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Ataraxia

Did you mean: Ataraxia, Ataraxia (band), Ataraxia (Lyrics - Everclear), Ataraxia (2005 Album by Bernhard Günter/Heribert Friedl)

 
Dictionary: At·a·rax·i·a

At·a·rax·y , n.

[NL. ataraxia, Gr. 'ataraxi`a; 'a priv. + tarakto`s disturbed, tara`ssein to disturb.]
Perfect peace of mind, or calmness.


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Wordsmith Words: ataraxia
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(at-uh-RAK-see-uh)

noun
A state of freedom from disturbance of mind. Also known as ataraxy.

Etymology
From Greek ataraktos (not disturbed), from tarassein (to disturb)

Usage
"Once ataraxia has been achieved, happiness cannot be augmented, either by more accomplishments or by a longer life." — David Voron; When Death Comes Knockin' Who Ya Gonna Call?; Skeptic (Altadena, California); Jan 2005.


Dental Dictionary: ataraxia
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(at′ərak′sē-ə)
n

A state of complete serenity without impairment of mental or physical functions.

Philosophy Dictionary: ataraxia
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The state of tranquillity or imperturbability considered by both the Epicureans and the Stoics to be the highest form of happiness and proper goal of life.

Veterinary Dictionary: ataraxia
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A state of detached serenity without depression of mental faculties or impairment of consciousness.

Obscure Words: ataraxia
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[ad. Gk, impassiveness]  /ad eh RAK see eh/  also ataraxy
calmness untroubled by emotional disquiet: intellectual detachment, imperturbability; perfect peace of mind
Wikipedia: Ataraxia
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Ataraxia (Ἀταραξία) is a Greek term used by Pyrrho and Epicurus for a lucid state, characterized by freedom from worry or any other preoccupation.

For the Epicureans, ataraxia was synonymous with the only true happiness possible for a person. It signifies the state of robust tranquility that derives from eschewing faith in an afterlife, not fearing the gods because they are distant and unconcerned with us, avoiding politics and vexatious people, surrounding oneself with trustworthy and affectionate friends and, most importantly, being an affectionate, virtuous person, worthy of trust.

For the Pyrrhonians, owing to one's inability to say which sense impressions are true and which ones are false, it is the quietude that arises from suspending judgment on dogmatic beliefs or anything non-evident and continuing to inquire. The experience was said to have fallen on the painter Apelles who was trying to paint the foamy saliva of a horse. He was so unsuccessful that, in a rage, he gave up and threw the sponge he was cleaning his brushes with at the medium, thus producing the effect of the horse's foam.[1]

The Stoics, too, sought mental tranquility, and saw ataraxia as something to be desired and often made use of the term, but for them the analogous state, attained by the Stoic sage, was apatheia or absence of passion.[2]

In popular culture

In the movie Lucky Number Slevin, the title character claims to suffer from Ataraxia, which he describes as "a condition characterized by freedom from worry or any other preoccupation."

Ataraxia is also the name of a Italian musical group, which released its first album in 1991. Their music borrows from the sounds in the Middle Ages with an atmospheric feeling.

American music band Team Sleep named a track on their only album Ataraxia.

Boston-based band Cave In also have a track called "Ataraxia" on their 2005 album Perfect Pitch Black.

The sequel to the popular eroge visual novel Fate/Stay Night is named Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. it borrows heavily in themes from the etymology of the word.

The popular 1960 science fiction story Houston Houston, do you read? mentions ataraxia as the heroes are drugged to show their emotions.

The media intro track for the American rock band Everclear's song "Wonderful" is called Ataraxia.

Notes

  1. ^ Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Translated by R.G. Bury, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1933., p. 19, ISBN 0-674-99301-2
  2. ^ Steven K. Strange, (2004), The Stoics on the Voluntariness of Passion in Stoicism: Traditions and Transformations, page 37. Cambridge University Press.

See also



 
 

Did you mean: Ataraxia, Ataraxia (band), Ataraxia (Lyrics - Everclear), Ataraxia (2005 Album by Bernhard Günter/Heribert Friedl)

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Dictionary. Webster 1913 Dictionary edited by Patrick J. Cassidy  Read more
Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved.  Read more
Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ataraxia" Read more

 

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