Stoic Ethics: Virtue, Indifferents and the Passions

The Stoics held a demanding ethics: virtue is the only true good, and vice the only true evil. Health, wealth, reputation and even life itself are 'indifferents', neither good nor bad in themselves. Some are 'preferred', such as health, and it is reasonable to pursue them, but they do not make a person happy or unhappy. What matters is how we use them. The Stoics also analyzed the passions, such as fear, distress, craving and excessive delight, as mistaken judgments, for instance judging that losing money is truly bad.

The wise person, free from such passions, achieves apatheia, which means freedom from disturbing emotions, not coldness, and enjoys 'good feelings' such as joy. Critics, then and now, argued that this is too harsh, ignoring real human goods and grief. Supporters see in it a powerful source of resilience, since no one can take your virtue away.