Epicurus

Philosopher

Born: 341 b. c.e.; Greek island of Samos Died: 270 b. c.e.; Athens, Greece Also known as: Epikouros Category: Philosophy

Life Born an Athenian citizen on the isle of Samos, Epicurus (ehp-ihk-KYOOR-uhs) began his philosophical education at fourteen and continued in Asia Minor after the conquests of Alexander the Great. He was tutored by the Platonist Pamphilus and the Democritean-Skeptic Nausiphanes but

Epicurus.

(Library of Congress)

Developed his own philosophy based on the thought of Democritus, incorporating the popularizing tendencies of Hellenistic philosophy. In his early thirties, he founded a school, which he eventually moved to Athens in 307 b. c.e., when it became known as The Garden. Epicurus wrote numerous books and letters, some of which survive. Remarkably for the time, he accepted both women and slaves as students. He also became highly revered by his pupils and was treated as an earthly savior by later adherents. He died at the age of seventy-one from a painful illness, encouraging his students to the very end. Loyal Epicureans continued to celebrate his birthday.

Epicurus taught that the only reliable guide to truth was the evidence of the senses, that everything in the universe was made of various kinds of atoms or resulted from their accidental collision or combination, and that the good life consisted of freedom from pain and fear. In his view, the soul did not survive the death of the body, but because death meant the end of all sensation, it was not to be feared. Likewise, his atomism and empiricism led him and his followers to deny the reality of supernatural phenomena and to oppose superstition as an enemy of human happiness. Epicurus defined happiness as tranquillity of mind, a kind of simple contentment with life, achieved by reducing or simplifying one’s desires and living a life of quiet retirement and contemplation, while cultivating true friendships. Because most ancient philosophy had the practical aim of securing human happiness, Epicurus’s methods of getting at the truth, his doctrines regarding the nature of the universe, and his ethical teachings were all carefully designed to that end, but also as a response to Platonism and Pyrrhonism.

Influence In creating a system of philosophy both admired and hated, Epicurean thought remained an important intellectual current throughout the Western world until the fall of the Roman Empire. It had a profound effect on individuals such as the poets Lucretius and Vergil, and philosopher Lucian, and it forced opponents, especially the Stoics, to address its arguments. Even Saint Augustine noted in his Confessiones (397-400; Confessions, 1620) that he would have been an Epicurean if Epicureans did not deny the immortality of the soul. When Epicureanism was recovered during the Renaissance and taken up by French scientist and philosopher Pierre Gassendi, it had a significant impact on the scientific revolution and Enlightenment humanism.

Further Reading

Asmis, E. Epicurus’ Scientific Method. Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1983.

Bailey, Cyril. Epicurus: The Extant Remains. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1926.

Gordon, Dane R., and David B. Suits, eds. Epicurus: His Continuing Influence and Contemporary Relevance. Rochester, N. Y.: RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press, 2003.

Lillegard, Norman. On Epicurus. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Thompson,

2003.

Mitsis, P. Epicurus’ Ethical Theory. Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1988.

Rist, J. M. Epicurus: An Introduction. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1972.

Sharples, R. W. Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics. New York: Routledge,

1996.

Warren, James. Epicurus and Democritean Ethics: An Archaeology of Ataraxia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

_. Facing Death: Epicurus and His Critics. New York: Clarendon

Press, 2004.

Richard C. Carrier

See also: Democritus; Philosophy; Plato; Stoicism.