Stoic Terms, a Glossary of Key Ideas

Stoicism comes with its own vocabulary, much of it old Greek and Latin. This glossary gathers the key terms in plain English, from the four virtues to ideas like the dichotomy of control, amor fati, and eudaimonia, so you can read the philosophy without tripping over the jargon.

Most of the words below are simpler than they look. Here is the whole toolkit, defined once and clearly.

The foundations

These are the bedrock ideas the rest of Stoicism is built on.

Stoicism. A practical philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE, built on living by reason and virtue and focusing only on what you control. Start with what Stoicism is.

Arete. The Greek word for virtue or excellence. Not moral stiffness, but being the best version of what you are, a person functioning at their full human capacity.

The four virtues. Wisdom, courage, justice, and self control. For the Stoics these were the whole of a good life, and they always work as a set.

Eudaimonia. Usually translated as happiness, but closer to flourishing or a life well lived. It is the goal of the whole philosophy, and the Stoics believed virtue alone was enough to reach it. More on eudaimonia.

Logos. The rational principle the Stoics believed runs through and orders the entire universe. Sometimes translated as reason, nature, or God, though not a personal one.

Living in agreement with nature. The Stoic summary of the goal, set down by Zeno. It means living by reason, accepting the way the world actually works, and playing your proper part in it.

The core practice

This is the day to day machinery, the moves a Stoic actually makes.

Dichotomy of control. The master skill, dividing everything into what is up to you and what is not, then spending your energy only on the first pile. This is the foundation of a clear mind.

Prohairesis. The faculty of choice, Epictetus’s word for your power to judge and decide. It is the one thing fully your own, and no one can touch it without your consent.

Impressions and assent. An impression is how something first appears to you. Assent is whether you agree with it. The Stoics taught that the gap between the two is where your freedom lives. You do not have to believe every thought that shows up.

Amor fati. Latin for love of fate, the practice of embracing everything that happens rather than merely tolerating it. See amor fati.

Premeditatio malorum. The premeditation of evils, calmly picturing what could go wrong so it cannot ambush you. More on premeditatio malorum.

Memento mori. Latin for remember you will die, used as a daily prompt to stop wasting time and live well. See memento mori.

View from above. A mental exercise of zooming out to picture your life from a great height, which shrinks most worries down to their real size. More on the view from above.

States of mind

Words for the inner weather the Stoics were aiming for, and the storms they wanted to avoid.

Apatheia. Freedom from the destructive passions. This is not apathy. The Stoic still feels, but is no longer ruled by rage, craving, and fear.

Pathos. A passion in the old sense, a strong and distorting emotion like fury or panic that clouds your judgment. The plural is pathe.

Ataraxia. Tranquility, an untroubled and steady state of mind. It is the calm that arrives once you stop fighting what you cannot control.

Eupatheia. The good feelings a wise person does have, such as genuine joy, kindly caution, and steady goodwill. Proof the Stoics were never trying to turn you to stone.

People and the world

Stoicism is not just inner work. These terms cover what you owe everyone else.

Sympatheia. The idea that everything in the universe is connected, that people are parts of one whole the way limbs belong to a body. More on sympatheia.

Oikeiosis. The natural widening of care, starting with yourself and your family and reaching outward, in principle, to all of humanity. It is the root of Stoic kindness.

Kathekon. An appropriate action, the fitting thing to do in a given situation. Roughly, your duty, read off honestly from the role you are in.

Cosmopolitanism. The view that all people are citizens of one world. Seneca put it plainly when he said the whole world is his country.

Things outside you

The Stoics had a precise way of ranking everything that is not virtue or vice.

Indifferents. Everything that is neither good nor bad in itself, which is almost everything, including health, wealth, and reputation. They cannot make you good or happy on their own.

Preferred indifferents. The indifferents any sane person would still rather have, like health and enough money. You are allowed to pursue them. You are just not allowed to lose your peace over them.

Dispreferred indifferents. The flip side, things like illness and poverty that you would reasonably rather avoid, while knowing they cannot touch your character.

That is the core vocabulary. Keep this page open while you read the rest of the site, and the old words stop being a wall and start being a map. A good next step is the four virtues, where most of these ideas meet.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most important Stoic terms to know?
The essentials are the four virtues, eudaimonia, the dichotomy of control, and the logos. Together they cover the goal of Stoicism, its method, and its view of the universe. Everything else in the vocabulary tends to branch off from these few core ideas.

Is apatheia the same as apathy?
No, and people confuse the two constantly. Apathy means not caring. Apatheia means freedom from the destructive passions like rage and panic, while still feeling love, joy, and natural concern. The Stoic goal was a clear mind, not an empty one.

What does living in agreement with nature mean?
It is the Stoic summary of the good life, first stated by Zeno. It means living by reason, accepting reality as it actually is rather than as you wish it were, and playing your proper part as a rational and social being.

What are preferred indifferents?
They are things like health, wealth, and good reputation that are not truly good but are still reasonably worth pursuing. The Stoics called them indifferent because they cannot make you virtuous or genuinely happy, yet a sensible person would still prefer them over their opposites.