Acedia (also accidie or accedie, from Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native speakers, a small number of scholars can fluently speak it and it continues to be taught in schools and universities and has been, and currently is, used in the process of acidĭa, and this from Greek Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning the Archaic , Classical (c. 5th–4th centuries BC), and Hellenistic (c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD) periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek. Its Hellenistic phase is known as Koine (& ἀκηδία, negligence) describes a state of listlessness or torpor Daily Torpor, sometimes called temporary hibernation is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually characterized by a reduced body temperature and rate of metabolism. Animals that go through torpor include birds (even tiny hummingbirds, notably Cypselomorphae) and some mammals such as mice, and bats. During the active part, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in the world. It can lead to a state of being unable to perform one's duties in life. Its spiritual overtones make it related to but distinct from depression Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines a depressed person as experiencing feelings of sadness, helplessness and hopelessness. In traditional colloquy, feeling "depressed" is often synonymous with feeling "sad", but both clinical depression.[1] Acedia was originally noted as a problem among monks and other ascetics who maintained a solitary life.

Contents

Description

The Oxford Concise Dictionary of the Christian Church [2] defines acedia as "a state of restlessness and inability either to work or to pray". Some see it as the precursor to sloth In the Christian moral tradition, sloth is one of the seven capital sins, often called the seven deadly sins; these sins are called the capital sins because they destroy the charity in a man's heart and thus may lead to eternal death.[citation needed] - one of the seven deadly sins The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of the most objectionable vices that has been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin. The final version of the list consists of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. In his sustained analysis of the vice in Q. 35 of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae) of his book Summa Theologica The Summa Theologica or the Summa Theologiæ or simply the Summa, written 1265–1274) is the most famous work of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274), although it was never finished. It was intended as a manual for beginners as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of the time. It summarizes the reasoning for almost all points of, theologian Thomas Aquinas Saint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was an Italian priest of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Order, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis. He is frequently referred to as Thomas because "Aquinas" refers to his residence rather than his surname identifies acedia with "the sorrow of the world" (compare Weltschmerz Weltschmerz is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. This kind of pessimistic world view was widespread among several romantic authors such as Lord Byron, Giacomo Leopardi, François-René de Chateaubriand,) that "worketh death" and contrasts it with that sorrow "according to God" described by St. Paul Paul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, and Saint Paul, (Ancient Greek: Σαούλ , Σαῦλος (Saulos), and Παῦλος (Paulos); Latin: Paulus or Paullus; Hebrew: שאול התרסי‎ Šaʾul HaTarsi (Saul of Tarsus) (c. 5 - c. 67 ), was a Jew who referred to himself as the "Apostle to the Gentiles".[Rom in 2 Cor. 7:10. For Aquinas, acedia is "sorrow about spiritual good in as much as it is a Divine good." It becomes a mortal sin when reason consents to man's "flight" (fugam) from the Divine good, "on account of the flesh utterly prevailing over the spirit." (ST, II-II, 35, 3). Acedia is essentially a flight from the world. It leads to not caring even that one does not care. The ultimate expression of this is a despair that ends in suicide.

Aquinas's teaching on acedia in Q. 35 is rendered fully intelligible when read in light of his prior teaching on that to which the vice is directly opposed, charity's gifted "spiritual joy," which he explores in Q. 28 of the Secunda Secundae . As Aquinas says, "One opposite is known through the other, as darkness through light. Hence also what evil is must be known from the nature of good." (ST, I, 48, 1). The demon of acedia holds an important place in early monastic demonology and psychology. Evagrius of Pontus Evagrius Ponticus , or Evagrius the Solitary (345-399 A.D.) was a Christian monk and ascetic. One of the rising stars in the late fourth century church, he was well-known as a keen thinker, a polished speaker, and a gifted writer. Throughout his ministry, he was a trusted friend to several influential contemporary church leaders, including Basil, for example, characterizes it as "the most troublesome of all" of the eight genera of evil thoughts. As with those who followed him, Evagrius sees acedia as a temptation, and the great danger lies in giving in to it.

