Glossary of Stoicism terms

Glossary of terms commonly found in Stoic philosophy.

A

adiaphora: ἀδιάφορα: indifferent things, neither good nor bad.

agathos: ἀγαθός: good, proper object of desire.

anthrôpos: ἄνθρωπος: human being, used by Epictetus to express an ethical ideal.

apatheia: ἀπάθεια: serenity, peace of mind, such as that achieved by the Stoic sage.

aphormê: ἀφορμή: aversion, impulse not to act (as a result of ekklisis). Opposite of hormê.

apoproêgmena: ἀποπροηγμένα: dispreferred things. Morally indifferent but naturally undesirable things, such as illness. Opposite of proêgmena.

aretê: ἀρετή: Virtue. Goodness and human excellence.

askêsis: ἄσκησις: disciplined training designed to achieve virtue.

ataraxia: ἀταραξία: tranquillity, untroubled by external things.

autarkeia: αὐτάρκεια: self-sufficiency, mental independence of all things.

D

daimôn: δαίμων: divine spirit within humans.

diairesis: διαίρεσις: analysis, division into parts. Used when distinguishing what is subject to our power of choice from what is not.

dikaiosyne: δικαιοσύνε: justice, "consonant with the law and instrumental to a sense of duty" (Diogenes Laertius 7.98). One of the four virtues (justice, courage, temperance, wisdom/prudence).

dogma: δόγμα: principle established by reason and experience.

doxa: δόξα: belief, opinion.

E

ekklisis: ἔκκλισις: aversion, inclination away from a thing. Opposite of orexis.

ekpyrôsis: ἐκπύρωσις: cyclical conflagration of the Universe.

eph' hêmin: ἐφ' ἡμῖν: up to us, what is in our power, e.g. the correct use of impressions.

epistêmê: ἐπιστήμη: certain and true knowledge, over and above that of katalêpsis.

eudaimonia: εὐδαιμονία: happiness, well-being.

eupatheia: εὐπάθεια: good feeling (as contrasted with pathos), occurring in the Stoic sage who performs correct (virtuous) judgements and actions.

H

hêgemonikon: ἡγεμονικόν: ruling faculty of the mind.

heimarmenê: εἱμαρμένη: fate, destiny.

hormê: ὁρμή: positive impulse or appetite towards an object (as a result of orexis). Opposite of aphormê.

hylê: ὕλη: matter, material.

K

kalos: κάλος: beautiful. Sometimes used in a moral sense: honourable, virtuous.

katalêpsis: κατάληψις: clear comprehension and conviction.

kathêkon: καθῆκον: duty, appropriate action on the path to Virtue.

kosmos: κόσμος: order, world, universe.

L

logikos: λογικός: rational.

logos: λόγος: reason, explanation, word, argument. Also, the ordering principle in the kosmos.

logos spermatikos: λόγος σπερματικός: the generative principle of the Universe which creates and takes back all things.

N

nomos: νόμος: law, custom.

O

oiêsis: οἴησις: opinion, usually arrogant or self-conceited.

oikeiôsis: οἰκείωσις: self-ownership and extension. The process of self-awareness in all animals, which in humans leads to a sense of community.

orexis: ὄρεξις: desire, inclination towards a thing. Opposite of ekklisis.

ousia: οὐσία: substance, being.

P

paideia: παιδεία: training, education.

palingenesia: παλιγγενεσία: periodic renewal of the world associated with ekpyrôsis.

pathos: πάθος: passion or emotion, often excessive and based on false judgements.

phantasiai: φαντασία: impression, appearance, the way in which something is perceived.

phronesis: φρόνησις: prudence, practical virtue and practical wisdom, or, colloquially, sense (as in "good sense", "horse sense").

physis: φύσις: nature.

pneuma: πνεῦμα: air, breath, spirit, often as a principle in Stoic physics.

proêgmena:προηγμένα: preferred things. Morally indifferent but naturally desirable things, such as health. Opposite of apoproêgmena.

proficiens: Latin for prokoptôn.

pro(h)airesis: προαίρεσις: free will, reasoned choice, giving or withholding assent to impressions.

prokopê: προκοπή: progress, on the path towards wisdom.

prokoptôn: προκόπτων: Stoic disciple. A person making progress. Even though one has not obtained the wisdom of a sage; when appropriate actions are increasingly chosen, fewer and fewer mistakes will be made, and one will be prokoptôn, making progress.

prolêpsis: πρόληψις: preconception possessed by all rational beings.

prosochē: προσοχή: attitude and practice of attention, mindfulness. State of continuous, vigilant, and unrelenting attentiveness to oneself (prohairesis)

psychê: ψυχή: mind, soul, life, living principle.

S

sophos: σοφός: wise person, virtuous sage, and the ethical ideal.

synkatathesis (sunkatathesis): συγκατάθεσις: assent, approval to impressions, enabling action to take place.

sympatheia: συμπάθεια: sympathy, affinity of parts to the organic whole, mutual interdependence.

T

technê: τέχνη: craft, art. The practical application of knowledge, especially epistêmê.

telos: τέλος: goal or objective of life.

theôrêma: θεώρημα: general principle or perception.

theos: θεός: god; associated with the order in the Universe.

tonos: τόνος: tension, a principle in Stoic physics causing attraction and repulsion, and also the cause of virtue and vice in the soul.

References

• Devettere, R., Glossary, in Introduction to Virtue Ethics: Insights of the Ancient Greeks, pp. 139–154. Georgetown University Press. (2002).
• Haines, C., Glossary of Greek terms, in Marcus Aurelius, pp. 411–416. Loeb Classical Library. (1916).
• Inwood, B., Gerson L., Glossary, in Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings, pp. 399–409. Hackett Publishing. (1997).
• Long, A. A., Glossary, in A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life, pp. 275–276. Oxford University Press. (2002)
• Schofield, M., Index and Glossary of Greek terms, in The Stoic Idea of the City, pp. 171–172. Cambridge University Press. (1991).