The Hedonism of Epicurus
An Ancient Philosophy of Ethics, Pleasure, and Pain
Epicurus was born in Athens in 341 BCE, six years after Plato died. He began doing philosophy at the age of 14, and lived in and near Athens for most of his life, despite the political turmoil the city saw during this period. He established a sort of commune for philosophers, which he called the Garden, where he and his followers lived and talked about ethics and science and the nature of the cosmos. He was, by many accounts, a kind and generous man.
Pleasure as the Greatest Good
Epicurus was a hedonist, which means that he believed pleasure was the greatest good. He wrote in his Letter to Menoeceus, "Pleasure is the starting-point and goal of living blessedly." He also wrote that "pleasure is our first innate good." However, Epicurus was not a fan of most of the activities commonly associated with pleasure. Parties, alcohol, sex, and even "epicurean" food would not have counted as pleasant for him. Thus, to understand Epicurus's hedonism, it is necessary to understand what he meant by "pleasure."
Pleasure Is the Absence of Pain
For Epicurus, pleasure is the starting point of a blessed life, and he wrote that a blessed life is, "health of the body and the freedom of the soul from disturbance." Thus, anything that promotes health and limits disturbance of the soul is blessed, and anything that disrupts health or disturbs the soul is pain. Pleasure is, for Epicurus, simply getting rid of unhealthy things and disturbing things. In other words, pleasure simply is the absence of pain, no more, no less.
Thus, suppose you have a headache. This is not health, and the physical pain you feel disturbs the soul. Aspirin provides relief of the physical pain and any worry you feel over the pain, and thus, aspirin, in this case, represents pleasure; it promotes health and alleviates worry and concern.
The interesting aspect of Epicurus's theory of pleasure is that pleasure does not go beyond the relief from pain and worry. If one aspirin is bitter, and another is chocolate coated, they both are equally pleasant, in so far as they both get rid of the pain. This is what he meant when he said that pleasure is the absence of pain.
The Pleasure of Food
Hunger is another example of pain. Physical hunger causes physical pain and the lack of good health; worry about hunger disrupts the soul. A plentiful supply of food is pleasure because it protects against ill health, physical pain, and anxiety. However, any type of food will work to rid a person of this pain. A chocolate cake is not more pleasant than a bowl of plain oatmeal. In fact, a bowl of oatmeal will bring you more pleasure because it gets rid of the pain of hunger easily. It is easy to obtain and prepare, and inexpensive. It causes no pain in the process of alleviating hunger. Chocolate cake, on the other hand, may be expensive or hard to prepare, and too much of it leads to tooth decay and health problems.
Epicurus and the Simple Life
It is easy to see that this view of pleasure leads one to an appreciation of simple pleasures. As Epicurus wrote, "simple flavors provide a pleasure equal to that of an extravagant life-style when all pain from want is removed." By living simply, Epicurus thought, we could simultaneously protect against the pain of ill health and worry, while protecting ourselves against the further pains inherent in extravagant living.
Epicurus, in his Garden, lived as he taught; he ate simple foods, drank water, and spent his days discussing the nature of the universe with good friends.
References
All quotations in this article are from Epicurus's "Letter to Menoeceus," which can be found online, and in the Pojman collection below.
Konstan, David. "Epicurus," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005.
Pojman, Louis P. Classics of Philosophy. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Warren, James. Epicurus and Democritean Ethics: an Archaeology of Ataraxia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Bust of Epicurus
|
What do you think about this article?
Latest Articles