← Glossary

Deuteria Pathē

Secondary passions or second-order emotions that arise through active mental assent, as opposed to involuntary pre-passions (propatheia).

Deuteria pathē are the passions that do not arise directly from bodily reactions but from active judgment and repeated mental engagement. Whereas propatheia are involuntary, deuteria pathē represent conscious or habituated acts of assent. They are the result of synkatathesis — the endorsement and entrenchment of a faulty judgment through mental repetition. This is the point at which moral responsibility, according to Stoic doctrine, begins.