Apathy

Apathy (ἀπάθεια, want of feeling) or affectuum vacuitas, a term formerly used to denote the entire ex, tinction of the vicious passions, so that not the smallest movement of them is felt. It implies the utter rooting out of concupiscence, and the annihilation of all sin within. This was a favorite doctrine with the Stoics; and some of the fathers, as St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Macarius, and others, have used expressions which, at first sight, seem to imply that they had themselves attained to this state; but, in fact, they mean only that a perfect Christian keeps all his passions and desires in perfect subjection, so that they have not in any degree the mastery over him. The doctrine of apathy, in its strictest sense; is at variance with Holy Scripture and experience. The term apathy is also used in a limited sense, to signify a contempt for worldly things. — Landon, Eccl. Dict. s.v.