APATHY, among the ancient philosophers, implied an utter privation of passion, and an insensibility of pain. The word is compounded of a priv. and pathos, affection. The Stoics affected an entire apathy: they considered it as the highest wisdom to enjoy a perfect calmness or tranquillity of mind, incapable of being ruffled by either pleasure or pain. The primitive Christians used the word to express a contempt for the things of this world.