How to achieve happiness according to Epicurus? Summary of Epicurean philosophy and the philosopher’s view on happiness.
Epicurus is a very important Greek philosopher in the panorama of world thought. Founder of the philosophical school called Epicureanism, born in Samos and moved to Athens, Epicurus developed a philosophy centered on the pursuit of happiness and individual well-being, which according to him could be achieved through pleasure, understood as the absence of physical pain and mental disturbance. His idea of happiness is different from that of all the other philosophers of his time, and for this reason it is worth remembering.
Among other questions that Epicurus investigates are death , physics, and the nature of the soul.
To learn more about the philosopher’s thinking, you can take a look here:
Happiness for Epicurus
Happiness is being what nature intended for us .
For Socrates, the happy man (=>virtuous) is the one who deals with knowledge and good corresponds to recognizing it in every situation.
Socrates ‘ Eudaemonistic Ethics states that man, being reason, has knowledge as the greatest virtue.
“To be happy with how many things we do not need” –> we must look at what will bring out the best in us (the essence of us).
For Plato, a fully realized man is one who fulfills his nature.
The philosophical schools of thought of the time ( Epicureans and Stoics ) were real sects that created lifestyles with specific rules (like the Pythagoreans).
The common elements of the two schools of thought were to lead man to a serene and frugal lifestyle .
Philosophers in this age are materialists .
Epicurus states that the only true pleasure is in quiet and characterized by the absence of pain , which allows man to reach happiness. According to Epicurus, happiness begins by being at peace with oneself. Happiness, in short, is closely linked to imperturbability, which allows for authentic freedom.
Epicurus emphasizes the importance of using reason to hierarchize pleasures:
- Natural and necessary pleasures;
- unnecessary natural pleasures;
- unnecessary and unnatural pleasures.
Happiness is linked to natural and necessary pleasures , that is, those that have to do with one’s condition and that one needs to stay alive: drinking what is necessary and eating what is necessary.
Thus independence from pleasures and desires becomes essential for Epicurus .
According to the philosopher, happiness is closely linked to virtue, as virtue is the only means to achieve pleasure.
Virtue, moreover, is an individual attitude that allows one to carefully choose pleasure.
The thought of Epicurus and other philosophers of the time says: “Are we really sure that man’s happiness is in things and not in interiority?”
Epicurus and Death
Philosophy is like a “drug” that cures a series of ailments that undermine happiness such as the fear of death, suffering, pain.
But there is also a “medicine” for the fear of the Gods: “the Gods are not interested in men and therefore this problem does not exist” .
Epicurus thinks that death is the issue that most anguishes man because it disturbs his inner balance . For this reason he invites us to reflect: to accept death with detachment and coldness . “When death exists we are not there, and when we are there death is not there,” he says . We must keep this anguish at bay.
The fear of death is a theme that Epicurus often addresses. Being is complete in itself, because even though individuals die, the species continues.
Stoicism
The typical traits of the Stoic school are the emphasis on virtue as the only means to achieve happiness and an austere ideal of life regulated solely by reason . There is a model of wisdom understood as an adaptation to the rational order of the cosmos .
At the basis of the ethics of the Stoics is the pursuit of happiness , which for them consists in living according to nature or following reason). For the Stoics, the material condition is irrelevant but the balance with ourselves is important . We are happy if we are content with what we have. The wise man is the one who manages to adapt to a real order because there is already something rational in reality, and where adaptation is not possible, suicide is legitimate , but this must not be an escape from reality.
Zeno is the founder of the Stoic school , and he is convinced that the task of reason is to guide man towards a serene behavior. At the same time, he believes that happiness cannot be achieved except through an effort that purifies man from every passionate element: here is the concept of detachment .
Virtue becomes the conformity to the necessary order of the whole and the absolute goal of moral action, a goal very difficult to achieve, requiring discipline, self-control and application.
From the affirmation that virtue is the only thing that leads man to happiness comes the devaluation of all external goods, considered indifferent. The Stoic, finally, tends to an extreme apathy , that is, to a complete detachment from pity and compassion.
Epicurean and Stoic wisdom
We can summarize the differences between the Epicurean essay and the Stoic essay as follows:
- Epicurean Wise : Imperturbability is a characteristic that allows him to live a life detached from external circumstances. From wisdom come all other virtues.
- Stoic Sage : The Stoic Sage is the only happy being because he knows the typical inclination of every man. Virtue is knowledge and the sage is able to implement it in practical life. The Sage lives in an absolutely detached world.
