Adiaphoros

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A concept denoting something that is neither beneficial nor harmful, thus morally neutral in nature
2. Referring to actions or things that hold no moral weight or significance, allowing for freedom of choice without ethical implications
3. Describing a perspective where certain matters are viewed as indifferent to moral rightness or wrongness, offering a sense of neutrality in judgment

Etymology: The Stoic philosophers of ancient Greece used "adiaphora" for things that were neither good nor bad in themselves, such as health, wealth, reputation, or their opposites. Only virtue and vice counted as good or bad. Everything else was indifferent, though the Stoics still thought some indifferent things were preferable to others. The Greek is built from the negative prefix "a-" and "diaphoros," meaning "differing" or "different," which comes from "diapherein," to carry across or to differ. So the core sense is "not differing," that is, not making a moral difference. Centuries later, Christian theologians took up the idea. During Reformation-era disputes in Lutheran Germany, "adiaphora" came to mean religious practices the Bible neither commands nor forbids, such as certain ceremonies and vestments, which believers could accept or reject without sin.