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Adiaphora


Adiaphoron (plural: adiaphora from the Greek ἀδιάφορα, the negation of διάφορα - Latin differentia - meaning "not differentiable").

In Stoicism "adiaphora" indicates things outside of moral law — that is, actions that morality neither mandates nor forbids. In the context of Stoicism "adiaphora" is usually translated as "indifferents."

In Pyrrhonism, "adiaphora" indicates things which cannot be logically differentiated. Unlike in Stoicism, the term has no specific connection to morality.

In Christianity, "adiaphora" are matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless as permissible for Christians or allowed in church. What is specifically considered adiaphora depends on the specific theology in view.

The Stoics distinguished all the objects of human pursuit into three classes: good, bad, and adiaphora (indifferent). Virtue, wisdom, justice, temperance, and the like, were denominated good; their opposites were bad. Besides these there were many other objects of pursuit such as wealth, fame, etc. of themselves neither good nor bad. These were thought therefore in ethics to occupy neutral territory, and were denominated "adiaphora". This distinction amounted practically to an exclusion of the adiaphora from the field of morals.

The concept of adiaphora holds a central place in Pyrrhonism. Pyrrho claimed that all pragmata (matters, affairs, questions, topics) are adiaphora (not differentiable), astathmēta (unstable, unbalanced, unmeasurable), and anepikrita (unjudgeable, undecidable). Therefore, neither our senses nor our beliefs and theories are able to identify truth or falsehood.

New Testament examples of adiaphora are often cited from Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. Some of this epistle was written in response to a question from the Corinthian Christians regarding whether it was permissible for a Christian to eat food offered to idols. In response, Paul replied:


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