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. 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". One of the four virtues.
;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, occurring in the Stoic sage who performs correct judgements and actions.
H
;hêgemonikon: ἡγεμονικόν: ruling faculty of the mind.;heimarmenê: εἱμαρμένη: fate, destiny.
;hormê: ὁρμή: positive impulse or appetite towards an object. 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.
;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.
;proairesis: 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
;psychê: ψυχή: mind, soul, life, living principle.
S
;sophos: σοφός: wise person, virtuous sage, and the ethical ideal.;synkatathesis : 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.