Stoicism: What is Ataraxia?
By: Steven Gambardella
Tags: Mental Health, History, Philosophy, Self, Psychology

There’s a story told by the historian Diogenes Laertius of the ancient Greek philosopher Pyrrho’s amazing ability to remain calm, even when in great danger.

The philosopher was travelling on a ship when a storm struck. His fellow passengers were terrified that the ship might wreck in the storm as it was tossed about by enormous waves.

Pyrrho, however, remained “calm and serene and, pointing to a little pig on the ship that was eating away, said that the wise man ought to repose in just such a state of freedom from disturbance.”

The pig was in just as much danger as its fellow passengers, but ate in blissful ignorance. Pyrrho thought that a man would be wise to be as serene as the pig was, since everybody on board the ship had no more control over the situation than the pig had.

The state of mind Pyrrho is referring to is “ataraxia”, a crucial concept to ancient philosophy that was somehow lost to the modern world. The word roughly translates to “unperturbed” (or literally: “without (mental) trouble”).

The word is central to three of the ancient world’s most prominent philosophies: Skepticism, Epicureanism and Stoicism. Each of these “Hellenistic” philosophies had their own approach to achieving ataraxia.

The Hellenistic philosophies emerged at a time of crisis for Ancient Greek civilisation (“Hellenism” comes from the word “Hellas”, the original name of Greece). Alexander the Great, having conquered much of the known world and all the Greek city states, had died suddenly, aged just 32, in 323 BC.

His empire was carved up between a number of claimed successors who fought constantly in the decades following. It was also a time that Greek cultural influence was at its peak across the Mediterranean world, the Middle East and Central Asia. This was thanks, in large part, to Alexander’s conquests.

In the chaos and bloodshed that followed Alexander’s death, many schools of Philosophy emerged that sought to help people achieve happiness in one way or another. These schools inherited ideas from the titans of Greek philosophy: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, but focused more on the practical benefits that philosophy can bring.

For that reason, ataraxia is what the three major Hellenistic philosophies have in common. The state of mind is an objective for anybody seeking a sense of balance and calm, especially in times of uncertainty and crisis.

Serenity in the Face of Danger

Ataraxia was often used in a military context, it was the ideal unfazed state of mind for a soldier before they go into battle. The soldier should neither be scared nor should they be excessively brave or blood-thirsty.

The Greeks fought battles in tight formations called “phalanxes”. Every soldier in a unit had to march in lock-step to present a formidable wall of shields and spears to the enemy. The phalanx was a way of soldiers working together to be a more lethal force than the sum of their parts.

But working in such rational formations required mental discipline. Even lone soldiers breaking from rank could jeopardize the whole unit. The Pezhetairoi (“foot companions”), as they were known, had to stop their passions get the better of them as arrows rained down or as enemy cavalry charged at them.

So ataraxia is not just a state of mind when everything is going well for you, it’s a state of mind that can be cultivated for when you’re subjected to uncertainty or danger.

Ataraxia is not a positively-defined state such as “happy” or “excited”. It was believed by the Hellenistic philosophies to be a “resting” state of serenity.

It is nevertheless a desirable state of mind, one that Pyrrho believed that human beings naturally possess but can easily lose. In the same way that when free of illness our bodies are in a state of homeostasis, ataraxia is simply the absence of perturbation.

Perturbation comes in many forms, not just fear. Both desire and anxiety are foils to ataraxia. We may desire something we cannot have, or we may be stressed or sad about a loss of something we had. These are disturbances that unbalance our mind.

Many people sadly spend much of their lives perturbed. Worrying about money, popularity, being stressed by work or family life can consume us.

Pyrrho of Elis and the Skeptics

The different Hellenistic philosophies have different approaches to achieving Ataraxia.

The concept was first used in a philosophical context by Pyrrho (365–275 BC), who was the founding figure of Skepticism. For Pyrrho ataraxia was a desirable state of mind and the goal of his teaching.

He had supposedly developed his ideas by learning from Indian philosophers while travelling with Alexander the Great’s army as it conquered eastward.

The Skeptics that followed Pyrrho (also known as “Pyrrhonists”) took the achievement of ataraxia to be one of the central tenets of their way of life. The default state of living, for the Skeptics, is one of tranquillity. Any disturbance of that state is borne of artificial desires or anxieties.

Our stresses and worries come about because of our judgements about things, we develop artificial desires as a result of these judgements. The Skeptics promoted “suspending” judgements (Epochē) to remain in a state of ataraxia.

“The Skeptics,” Diogenes wrote, “say the goal is suspension of judgement, upon which freedom from anxiety follows like a shadow.”

