Apatheia
InStoic philosophy,apatheia(Greek:ἀπάθεια;froma-'without', andpathos'suffering, passion') refers to astate of mindin which one is not disturbed by thepassions.It might better be translated by the wordequanimitythan the wordindifference.The meaning of the wordapatheiais quite different from that of the modern Englishapathy,which has a distinctly negative connotation that includes feelings of inertness, indifference, and impassiveness. According to the Stoics,apatheiawas the quality that characterized thesage.[1]
Philosophy[edit]
WhereasAristotlehad claimed thatvirtuewas to be found in thegolden meanbetween an excess and a deficiency of emotion (metriopatheia), the Stoics thought that living virtuously provided freedom from thepassions,resulting inapatheia.[2]It meant eradicating the tendency to react emotionally or egotistically to external events, the things that cannot be controlled. For Stoics, it was the optimally rational response to the world, for things cannot be controlled if they are caused by the will of others or by Nature; only one's own will can be controlled. That did not mean a loss of feeling, or total disengagement from the world. The Stoic who performs correct (virtuous) judgments and actions as part of the world order experiences contentment (eudaimonia) and good feelings (eupatheia).
Pain is slight if opinion has added nothing to it;... in thinking it slight, you will make it slight. Everything depends on opinion; ambition, luxury, greed, hark back to opinion. It is according to opinion that we suffer.... So let us also win the way to victory in all our struggles, – for the reward is... virtue, steadfastness of soul, and a peace that is won for all time.
Rivals of Apatheia[edit]
Followers ofEpicuruswere the main opponents of stoicism and apatheia. Instead of apatheia, they believed in a similar form of living which isataraxia,a related concept inEpicureanism.Some Latin Stoic authors, such asSeneca the Youngeruse the term interchangeably withapatheia.In Epicureanism ataraxia comes from freedom from pain and fear and results in a life full of tranquility, imperturbability, and without trouble. The main difference between these terms is how it is achieved. Apatheia was seen as a byproduct of living a virtuous life and was not a goal for Stoics to directly attempt to achieve. For followers of Epicurus, ataraxia was a goal that could be achieved through the avoidance of pain which comes primarily from social and political life.[2]
Religion[edit]
The term was later adopted byPlotinusin his development ofNeoplatonism,in whichapatheiawas the soul's freedom from emotion achieved when it reaches its purified state. It passed intoearly Christianteaching in whichapatheiameant freedom from unruly urges or compulsions and instead replace them with new and better energy. This practice often times leads toasceticism.Apatheia and asceticism are often times connected to each other. It is believed that apatheia is the precondition for beginning the pursuit of an intimate and direct knowledge of God that initiates us into sanctity while asceticism is the direct seeking of this knowledge. Apatheia has been used to describe God in as early as the 1st century byIgnatius of Antioch.[3]It is still used in that sense inOrthodox Christian spirituality,and especially inmonastic practice.
Apatheia has many different interpretations and uses in the religious world that cause for debate over which viewpoint is the best one.Evagrius Ponticusbelieved there to be eight passions that the soul must be free of which include lust, gluttony, pride, envy, greed, boredom, anger, and self-love. These passions were described to be unnatural movements of the souls. Apatheia would be used to help reach the point where the mind is independent of the bodily senses.Maximus the Confessorbelieved in the same eight unnatural passions but he instead uses apatheia to transform the passions intoagape,or non-egoistic love.[4]
See also[edit]
- Hesychia,or stillness
- Upekkha,a related concept described inBuddhism
- Vairagya,a related concept in Hindu philosophy.
References[edit]
- ^Sorabji, Richard (2002).Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation.Oxford University Press.ISBN0199256608.
- ^abPigliucci, Massimo."Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy".
- ^Fagerberg, David (2013).On Liturgical Asceticism.The Catholic University of America Press.ISBN9780813221175.
- ^Nguyen, Joseph (2018).Apatheia in the Christian Tradition: An Ancient Spirituality and Its Contemporary Relevance.Wipf & Stock Publishers.ISBN9781532645181.