Concept in Definition ABC

Peace of mind due to the absence of pain and fear

In the field of Philosophy, in which it is mostly used, ataraxia is said to be tranquility of mind, or in its defect, the imperturbability of spirit of someone as a consequence of the absence of penalties and fears.

Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism, main philosophical doctrines that spread it

We must say that this unique philosophical concept is the result of the philosophical activity of organizations such as Epicureanism and philosophical movements and currents such as Stoicism and Skepticism, respectively.
And especially the organization of Epicureanism, whose purpose was precisely the achievement of a happy existence through the intelligent consequence of pleasures, is one of those that made the most effort in the development and expansion of the concept that concerns us.

According to the Epicureans, so called because they are the ones who faithfully follow the proposals of the renowned philosopher Athenian

Epicurus of Samos, founder of Epicureanism , and also for the followers of other philosophical currents such as the stoics and the skeptics, ataraxia is that disposition of mind thanks to which people achieve the emotional balance so desired, inasmuch as it supposes a general state of global well-being, that is, not only that tranquility and imperturbability will reach the mind, but also the soul, the feelings and to reason.
As it reads, it sounds attractive and surely almost all of us want to achieve this well-being that ataraxia provides us, but how to do it not ...

How to achieve ataraxia according to each school?

Decreased intensity of passions and desires to strengthen the soul, for Epicureans

According to what these Greek philosophers considered, ataraxia consists in the decrease of the intensity of passions and desires while the one who gains ground will be the strength of the soul over the adversity, situation that will finally culminate in happiness, which according to the three philosophical currents mentioned above, is the most precious end to be achievedAlthough, we must emphasize that each one has a different proposal from hers to achieve it, that is, for the three "schools" ataraxia is the state that any individual should strive to achieve, however, each has their own proposal.

According to the teachings left by Epicurus, there are two kinds of desires, natural and necessary, which are found mostly related to survival, and on the other hand the natural not necessary, which come from the culture and the politics, that is to say, of the social life that a person carries out. According to Epicurus firmly held the satisfaction of all desires is what will finally bring happiness to the person, however, this philosopher of important presence during the 4th century BC He believed that there are some desires that are unfortunately vain and that, on the contrary, will cause great pain that will overshadow that initial pleasure and obviously will take us away from the ataraxia. So, taking into account this question, Epicurus maintained and promoted that Philosophy was the only way and the only way to achieve ataraxia.

The path proposed by the Stoics

While the Stoics propose another path, which is that of virtue. According to these, it consists of adapting one's desires to the rationality of nature, learning to discern what things depend on of us and which are not and to move away from the latter, which are the ones that ultimately unsettle the soul and therefore divert us from the ataraxia.

The skeptical proposal

And on the side of the skeptical, whose main guiding idea is that there is no absolute truth, but rather that everything depends on man and his senses and what will be to starting from doubt, doubting everything, that you will reach authentic happiness and a state of ataraxia.

Three different ways to access the same state, now, the most sensible and logical thing is that each which one tests with which alternative you feel better or which one considers more appropriate according to your to be.

The gaze of Buddhism

Meanwhile, the most famous oriental philosophy, Buddhism, also has a look at ataraxia. For this millenary doctrine created by Buddha back in the 6th century BC. He also believes that wishes are the responsible for the pain of the soul and then his proposal is to redeem the pain by extinguishing any desire or emotion disturbing. Thus we will arrive at nirvana, which is the total liberation and the state of maximum well-being that the human being can achieve in his life.

Topics in Ataraxia