a
Greek philosopher, was born on the island of Samos.
In 306 he moved to Athens for his required military
training of 2 years. His home garden was turned into
a school (known as "The Garden") where he
taught his philosophy. His followers who came from
all over Greece and Asia Minor were known as
"the philosophers of the garden." Unlike
the Academy of Plato and the Lyceum of Aristotle
"The Garden" admitted women.
The
Epicurean philosophy was to secure tranquillity.
Epicurus maintained that pleasure was "the
freedom from pain and fear". Intellectual
pleasures were more important than the sensual ones
but essentially pleasure was what humans should
strive for. The greatest sources of fear were
religion and death. He taught that if we conquered
our fear of gods, death and the afterlife we could
achieve true happiness.
Epicurus
did believe in gods but claimed that they did not
interfere with the affairs of the human world. Lucretius who was his
most distinguished disciple followed the doctrines of
Epicurus and his poem "On the Nature of
Things" expounds the Epicurean philosophy.
On
the downside, Epicurus was not at all interested in
science and his followers added nothing to his basic
doctrine. They found no interest in anything but
individual happiness.
He
did seem a genuinely kind person though. When he was
dying of prostatitis (a very painful condition in
his case) he wrote affectionate letters to friends,
one asking that the children of one of his first
followers Metrodorus (having died) be taken care of.
Epicurus made provisions in his will for the care of
the children. He also left "The Garden" and
some funds to trustees of the school. Remaining
monies were to be used to honour his family and to
celebrate his birthday yearly.
A
final noteworthy act was to grant freedom to his
slaves.
Quotes
"It
must be admitted that the fundamental disturbance of
the human soul springs first of all from men's
considering phenomena as caused by human beings to
whom they attribute will, action, and motive power;
then by the fact that men, believing in myths, will
always fear something terrible, everlasting
punishment as certain or probable, and are even
frightened of the insensibility of death, as if we
should be conscious of it; and finally by the fact
that, as a result, men base all these fears not on
mature opinions, but on irrational fancies, so that
they are more disturbed by fear of the unknown than
by facing facts. Peace of mind lies in being
delivered from all these fears."
"Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?"
"It
is impossible for someone to dispel his fears about
the most important matters if he doesn't know the
nature of the universe but still gives some credence
to myths. So without the study of nature there is no
enjoyment of pure pleasure."
Epicurus
(341-270 BCE)