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).