Essential Stoic Concepts - Impulse
Book Subtitle: A Stoic glossary
Book Description: These are the most important concepts in Stoic philosophy.
Chapter: 18 of 32
Sections: 1
Author: Stoa
A psychological pull or motivation to acquire or do something.
It is the consequence of assenting to an impression that something is beneficial for you, or an action is appropriate.
For the Stoics, all human action is the result of impulses.
This is why it is so important to assent to impressions carefully.
We do not feel impulses without beliefs, and we do not feel beliefs without assent.
Epictetus argues that the first step of progress in Stoicism is to suspend judgement about what is good and bad temporarily.
Part of his argument is that the average person is being pulled around by so many impulses, they cannot even focus on the project of philosophy.
Greek: Hormē
ὁρμή.
Book: Essential Stoic Concepts
Subtitle: A Stoic glossary
Author: Stoa
Chapter: Impulse (Chapter 18 of 32)
Sections in this chapter:
Section 2:
A psychological pull or motivation to acquire or do something.
It is the consequence of assenting to an impression that something is beneficial for you, or an action is appropriate.
For the Stoics, all human action is the result of impulses.
This is why it is so important to assent to impressions carefully.
We do not feel impulses without beliefs, and we do not feel beliefs without assent.
Epictetus argues that the first step of progress in Stoicism is to suspend judgement about what is good and bad temporarily.
Part of his argument is that the average person is being pulled around by so many impulses, they cannot even focus on the project of philosophy.
Greek: Hormē
ὁρμή.