Stoic passions

The Stoics beginning with Zeno (the founder of the Stoic philosophy) arranged the passions under four headings:

• Distress - an irrational contraction, or a fresh opinion that something bad is present, at which people think it right to be depressed
• Fear - an irrational aversion, or avoidance of an expected danger
• Lust - an irrational desire, or pursuit of an expected good but in reality bad
• Delight - an irrational swelling, or a fresh opinion that something good is present, at which people think it right to be elated

Two of these passions (distress and delight) refer to emotions currently present, and two of these (fear and lust) refer to emotions directed at the future. Thus there are just two states directed at the prospect of good and evil, but subdivided as to whether they are present or future.

Numerous subdivisions of the same class are brought under the head of the separate passions.

• Distress - envy, rivalry, jealousy, anxiety, depression
• Fear - sluggishness, shame, fright
• Lust - anger, rage, hatred
• Delight - malice, rapture, ostentation

The wise person is someone who is free from passions. Instead, the sage experiences good-feelings which are clear-headed. These emotional impulses are the correct rational emotions. The Stoics listed the good-feelings under the headings of joy, wish, and caution. Thus if something is present which is a genuine good, then the wise person experiences an uplift in the soul - joy. The Stoics also subdivided the good-feelings.

• Joy - enjoyment, cheerfulness, good spirits
• Wish - good intent, goodwill, welcoming, love
• Caution - moral shame, reverence