Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as ataraxia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The freedom from mental disturbance; imperturbability, dogged indifference.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French ataraxie, from Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxia, "impassiveness"), from ἀ- (a-, "not") + ταράσσω (tarassō, "I disturb").

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Examples

  • This fear is one source of perturbation (tarakhê), and is a worse curse than physical pain itself; the absence of such fear is ataraxy, lack of perturbation, and ataraxy, together with freedom from physical pain, is one way of specifying the goal of life, for Epicurus.

    Epicurus Konstan, David 2009

  • The first sighs for nothing but repose and liberty; he desires only to live, and to be exempt from labour; nay, the ataraxy of the most confirmed Stoic falls short of his consummate indifference for every other object.

    Second Part 1909

  • The first sighs for nothing but repose and liberty; he desires only to live, and to be exempt from labour; nay, the ataraxy of the most confirmed Stoic falls short of his consummate indifference for every other object.

    A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation Of The Inequality Among Mankind Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1745

  • Where law obtains, Epicurus indicates, it is preferable not to commit crimes, even secret ones, since there will always be anxiety over the possibility of detection, and this will disrupt the tranquillity or ataraxy that is the chief basis of happiness in life (see Principal Beliefs = KD 34 “ 35).

    Epicurus Konstan, David 2009

  • ‘multiloquy’ (Beaumont, _Psyche_); if ‘dyscolous’ (Foxe), ‘ataraxy

    English Past and Present Richard Chenevix Trench 1846

  • "Apathy -- ataraxy -- complete indifference -- is the highest aim after which the soul of the skeptic strives.

    A Thorny Path — Volume 08 Georg Ebers 1867

  • "Apathy -- ataraxy -- complete indifference -- is the highest aim after which the soul of the skeptic strives.

    A Thorny Path — Complete Georg Ebers 1867

  • "Apathy -- ataraxy -- complete indifference -- is the highest aim after which the soul of the skeptic strives.

    Complete Project Gutenberg Georg Ebers Works Georg Ebers 1867

  • "Apathy -- ataraxy -- complete indifference -- is the highest aim after which the soul of the skeptic strives.

    A Thorny Path — Volume 08 Georg Ebers 1867

  • "Apathy -- ataraxy -- complete indifference -- is the highest aim after which the soul of the skeptic strives.

    A Thorny Path — Volume 08 Georg Ebers 1867

Comments

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  • "...the coca leaves ... sharpened the mind wonderfully; and he welcomed the prospect of that familiar taste... and the calming of his spirit in what he termed 'a virtuous ataraxy, a freedom that owed nothing to alcohol... nor even to his old love opium..."

    --O'Brian, The Wine-Dark Sea, 3

    March 11, 2008

  • This word always sounded to me like the opposite of what it means.

    March 11, 2008

  • See ataraxia.

    March 12, 2008

  • I know that one could correctly use ataraxia in a sentence

    "I feel in a state of ataraxia"

    But it seems incorrect to say

    "I feel ataraxic"

    or, "I feel a feeling of ataraxy"

    March 6, 2009