Glossary of Stoic terms

This is a glossary of terms which are commonly found in Stoic philosophy.

Contents:		A D E H K L N O P S T

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adiaphora: ἀδιάφορα: indifferent things, neither good nor bad.
agathos: ἀγαθὸς: 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.
aproêgmena: 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.

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.
dogma: δόγμα: principle established by reason and experience.
doxa: δόξα: belief, opinion.

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, i.e. the correct use of impressions.
epistêmê: επιστήμη: certain and true knowledge, over and above that of katalêpsis.
eudaimonia: εὺδαιμονια: happiness, well-being.
eupatheia: ευπάθεια: good feeling, (as contrasted with pathos), occurring in the Stoic sage who performs correct (virtuous) judgements and actions.

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.

kalos: καλός: 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.

logikos: λογικός: rational.
logos: λόγος: reason, explanation, word. Also, the ordering principle in the kosmos.
logos spermatikos: λόγος σπερματικὸς: the generative principle of the Universe which creates and takes back all things.

oîêsis: 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.

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.
phantasia: φαντασία: impression, appearance, the way in which something is perceived.
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 aproêgmena.
pro(h)airesis: προαίρεσις: free will, reasoned choice, giving or withholding assent to impressions.
prokopê: προκοπή: progress, on the path towards wisdom.
prolêpsis: πρόληψις: preconception possessed by all rational beings.
psychê: ψυχή: mind, soul, life, living principle.

sophos: σοφός: wise person, virtuous sage, and the ethical ideal.
synkatathesis (or sunkatathesis): συγκατάθεσις: assent, approval to impressions, enabling action to take place.
sympatheia: συμπάθεια: sympathy, affinity of parts to the organic whole, mutual interdependence.

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.

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