In the medieval Latin tradition of the seven deadly sins The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of the most objectionable vices that has been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin. The final version of the list consists of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony, acedia has generally been folded into the sin of sloth. Moral theologians, intellectual historians and cultural critics have variously construed acedia as the ancient depiction of a variety of psychological states, behaviors or existential conditions: primarily laziness, ennui or boredom. The demon of acedia manifests itself in a range of psychological and somatic symptoms that is far broader and more complex than the familiar tradition in the West. Acedia is the subject of the recent (2008) memoir by Kathleen Norris.[3] For a detailed and in depth investigation of acedia in modern thought, see the CBC radio program "Tapestry" for August 2, 2009 [1]

Signs

Acedia is indicated by a range of signs. These signs (or symptoms) are typically divided into two basic categories: somatic and psychological. Acedia frequently presents signs somatically. Such bodily symptoms range from mere sleepiness to general sickness or debility, along with a host of more specific symptoms: weakness in the knees, pain in the limbs, and fever. An anecdote attributed to Amma Theodora[4] also connects somatic pain and illness with the onset of acedia. A host of psychological symptoms can also signify the presence of acedia, which affects the mental state and behavior of the afflicted. Some commonly reported psychological signs revolve around a lack of attention to daily tasks and an overall dissatisfaction with life. The best-known of the psychological signs of acedia is tedium, boredom or a general laziness.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Acedia, Bane of Solitaries". 2004. http://www.hermitary.com/solitude/acedia.html. Retrieved Dec 22, 2008.
  2. ^ The Oxford Concise Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's chief executive and as its major representative. 2006. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 978-0198614425.
  3. ^ Norris, Kathleen (2008). Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life. Riverhead. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 978-1594489969.
  4. ^ Laura Swan (2001). The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women. Paulist Press. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 0809140160; ISBN 978-0-8091-4016-9.

