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: φρόνησῐς: 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.