Epicureanism
However, the concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life, make it very different from hedonism as colloquially understood.
Following the Cyrenaic philosopher Aristippus, Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable pleasure in the form of a state of ataraxia (tranquility and freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of bodily pain) through knowledge of the workings of the world and limiting desires.
Correspondingly, Epicurus and his followers generally withdrew from politics because it could lead to frustrations and ambitions that would conflict with their pursuit of virtue and peace of mind.
Diogenes Laërtius preserves three letters written by Epicurus, as well as a list of the Principal Doctrines of Epicureanism; however, there are independent attestations of his ideas from his later disciples.
The epic poem De rerum natura (Latin for "On the Nature of Things") by Lucretius presents the core arguments and theories of Epicureanism in one unified work.
Epicurus emphasized friendship as an important ingredient of happiness, and the school seems to have been a moderately ascetic community which rejected the political limelight of Athenian philosophy.
[5] Deciphered carbonized scrolls obtained from the library at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum contain a large number of works by Philodemus, a late Hellenistic Epicurean, and Epicurus himself, attesting to the school's enduring popularity.
In the 2nd century CE, comedian Lucian of Samosata and wealthy promoter of philosophy Diogenes of Oenoanda were prominent Epicureans.
[11] Epicurus explains this position in his letter to Herodotus: Moreover, the sum of things is unlimited both by reason of the multitude of the atoms and the extent of the void.
[27] A fourth criterion called "presentational applications of the mind" (phantastikai epibolai tês dianoias) was said to have been added by later Epicureans.
It is not by an unbroken succession of drinking bouts and of revelry, not by sexual lust, nor the enjoyment of fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul.Epicureans had a very specific understanding of what the greatest pleasure was, and the focus of their ethics was on the avoidance of pain rather than seeking out pleasure.
If you neither violate the laws nor disturb well established morals nor sadden someone close to you, nor strain your body, nor spend what is needed for necessities, use your own choice as you wish.
[60] Epicurus was also an early thinker to develop the notion of justice as a social contract, and in part attempts to address issues with the society described in Plato's Republic.
According to Epicureanism, the gods do not interfere with human lives or the rest of the universe in any way[67] – thus, it shuns the idea that frightening weather events are divine retribution.
[67][70][71] The realist position holds that Epicureans understand the gods as existing as physical and immortal beings made of atoms that reside somewhere in reality.
[70][71] On Nature (Ancient Greek: Περὶ φύσεως) is the name of a philosophical treatise in 37 books consisting of lectures written by Epicurus,[75][76][77] which can be considered his main work, however, it has mostly been lost.
[75][76] Since most of the 37 books "On Nature" are lost,[78] the Principal Doctrines and Epicurus' Letters to Herodotus, Menoeceus, and Pythocles are the most authoritative writings on Epicureanism.
The Principal Doctrines exemplify the Epicurean philosophers' practice of publishing summaries and outlines of their teachings for easy memorization.
However, they are so concise and short that it's difficult to understand them in depth without the context of additional commentaries and writings by ancient sources or by modern Epicurean practitioners, whenever possible.
Tetrapharmakos, or "The four-part cure", is Philodemus of Gadara's basic guideline as to how to live the happiest possible life, based on the first four of the doctrines.
It included the most complete detail of the ancient conversations that led to the development of atomist theory, a doctrine of innumerable worlds, and an explanation of the phenomenon of time that posits an early form of relativism.
It addresses theology, the hierarchies of desires, how to carry choices and avoidances in order to achieve net pleasure, and other aspects of Epicurean ethics.
Other adherents to the teachings of Epicurus included Lucretius, who wrote the poem De rerum natura about the tenets of the philosophy.
Another major source of information is the Roman politician and philosopher Cicero, although he was highly critical, denouncing the Epicureans as unbridled hedonists, devoid of a sense of virtue and duty, and guilty of withdrawing from public life.
[93] This echoed what the Academic skeptic philosopher Arcesilaus had said when asked "why it was that pupils from all the other schools went over to Epicurus, but converts were never made from the Epicureans?"
"[94] In the 17th century, the French Franciscan priest, scientist and philosopher Pierre Gassendi wrote two books forcefully reviving Epicureanism.
And I wish I could subjoin a translation of Gassendi's Syntagma of the doctrines of Epicurus, which, notwithstanding the calumnies of the Stoics and caricatures of Cicero, is the most rational system remaining of the philosophy of the ancients, as frugal of vicious indulgence, and fruitful of virtue as the hyperbolical extravagances of his rival sects.
[96]Other modern-day Epicureans were Gassendi, Walter Charleton, François Bernier, Saint-Évremond, Ninon de l'Enclos, Denis Diderot, Frances Wright and Jeremy Bentham.
Some scholars have drawn parallels between Epicureanism and some eastern philosophies that similarly emphasize atomism or a lack of divine interference, such as Jainism, Charvaka, and Buddhism.
He also considered prudence an important virtue and perceived excess and overindulgence to be contrary to the attainment of ataraxia and aponia.
