Glossary of Key Terms

Aversion (ἔκκλισις, ekklisis). The movement away from something judged harmful or fearful. Epictetus directs aversion only toward failures of judgment and choice, the things that are up to us.

Assumption (ὑπόληψις, hypolēpsis). The belief already riding on an impression before it has been examined. It is looser and more immediate than a settled judgment.

Desire (ὄρεξις, orexis). The movement toward something judged good. Training begins by withdrawing desire from externals, whose arrival never depends entirely on us.

Duty (καθῆκον, kathēkon). The action owed by a person in a particular role or relationship. Chapter 30 defines duty through the claims of a father, a brother, and a fellow citizen.

Equanimity (ἀπάθεια, apatheia). Freedom from the disordered passions, rather than numbness or indifference to other people. Epictetus can ask a student to sympathize outwardly while keeping the ruling faculty steady within.

Impression (φαντασία, phantasia). Whatever first appears to the senses or mind, before assent. An impression may include an instant interpretation, which is why Epictetus tells the reader to stop and test it.

Impulse (ὁρμή, hormē). The mind’s movement toward action. A trained impulse remains responsive to reason and to the duties of the role at hand.

Judgment (δόγμα, dogma). A belief the mind has accepted and holds. Things do not disturb us by themselves; the decisive disturbance comes from the judgment attached to them.

Layman (ἰδιώτης, idiōtēs). A private or untrained person, and in the Handbook specifically someone untrained in philosophy. The word marks the difference between repeating principles and living them.

Progress (προκοπή, prokopē). Advance in the practice of philosophy. Its evidence appears in conduct under pressure, not in a display of learning.

Ruling mind (ἡγεμονικόν, hēgemonikon). The governing faculty that receives impressions and gives or withholds assent. It is the inner seat of judgment from which deliberate action proceeds.

Tranquility (ἀταραξία, ataraxia). The condition of being untroubled. This translation keeps it distinct from equanimity, the freedom from disordered passion.

Up to us (what is) (τὰ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν, ta eph’ hēmin). What depends on us and is genuinely our own doing. The phrase avoids the broader promise of “control,” since bodies, outcomes, and other people remain exposed to the world.

Will (προαίρεσις, prohairesis). The standing faculty that evaluates impressions and chooses whether to assent. It names the core of the self more closely than a single act of choice or an effort of willpower.