An extreme movement of the soul caused by irrational judgements about what is good or bad.
They are disruptive to our capacity to reason, and not conducive to a happy life.
For example, extreme anger, grief, jealousy, or anxiety.
A main goal of Stoicism is to achieve apathy, a life without passions.
This not just because passions are often painful, but also because they are, definitionally based on false judgements.
For example, the pride you feel from falsely believing you are better than other people may feel pleasant in the moment, but it is not a healthy emotion.
Greek: Pathos
πάθος.
Book: Essential Stoic Concepts
Subtitle: A Stoic glossary
Author: Stoa
Chapter: Passion
Location: Chapter 23, Section 2
Content:
An extreme movement of the soul caused by irrational judgements about what is good or bad.
They are disruptive to our capacity to reason, and not conducive to a happy life.
For example, extreme anger, grief, jealousy, or anxiety.
A main goal of Stoicism is to achieve apathy, a life without passions.
This not just because passions are often painful, but also because they are, definitionally based on false judgements.
For example, the pride you feel from falsely believing you are better than other people may feel pleasant in the moment, but it is not a healthy emotion.
Greek: Pathos
πάθος.