View source for Ataraxia

{{Short description|Concept in Hellenistic philosophy}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Epikouros Met 11.90.jpg|thumb|299x299px|Bust of [[Epicurus]]. Achieving ''ataraxia'' is an important goal in Epicurean philosophy.]]
In [[Ancient Greek philosophy]], '''{{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}}''' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]]: {{wikt-lang|grc|ἀταραξία}}, from {{lang|grc|ἀ-}} indicating [[Alpha privative|negation or absence]] and {{lang|grc|ταρασσ-}} {{transliteration|grc|tarass-}} {{gloss|to disturb, trouble}} with the abstract noun suffix {{lang|grc|-ία}}), generally translated as {{gloss|unperturbedness}}, {{gloss|imperturbability}}, {{gloss|[[equanimity]]}}, or {{gloss|tranquility}},<ref>{{cite web|last=Seddon|first=Keith H.|title=Epictetus|website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/epictetu/}}</ref> is a lucid state of robust equanimity characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and worry. In non-philosophical usage, {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}} was the ideal mental state for soldiers entering battle.<ref>{{cite book | last=Kuzminski | first=Adrian | title=Pyrrhonism: How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism | publisher=Lexington Books | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-7391-3139-8 | page=2}}</ref> Achieving {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}} is a common goal for [[Pyrrhonism]], [[Epicureanism]], and [[Stoicism]], but the role and value of {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}} within each philosophy varies in accordance with their philosophical theories. The mental disturbances that prevent one from achieving {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}} also vary among the philosophies, and each philosophy has a different understanding as to how to achieve {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}}.

== Pyrrhonism ==
{{Pyrrhonism sidebar}}
In Pyrrhonism, {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}} is the intended result of {{transliteration|grc|[[epoché]]}} (i.e., [[suspension of judgment]]) regarding all matters of [[dogma]] (i.e., non-evident belief), which represents the central aim of Pyrrhonist practice,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Epicurus and Democritean Ethics: An Archaeology of Ataraxia.|last=Warren|first=James|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|location=New York, NY|pages=1}}</ref> that is necessary to bring about {{transliteration|grc|[[eudaimonia]]}}.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Machuca|first=Diego E.|date=2006|title=The Pyrrhonist's Ἀταραξία and Φιλανθρωπία.|url=https://philpapers.org/archive/MACTPA-6.pdf|journal=Ancient Philosophy|volume= 26| issue =  (1)1|pages=114|doi=10.5840/ancientphil200626141 }}</ref>

== Epicureanism ==
{{transliteration|grc|Ataraxia}} is a key component of the [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]] conception of pleasure ({{transliteration|grc|[[hedone]]}}), which they consider the highest good.<ref name=epicureanism>{{Cite book|title=Epicureanism|last=O'Keefe|first=Tim|publisher=University of California Press|year=2010}}</ref>{{rp|117–121}} Epicureans break pleasure down into two categories: the physical and the mental.{{r|epicureanism|pages=117–121}} They consider mental, not physical, pleasures to be of high importance because physical pleasures exist only in the present; while mental pleasures exist in the past, the present, and the future.{{r|epicureanism|pages=118–119}} Epicureans further separate pleasure into what they call {{transliteration|grc|kinetic}} pleasure, those that come about through action or change,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics: An Introduction to Hellenistic Philosophy|last=Sharples|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=1996|location=New York|pages=91–92}}</ref> and {{transliteration|grc|katastematic}} pleasures, those that come about through an absence of distress.{{r|epicureanism|pages=119–120}} Those who achieved freedom from physical disturbance were said to be in a state of {{transliteration|grc|aponia}}, while those who achieved freedom from mental disturbances were said to be in a state of {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}}.{{r|epicureanism|pages=119–120}} {{transliteration|grc|Ataraxia}}, as both a mental and {{transliteration|grc|katastematic}} pleasure, is key to a person's happiness.{{r|epicureanism|page=120}}

== Stoicism ==
In Stoicism, unlike Pyrrhonism or Epicureanism, {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}}, or tranquillity of the mind,<ref name=Striker>{{Cite journal|last=Striker|first=Gisela|title=Ataraxia |date=1990|journal=The Monist|volume=73|issue=1|pages=97–110 |doi=10.5840/monist199073121}}</ref>{{rp|100–101}} is not the ultimate goal of life. Instead, the goal is a life of virtue according to nature,{{r|Striker|page=99}} which is intended to bring about {{transliteration|grc|[[apatheia]]}}, the absence of unhealthy passions. However, since Stoics in a state of {{transliteration|grc|apatheia}} do not care about matters outside of themselves and are not susceptible to emotion, they would be unable to be disturbed by anything at all,<ref>{{cite book|first=Steven K.|last=Strange|year=2004|chapter=The Stoics on the Voluntariness of Passion|title=Stoicism: Traditions and Transformations|page=37|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> meaning that they were also in a stage of mental tranquillity and thus in a state of {{transliteration|grc|ataraxia}}.{{r|Striker|pages=100–101}}

== See also ==
* [[Nafs#The nafs at peace (an-nafs al-muṭmaʾinnah)|Nafs al-mutma'innah]]
* [[Upekṣā]]

== References ==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wiktionary|ataraxia|ἀταραξία}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Ancient Greek philosophical concepts}}
{{Epicureanism}}
{{Virtues}}

[[Category:Concepts in ancient Greek ethics]]
[[Category:Concepts in ancient Greek philosophy of mind]]
[[Category:Epicureanism]]
[[Category:Happiness]]
[[Category:Pyrrhonism]]
[[Category:Theories in ancient Greek philosophy]]