Enkrateia
Enkrateia (Greek ἐγκράτεια, "in power - from ἐν (en," in ") + κράτος (krátos," power ")). Enkrateia comes from the adjective enkratês (ἐγκρατής from ἐν (en," in "), which means possession 'Power over something or someone else means + κράτος (krátos, "power")), hence the meaning of power over oneself, power over one's passions and instincts, self-control and self-control.
During Socrates' lifetime, three of his disciples, Isokrates , Xenophon and Plato , converted the adjective enkratês into the noun enkrateia and gave it a different meaning: for them enkrateia did not mean power over something or someone else, but power over oneself, power over one's passions and instincts, self-control.
For Aristotle enkrateia is the antonym of akrasia (ἀκρασία from ἀ = without + κράτος = power, control), which means something like "the lack of command (about oneself)". In this sense, enkrateia is the state in which one makes a known positive choice because of its positive consequences, as opposed to akrasia, which is the state in which one makes a known non-positive choice (because of its negative consequences) but nonetheless for their immediate joys.
For Xenofon, the Enkrateia is not a particular virtue, but "the basis of all virtues".
Enkrateia is mentioned three times in the New Testament, in the lists of virtues in Acts 24.25, Gal 5.23 and 2 Petr 1.6. The King James Version reproduces the word "moderation".
Individual evidence
- ^ Jaeger, W. (1943) Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture. Volume 2: In Search of the Divine Center. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp 52-57
- ↑ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/#Akr
- Jump up ↑ Akrasia in Greek Philosophy: From Socrates to Plotinus (2007) Christopher Bobonich and Pierre Destrée (ed.) Brill. p. 9
- ^ Jaeger, W. (1943) Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture. Volume 2: In Search of the Divine Center. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 54
- ↑ Strong's Concordance, Word no. 1466, https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_1466.htm