How can we be happy? According to Epicurus's philosophy, to be happy we need freedom from fear, worry, depression, pain and expectations and frustrations. Epicurus proposed that for us to achieve happiness (Eudaimonia) we need to consider these three factors:
1. Tranquility- Being calm.
Can be achieved by avoiding engagement into emotions.
2.Atalaxia - No anxiety (No fear or worry)
The life of no fear and worry can be achieved by applying the
Tetrapharmakos :
- Don't fear god
- Don't worry about death
- What is good is easy to get
- What is terrible is easy to endure
3. Aponia - No mental pain
Being in constant desires can cause us have endless discomforts and this can be avoided through living a minimalistic life by avoiding some desires.
Epicurus identified three types of desires:
- Natural and necessary desires:
Examples of this could include things like food and shelter. These things are easier to satisfy and hard or impossible to eliminate from our lives.
- Natural but unnecessary desires:
This refers to things like gourmet foods and luxury goods. They represent things that are harder to satisfy and likely to end up causing us pain as a result of unfulfilled desires. Epicurus suggested that it is best to minimize, or eliminate altogether, this type of desire in order to seek tranquility.
- Vain and empty desires:
Examples include things like power, status, wealth, or fame. These are difficult things to obtain or achieve and less likely to satisfy even if achieved. Epicurus argued that, because there is no limit to these desires, they could never fully satisfy or bring pleasure. Therefore, we are not motivated to fulfill these desires in order to help ourselves achieve greater happiness and pleasure.
Ethics by Epicurus
Epicurus was a hedonist, meaning he taught that what is pleasurable is morally good and what is painful is morally evil. He idiosyncratically defined "pleasure" as the absence of suffering and taught that all humans should seek to attain the state of ataraxia, meaning "untroubledness", a state in which the person is completely free from all pain or suffering.
Photo by MAT philosophy
He argued that most of the suffering which human beings experience is caused by the irrational fears of death, divine retribution, and punishment in the afterlife.
In his Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus explains that people seek wealth and power on account of these fears, believing that having more money, prestige, or political clout will save them from death.
In his Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus explains that people seek wealth and power on account of these fears, believing that having more money, prestige, or political clout will save them from death.
He, however, maintains that death is the end of existence, that the terrifying stories of punishment in the afterlife are ridiculous superstitions, and that death is therefore nothing to be feared.
He writes in his Letter to Menoeceus: "Accustom thyself to believe that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply sentience, and death is the privation of all sentience;... Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not."
From this doctrine arose the Epicurean epitaph: Non fui, fui, non-sum, non-curo ("I was not; I was; I am not; I do not care"), which is inscribed on the gravestones of his followers and seen on many ancient gravestones of the Roman Empire. This quotation is often used today at humanist funerals.
The Tetrapharmakos presents a summary of the key points of Epicurean ethics:
Although Epicurus has been commonly misunderstood as an advocate of the rampant pursuit of pleasure, he, in fact, maintained that a person can only be happy and free from suffering by living wisely, soberly, and morally.
The Tetrapharmakos presents a summary of the key points of Epicurean ethics:
- Don't fear god
- Don't worry about death
- What is good is easy to get
- What is terrible is easy to endure
Although Epicurus has been commonly misunderstood as an advocate of the rampant pursuit of pleasure, he, in fact, maintained that a person can only be happy and free from suffering by living wisely, soberly, and morally.
He strongly disapproved of raw, excessive sensuality and warned that a person must take into account whether the consequences of his actions will result in suffering, writing, "the pleasant life is produced not by a string of drinking bouts and revelries, nor by the enjoyment of boys and women, nor by fish and the other items on an expensive menu, but by sober reasoning."
He also wrote that a single good piece of cheese could be equally pleasing as an entire feast. Furthermore, Epicurus taught that "it is not possible to live pleasurably without living sensibly and nobly and justly", because a person who engages in acts of dishonesty or injustice will be "loaded with troubles" on account of his own guilty conscience and will live in constant fear that his wrongdoings will be discovered by others.
A person who is kind and just to others, however, will have no fear and will be more likely to attain ataraxia.
Epicurus distinguished between two different types of pleasure: "moving" pleasures (κατὰ κίνησιν ἡδοναί) and "static" pleasures (καταστηματικαὶ ἡδοναί).
Epicurus distinguished between two different types of pleasure: "moving" pleasures (κατὰ κίνησιν ἡδοναί) and "static" pleasures (καταστηματικαὶ ἡδοναί).
"Moving" pleasures occur when one is in the process of satisfying a desire and involve an active titillation of the senses. After one's desires have been satisfied (e.g. when one is full after eating), the pleasure quickly goes away and the suffering of wanting to fulfill the desire again returns.
For Epicurus, static pleasures are the best pleasures because moving pleasures are always bound up with pain. Epicurus had a low opinion of sex and marriage, regarding both as having dubious value. Instead, he maintained that platonic friendships are essential to living a happy life.
One of the Principal Doctrines states, "Of the things wisdom acquires for the blessedness of life as a whole, far the greatest is the possession of friendship."He also taught that philosophy is itself a pleasure to engage in.
One of the quotes from Epicurus recorded in the Vatican Sayings declares, "In other pursuits, the hard-won fruit comes at the end. But in philosophy, delight keeps pace with knowledge.
It is not after the lesson that enjoyment comes: learning and enjoyment happen at the same time."
Epicurus distinguishes between three types of desires: natural and necessary, natural but unnecessary, and vain and empty.
Epicurus distinguishes between three types of desires: natural and necessary, natural but unnecessary, and vain and empty.
Natural and necessary desires include the desires for food and shelter. These are easy to satisfy, difficult to eliminate, bring pleasure when satisfied, and are naturally limited.
Going beyond these limits produces unnecessary desires, such as the desire for luxury foods. Although food is necessary, luxury food is not necessary. Correspondingly, Epicurus advocates a life of hedonistic moderation by reducing desire, thus eliminating the unhappiness caused by unfulfilled desires.
Vain desires include desires for power, wealth, and fame. These are difficult to satisfy because no matter how much one gets, one can always want more. These desires are inculcated by society and by false beliefs about what we need. They are not natural and are to be shunned.
The first part of this article reflects my own understanding about the philosophy of Epicurus. Those who follow his teachings are called Epicureans and the whole life of an epicurean in modern life simply rely on minimalism. Living a simple life by prioritizing the natural necessities, lather than society imposed needs.
