The Epicurean view of death

Death is in fact, well nothing.

The Epicurean view of death is one of liberation, many of us in the modern world (and especially here in Ireland with the catholic church) are told that our actions in this lifetime are being judged by God, if we don't act in accordance with Gods will you get, well, cooked. To Epicurus, nothing really happens after death because with death comes the cessation of any feeling, there is no more pleasure or pain, we can't feel anything with our hands, we can't taste, we can't smell scents and because our brains and bodies one in the same we have no thoughts because a dead body =  a dead mind.

As you can imagine in Ancient Greece dying was a real concern to people from the moment they can conceptualize death. Epicurus himself came to Athens  during or after the death of Alexander the Great, it was, for the people of Greece, a constant worry that Darius and the Persian Empire would come and ransack the city, Athens was the capital city of anxiety! Epicurus however had a cure for this...

Conclusion

Why would you fear being dead? There is no need, you won't experience at all. It's so freeing, both to my own death and the death of loved ones, there is no need to worry about them suffering because they loved drinking or didn't go to church every Sunday, nothing is happening to them - they aren't there.

This is the only life  you and I have, why would we choose to live it in devotion to a God that probably doesn't exist? Let us be happy, find pleasure in things YOU like, not what society says you have to like.

Misconceptions about Epicurean Philosophy

Introduction

Epicurean philosophy is often giving the wrong view even by many people who study it, thanks to the efforts of the people over at the Epicurean sites listed below I can correct some of the misconceptions. If I come across more, this will be updated.

A collection of misconceptions

• Misconception

"An epicurean is just a foody, right"

Sure an (e)picuran is but a (E)picurean isn't.

"The pleasant life is not produced by continual drinking and dancing, nor sexual intercourse, nor rare dishes of sea food and other delicacies of a luxurious table. On the contrary, it is produced by sober reasoning which examines the motives for every choice and avoidance, driving away beliefs which are the source of mental disturbances."

• Misconception

“Epicureanism is just debauched hedonism, as long as pleasure is met it doesn’t matter the amount of pain which follows from it, they are like sociopaths”

Epicurean philosophy is certainly a hedonistic philosophy but not debauched at all, Epicurus thought that the virtue of prudence was the most valuable thing in a hedonists arsenal, he even considers prudence more valuable than philosophy

(the above image was chosen to represent the Salmon of knowledge, a fish that when eaten grants the eater knowledge of the world, just to throw in a bit of Irish mythology) 

• Misconception

“Epicureanism is pretty much the same as Stoicism, the believe in Virtue and think absence of pain is the sole good”

In the future I fully intend to create a blog post which is primarily about the differences between the two Hellenistic school but for now I will keep it short.

Both schools came in to being around the same time and in the same country, both schools have some form of virtue and both schools are following “nature”. The differences however are many which are listed below

Issue	Stoicism	Epicureanism
Sole Good	Virtue is the only good	Pleasure is the only good
Sole Evil	Vice is the only evil	Pain is the only evil
Lineage	Socrates	Democritus (kind of)
Method of achieving goal	Dichotomy of Control, practical wisdom and contemplation	Individualistic but also values practical wisdom. Friendship, discussion of philosophy – anything which causes pleasure (with minimal pain)
Key Terms	Eudaimonia – Eudaimonia is for a Stoic “a life worth living” as long as you a Stoic can practice Virtue their life is worth living Preferred Indifferent – Things not related to Virtue but still are valuable to you Dispreferred Indifferent – Things not related to Virtue that you prefer not to have in your life	Ataraxia – The absence of pain – This is where the body is full of pleasure that pain can no longer appear.
Views of the world (mainly unimportant to Stoics but is important to Epicureans) and after life	The Ancient Stoics viewed the world as rational, dictated by nature/Zeus	The ancient Epicureans viewed the world as everlasting, atomistic and random

An introduction to Epicurean Philosophy

Introduction

Epicureanism is a Hellenistic philosophy which states that the greatest good in life is pleasure and the greatest evil is pain, it's founder was a man named Epicurus. Epicurus was an atomist, he believed everything was made up of atoms moving through empty space and that everything which occurs is a result of atoms bouncing off one another. This may strike many of you as remarkably like modern science and while yes, it is remarkable it is important to note that Epicurus didn't have some futuristic knowledge and I am not claiming he did, it wasn't as complex as modern physics and it had no real proof behind it. Many modern Epicureans have updated into modern times because unlike other Hellenistic philosophies which are awakening in the 21st century the physics does matter. 

Epicurean Hedonism

Epicurus was a hedonist, many people don't agree he was but he stated himself that "pleasure is the chief good and pain the chief evil", Hedonism in philosophy is defined as:

"the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life." 

However, this doesn't mean that Epicurus was debauched or a beast only seeking to maximize his pleasure at any cost, in his own words:

“It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life. “

“WHAT?! You’re telling me this fella thought pleasure was the sole good but still had these rules about justice and honour?”

Yes, that’s exactly it, but don’t get it twisted his not promoting justice and courage to “virtue signal” or for religious reasons, Epicurus values everything based on either pleasure or pain, including these virtues, justice and honour means that you harm no one and in turn (hopefully) no one harms you so that you can pursue happiness without anyone harming you. It’s all practical and focused toward the end goal of humans, pleasure.

Friendship

 

Friendship is a key part of securing happiness and pleasure in life for an Epicurean, a true friend for an Epicurean is someone in which no secrets are kept, you feel fully at ease with her and the mutual pleasure felt from one another is constant. To make my previous point clearer, why does Epicurus value friendship so much? Well he asks himself “Does this cause pleasure or pain” and of course, it is clear to anyone who has had a good friend (which I am blessed to have) friendship is a great pleasure.

Individualism

Epicurean philosophy gives us some advice on how to live life but ultimately (and what was most attractive for me) is that it is an individual philosophy in the sense that everyone will have different things that bring them pleasure. For me it’s talking to friends, reading, playing video games, spending times with my dog and discussion issues. For you it might be GAA, working out, food, being a parent etc… It is personal preference.

Conclusion

Epicurean philosophy is for the masses, it puts happiness and pleasure as the goal of life and in a world which is so anti-pleasure I believe it is necessary for this (and other) Hellenistic philosophies to come back into the limelight.

Here are some links to other Epicurean sites A good forum still in the process of starting up  A great website with many posts going in depth about issues surrounding Epicurean Philosophy and Where there is the most discussion