External links

Emotions Emotion is the complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience". Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality and disposition, (list Robert Plutchik created a wheel of emotions in 1980 which consisted of 8 basic emotions and 8 advanced emotions each composed of 2 basic ones)
Affection Affection is a "disposition or state of mind or body" that is often associated with a feeling or type of love. It has given rise to a number of branches of philosophy and psychology concerning: emotion ; disease; influence; state of being (philosophy); and state of mind (psychology). "Affection" is popularly used to denote a · Ambivalence Ambivalence is a state of having simultaneous, conflicting feelings toward a person or thing. Stated another way, ambivalence is the experience of having thoughts and emotions of both positive and negative valence toward someone or something. A common example of ambivalence is the feeling of both love and hate for a person. The term also refers to · Anger Anger is a feeling related to one's perception of having been offended/wronged and a tendency to undo that wrongdoing by retaliation. R. Novaco recognized three modalities of anger: cognitive , somatic-affective (tension and agitations) and behavioral (withdrawal and antagonism). Anger may have physical correlates such as increased heart rate, · Angst If Wiktionary has a definition already, change this tag to {{}} or else consider a soft redirect to Wiktionary by replacing the text on this page with {{}}. If Wiktionary does not have the definition yet, consider moving the whole article to Wiktionary by replacing this tag with the template {{}} · Annoyance Annoyance is an unpleasant mental state that is characterized by such effects as irritation and distraction from one's conscious thinking. It can lead to emotions such as frustration and anger. The property of being easily annoyed is called petulance, and something which annoys is called a nuisance · Anticipation Anticipation or being enthusiastic, is an emotion involving pleasure in considering some expected or longed-for good event, or irritation at having to wait. Robert Plutchik listed anticipation as one of the eight basic emotions in his psychoevolutionary theory. See also hope. A name for pleasured anticipation is excitement · Anxiety Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. These components combine to create an unpleasant feeling that is typically associated with uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry. Anxiety is a generalized mood condition that can often occur without an identifiable · Apathy Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest or concern to emotional, social, or physical life. They may also exhibit an insensibility or sluggishness. The opposite of apathy is flow. In positive psychology, apathy is · Awe Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous, and more fearful or respectful. A person may feel wonder or joy while seeing a large double rainbow, but typically a person does not feel in awe of a rainbow. In general awe is directed at objects considered to be more powerful than the subject, such as the breaking of huge waves on the base · Boredom Boredom is an emotional state experienced during periods lacking activity or when individuals are uninterested in their surroundings. The first record of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852, in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a bore had been used in the sense of "to be · Compassion Compassion is a virtue —one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy (for the suffering of others) are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnectedness and humanism —foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood · Compersion Compersion is said to be a state of empathetic happiness and joy experienced when an individual's romantic partner experiences happiness and joy through an outside source, including, but not limited to, another romantic interest. This can be experienced as any form of erotic or emotional empathy, depending on the person experiencing the emotion · Confusion Confusion of a pathological degree usually refers to loss of orientation , sometimes accompanied by disordered consciousness and often memory (ability to correctly recall previous events or learn new material). Confusion as such is not synonymous with inability to focus attention, although severe inability to focus attention can cause, or greatly · Contempt Contempt is an intense feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless—it is similar to scorn. It is also used when people are being sarcastic. Contempt is also defined as the state of being despised or dishonored; disgrace, and an open disrespect or willful disobedience of the authority of a court of law or · Contentment Some of the earliest[citation needed] references to the state of contentment are found in the reference to the midah of Samayach B’Chelko. The expression comes from the word samayach (root Sin-Mem-Chet) meaning "happiness, joy or contentment", and chelko (root Chet-Lamed-Kuf) meaning "portion, lot, or piece", and combined · Courage Courage, also known as bravery, fortitude, will, and intrepidity, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. "Physical courage" is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while "moral courage" is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular · Curiosity Curiosity is an emotion related to natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species. The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself being caused by the emotion of curiosity. As this emotion represents a drive to know new things, curiosity is the fuel of · Desire Desire is a sense of longing for a person or object or hoping for an outcome. The same sense is expressed by emotions such as "craving" or "hankering". When a person desires something or someone, their sense of longing is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of the item or person, and they want to take actions to obtain · Disappointment Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest. Similar to regret, it differs in that the individual feeling regret focuses primarily on the personal choices that contributed to a poor outcome, while the individual feeling disappointment focuses on the outcome itself. It is a source of · Disgust Disgust is an emotion that is typically associated with things that are regarded as unclean, inedible, infectious,or otherwise offensive. For example, "I am disgusted by the stench and sight of that heap of rotting viscera." In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin wrote that disgust refers to something · Doubt Doubt, a status between belief and disbelief, involves uncertainty or distrust or lack of sureness of an alleged fact, an action, a motive, or a decision. Doubt brings into question some notion of a perceived "reality", and may involve delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concerns for mistakes or faults or appropriateness. Some · Ecstasy Ecstasy is subjective experience of total involvement of the subject, with an object of his or her awareness. Because total involvement with an object of our interest is not our ordinary experience since we are ordinarily aware also of other objects, the ecstasy is an example of altered state of consciousness characterized by diminished awareness · Embarrassment Embarrassment is an emotional state experienced upon having a socially or professionally unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others. Usually some amount of loss of honour or dignity is involved, but how much and the type depends on the embarrassing situation. It is similar to shame, except that shame may be experienced for an · Empathy The English word is derived from the Greek word ἐμπάθεια , "physical affection, passion, partiality" which comes from ἐν (en), "in, at" + πάθος (pathos), "passion" or "suffering". The term was adapted by Rudolf Lotze and Robert Vischer to create the German word Einfühlung ("feeling · Emptiness Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalised boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression, loneliness, despair, or other mental/emotional disorders such as borderline personality disorder. A sense of emptiness is also part of a natural process of grief, as resulting of separation,[ · Enthusiasm Enthusiasm originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Johnson's Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, defines enthusiasm as "a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or communication." In current English vernacular the word · Envy Envy can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person's self image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the · Euphoria Euphoria is medically recognized as a mental/emotional state defined as a profound sense of well-being. Technically, euphoria is an affect, but the term is often colloquially used to define emotion as an intense state of transcendent happiness combined with an overwhelming sense of contentment. The word derives from Greek εὐφορία, " · Fear · Frustration · Gratification · Gratitude · Grief · Guilt · Happiness · Hatred · Homesickness · Hope · Hostility · Humiliation · Hysteria · Interest · Jealousy · Limerence · Loneliness · Love · Lust · Mono no aware · Nostalgia · Optimism · Panic · Patience · Passion · Pessimism · Pity · Pride · Rage · Regret · Remorse · Repentance · Resentment · Righteous indignation · Sadness · Saudade · Schadenfreude · Sehnsucht · Self-pity · Shame · Suffering · Surprise · Suspicion · Sympathy · Weltschmerz · Wonder · Worry
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