Glossary

Stoic glossary

The terms of Stoic philosophy defined from the texts themselves, in the public-domain editions the site cites. Each entry gives the definition, the passages where the idea is set out with their locator, and what the term does not mean.

• Adiaphora

  ἀδιάφορα (adiaphora)

  Adiaphora, the Stoic indifferents: neither good nor bad, with the exact passages in Long 1862, Long 1877 and Carter 1758, and the misreadings to avoid.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VI, 32 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XI, 16 · Epictetus, Enchiridion, XXXII

• Amor fati

  amor fati (latin)

  Amor fati is Nietzsche’s phrase, not Marcus Aurelius’s: where it comes from, which Stoic passages come closest, and why no ancient reference fits it.

  No Stoic source for the term itself

• Apatheia

  ἀπάθεια (apatheia)

  Apatheia, the Stoic freedom from passion: what Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius meant by it, with the exact passages in the Carter 1758 and Long 1862 texts.

  Epictetus, Enchiridion, XII · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VIII, 48 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XI, 18

• Ataraxia

  ἀταραξία (ataraxia)

  Ataraxia, the untroubled mind: how Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and Seneca describe it, with the passages in the Carter, Long and Stewart editions.

  Epictetus, Enchiridion, XII · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, IV, 3 · Seneca, On a Happy Life, IV

• Dichotomy of control

  τὰ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν / τὰ οὐκ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν (ta eph’ hēmin, ta ouk eph’ hēmin)

  What the dichotomy of control means in Epictetus’s Enchiridion and in Marcus Aurelius, with the exact passages in Carter’s 1758 and Long’s 1862 editions.

  Epictetus, Enchiridion, I · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VIII, 47

• Eudaimonia

  εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia)

  Eudaimonia for the Stoics: why happiness lies in virtue alone, unlike in Aristotle, with the exact passages of Seneca (Stewart 1889) and Long 1862.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VII, 17 · Seneca, On a Happy Life, XVI · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, V, 34

• Hegemonikon

  ἡγεμονικόν (hēgemonikon)

  Hegemonikon, the Stoic ruling faculty: what Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus meant by it, with the exact passages in George Long’s 1862 and 1877 translations.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, V, 11 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VIII, 48 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XII, 33

• Inner citadel

  ἀκρόπολις (akropolis)

  The inner citadel is Pierre Hadot’s 1992 phrase, not Marcus Aurelius’s: the citadel of Meditations VIII, 48 in Long’s 1862 text, and what it means.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VIII, 48 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, IV, 3

• Kathekon

  καθῆκον (kathekon)

  Kathekon, the Stoic fitting act or duty: how Epictetus measures it by relations and Marcus by parts, with the exact passages in Carter 1758 and Long 1862.

  Epictetus, Enchiridion, XXX · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VI, 26

• Living according to nature

  ὁμολογουμένως τῇ φύσει ζῆν (homologoumenōs tēi physei zēn) / secundum naturam vivere (latin)

  What living according to nature means in Seneca’s Letters 5 and 16 and in Marcus Aurelius, with the exact passages in Gummere’s and Long’s editions.

  Seneca, Letter 5, §4 · Seneca, Letter 16, §7 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, I, 17

• Memento mori

  memento mori (latin)

  Memento mori in Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius: the passages that carry the exercise, in the Gummere, Carter and Long editions, and its misreadings.

  Epictetus, Enchiridion, XXI · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, IV, 17 · Seneca, Letter 26, §10

• Premeditatio malorum

  praemeditatio malorum (latin)

  Premeditatio malorum, the rehearsal of evils: Seneca’s Letter 91, Epictetus’s Enchiridion IV and Meditations II, 1, with editions and misreadings.

  Seneca, Letter 91, §4 · Epictetus, Enchiridion, IV · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, II, 1

• Prohairesis

  προαίρεσις (prohairesis)

  Prohairesis, the faculty of choice in Epictetus: what the word means, how Carter and Long translated it, and the Enchiridion chapters that define it.

  Epictetus, Enchiridion, IX · Epictetus, Enchiridion, XXX

• Prosoche

  προσοχή (prosochē)

  Prosoche, Stoic attention: what Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius meant by it, with the exact passages in Long’s 1862 and 1877 texts and Carter’s Enchiridion.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VIII, 22 · Epictetus, Enchiridion, XXXIII · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XI, 37

• Reserve clause

  ὑπεξαίρεσις, μεθ’ ὑπεξαιρέσεως (hypexairesis, meth’ hypexaireseōs)

  Acting with reservation, the Stoic reserve clause: what Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus wrote, the exact passages in Long 1862, and why the name is modern.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VI, 50 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VIII, 41 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XI, 37

• Stoic sage

  ὁ σοφός (ho sophos), lat. sapiens

  The Stoic sage: why nothing can harm him, why he still feels, and why he is rare, with the passages of Seneca (Stewart 1889, Gummere) and Carter 1758.

  Seneca, On the Firmness of the Wise Man, VII · Seneca, Letter 9, §3 · Epictetus, Enchiridion, L

• Sympatheia

  συμπάθεια (sympatheia)

  Sympatheia, the Stoic bond of all things: the Meditations passages that state it (VI, 38; VII, 9; II, 1) in Long’s 1862 edition, and its misreadings.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VII, 9 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VI, 38 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, II, 1

• View from above

  ἄνωθεν ἐπιθεωρεῖν (anōthen epitheōrein)

  The view from above in Marcus Aurelius, Meditations IX, 30 and XII, 24: the exact passages in Long’s 1862 edition, and why the label itself is modern.

  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, IX, 30 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XII, 24 · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VII, 48