Epicurus - Definition and Overview

Epicurus, Hellenistic civilization Greek philosopher born Samos 341 BC; died Athens, 270 BC. Epicurus was born into an Athenian émigré family — his parents, both Athenian citizens, had moved to an Athenian settlement on the Aegean island of Samos. He returned to Athens as a young citizen to serve in military training.

The playwright Menander served in the same age-class of the ephebes as Epicurus.

After pursuing philosophical education in several Greek cities he taught in two cities in Asia Minor, and formed one of the most important Philosophy schools of the period in Athens, named The Garden.

Epicurus' teachings represented a departure from the other major Greek thinkers of his period, and before.

He admitted women and slaves into his school, emphasized the senses in his epistemology, and was one of the first Greeks to break from the god-fearing and god-worshipping tradition common at the time.

He is best known for advocating the pursuit of or indulgence in pleasure with a guilt-free attitude as a necessary moral good. There are connections to the philosophies of Ayn Rand and Osho as well as Zen.

Elements of Epicurean philosophy have resonated and resurfaced in various diverse thinkers and movements throughout Western intellectual history. The Epicurean paradox is a famous argument against the existence of God.

Epicurus discussed a human being's natural right to "life, liberty, and safety."

This was later picked up by the democratic thinkers of the French Revolution, and others, like John Locke, who wrote that people had a right to "life, liberty, and property."

This triad was carried forward into the American freedom movement and Declaration of Independence, by American founding father, Thomas Jefferson, as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

How do the Epicureans qualify Aristotle’s conception of happiness?

Epicurus was the first of the Empiricists, those who take knowledge from what they can experience with their senses, and opposed to a Rationalist who seeks truth through the use of Reason more than experience such as mathematicians like Leibniz. Epicurus is similar to the atomists like Democritus who think that essence is matter. Epicurus believed in matter more than form, and therefore sought happiness in real objects. His idea was that happiness could be achieved through pleasure. The Epicurean idea of happiness is similar to Aristotle’s idea of happiness due to the fact that the Epicurean must find the mean between the two extremes of pleasure and pain; they must seek to be moderate in seeking pleasure and know the right proportion for every act. The Epicureans were not hedonists as popularly believed, and their way of life is quite strict.

An Epicurean must also know the difference between natural pleasures (necessary) and unnatural pleasures (unnecessary). Two examples of necessary pleasures would be eating and sex. An Epicurean must seek to get rid of unnatural pleasures such as eating expensive foods. Pain was defined by Epicurus as having a deficiency of pleasure. Epicurus stated that a man who lives a prudent life will live a life with the least disturbances, and an imprudent man will lead a life with the most disturbances.

Epicurus statement of the disturbances produced by the life of an imprudent man reminds me of the life of a glutton. A person eats and eats, either because they really like food, or because they are using food to compensate for sadness they feel in other areas of life. They know that too much food is bad, especially physically. Gluttons would say “eat, drink, and be merry, because tomorrow we die.” Although gluttons are right that we should enjoy life, they do not understand that eating should not be done to excess or they will no longer be merry but live in pain.

They know that it is bad for them physically and mentally, primarily physically. They have learned how to defend their gluttony with words gained through experience, although deep down inside they would not wish their life on anyone else. In fact they may discourage others from living that lifestyle. They cannot escape the prison they put themselves in. In youth being overweight is not that hard, but when you get into your late 30s and 40s, it really impairs your life. Then you enter the disturbances in later life. You start to get other physical ailments caused by gluttony. They may become physically disabled and end up in a wheel chair making it impossible to participate in society without great difficultly. They incur other disorders such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, diabetes, sleep apnea/difficulty breathing, other disabilities, and secondary diseases brought on by being morbidly obese. After years of pain they meet death, their only escape from their physical prison.