grounding κοινωνία).

The mind of the Whole is social. "The TERMmind (νοῦς) of the Whole is TERMsocial (κοινωνικός)." The cosmic reason by its very nature institutes community — and human sociability is its local reflection: we are social because the mind that governs the cosmos is social.

The providential order. DOGMA"It made the worse for the sake of the better, and fitted the better to one another" — a purposive hierarchy (inanimate → plants → animals → rational beings). "It subordinated (ὑπέταξε), coordinated (συνέταξε), TERMassigned to each its due according to worth (κατ' ἀξίαν)." Providence is reason ordering all for the good of the Whole, not blind chance.

The concord of the best. The summit of the order is that "DOGMAit brought the most excellent (τὰ κρατιστεύοντα) into concord (ὁμόνοια) with one another": not merely the subordination of the lower, but the agreement of the rational. The cosmos as a city of rational beings bound by ὁμόνοια. Cf. the unity of the cosmos (the ontological bond) and 05-16 (the good of a rational being lies in κοινωνία).

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is desire (contemplating the providential-social order); the secondary is action (the social mind of the Whole grounds our own sociality). Parallels: 04-45 (rational co-ordination, a "wonderful kinship"); Med. 7.55; 9.1; 05-16.