In all cases of a perturbed mind, the Skeptic would argue that you have made a judgement about what is bothering you. Therefore, the root cause of your perturbation is your opinion.*

The point of Skepticism is our judgements are based on beliefs and beliefs have no basis. To live your life in ataraxia, you ought to acknowledge your ignorance, and live only according to custom and instinct.

I may, for example, be perturbed because I have a strong desire to acquire the latest iPhone but cannot afford it. The basis of that desire is my belief that the iPhone is worthy of my desire because it is beautiful.

But on what basis, the Skeptic would ask, have I deemed the iPhone to be beautiful?

It is my judgement that the iPhone is beautiful that has perturbed me. For as long as I suspend judgement — by considering the new iPhone as neither beautiful nor plain or ugly — I will be in a state of ataraxia.

This is why Skeptics had their label: they were Skeptical of the value of knowledge. To the Skeptics, there is no truth.

Epicureanism

Epicureanism is a hedonistic philosophy. Its eponymous founder, Epicurus (341–270 BC), believed that pleasure was the highest good and that human beings should only aspire to live in a state of pleasure. While this may sound like a shallow philosophy of indulgence and greed, it’s actually the opposite thanks to ataraxia.

The point of Epicureanism is not to indulge your desires, but to change them. The man who takes pleasure in a glass of water will achieve more pleasure in his life than a man who wants to indulge in ever expensive fine wines. Our needs (thirst, hunger) are simple, our desires are complicated and ever-changing. If our basic needs were our desires, we’d be happy all the time.

Epicurus made the distinction between two types of pleasure: kinetic (moving) and katastematic (static). The former kind of pleasure comes through the active satisfaction of a need. The latter static kind comes from the absence of pain or distress. In Epicurean doctrine, “aponia” is the absence of physical pain, and, of course, “ataraxia” is the absence of mental disturbance.

Like Phyrro, Epicurus believed ataraxia to be a natural state, a homeostasis of the mind. Artificial desires for sex, reputation, luruxy and wealth lead us astray from this state of balance. To achieve ataraxia, and therefore pleasure, we need to keep our desires in check, and simply satisfy our basic needs.

Stoicism

Lastly, we come to Stoicism, and for good reason. Ataraxia is the goal of Pyrrhonism/Skepticism and a plays a primary role in Epicureanism. The concept is important in Stoicism, but is more a by-product of the doctrine’s goals, rather than a goal in-itself.

Unlike Skepticism and Epicureanism, which were inward-looking philosophies, Stoicism’s goal is aretê: “virtue” or “excellence”. Founded by Zeno of Citium (333–263), Stoicism taught that finding virtue was living in accordance with nature.

According to Stoicism, human beings are naturally rational, and our minds reflect the rational order of the universe. To be rational is to tame the passions that can take control of us. We must understand that events are out of our control, but our response to events is within our control. If we fail to realise that, our rationality can be swept away as we submit to negative emotions like anger, bitterness, craving, sadness, and lust.

Those who bridle their emotions with reason are in a state of “apatheia” (literally: “without passions”). This sounds like the modern word “apathy”, but is more about emotional control than indifference. The tranquil state of ataraxia necessarily follows apatheia.

So while the Skeptics made ataraxia the objective of their philosophy, and the Epicureans gave it a central place in the cultivation of pleasure, the Stoics saw ataraxia as a resulting state of mind if you practice virtue.

The path to ataraxia for Stoicism was fundamentally different. Phyrrho and the Skeptics believed that detachment was the right path, Epicurus advocated a withdrawal into a radically simplified lifestyle. The Stoics, however, embraced civic and family life.

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c. 55–135) criticised Epicurus for warning his students against marriage and children or going into politics — for living life “as unsocial as flies”.

Epicurus taught followers to avoid any emotional attachment in the first place, whereas Stoics taught that we ought to master our emotions as they arise. Family, politics and civic life needed philosophy. The Stoics taught that it was the obligation of the philosophically-minded to be more social, not less.

The Stoics were able (and encouraged) to take a more active role in society because ataraxia was not a primary aim of their doctrine. For the Stoics, ataraxia comes as a result of excellence, just as endurance comes with running.

The story of Phyrrho on the ship is fitting for the modern world. Now, more than ever before, we are conscious that humanity as a whole is on a journey on this planet. We go through our storms as the years go by. We are, all of us, going through one now.

Things will often not work out as we want them to, but we would do well to remain serene as the ignorant pig does.

Not because we are ignorant, and neither should we be. But rather because by taming our troubled minds, even as the world around us troubles itself, we’ll acheive happier lives for ourselves and those around us.

Thank you for reading. I hope you learned something new.

*I changed some of the wording in these passages. See comment from Doug and my response below for details.