The Philosophy of Epicurus: Letters, Doctrines, and Parallel Passages from Lucretius

by Epicurus, George K. Strodach (Editor)

The teachings of Epicurus, whose philosophy focused on the pursuit of happiness, attracted adherents throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and deeply influenced later European thought. The Philosophy of Epicurus contains a long introductory essay on the philosophy of Epicurus and a selection of primary texts. In in George K. Strodach translates excerpts from “The Life of Epicurous” by Diogenes Laertius, letters to Herodotus, Pythocles, and Menoeceus with parallel passages from Lucretius, and the Vatican collection of Epicurus’s aphorisms. These have become the standard English translations of these classic texts that are foundational to Western philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology

272 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2018

About the author

Epicurus (Greek: Ἐπίκουρος, Epikouros, "upon youth"; Samos, 341 BCE – Athens, 270 BCE; 72 years) was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters remain of Epicurus's 300 written works. Much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators.

For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by aponia, the absence of pain and fear, and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are the measures of what is good and bad, that death is the end of the body and the soul and should therefore not be feared, that the gods do not reward or punish humans, that the universe is infinite and eternal, and that events in the world are ultimately based on the motions and interactions of atoms moving in empty space.

His parents, Neocles and Chaerestrate, both Athenian citizens, had immigrated to the Athenian settlement on the Aegean island of Samos about ten years before Epicurus' birth in February 341 BCE. As a boy he studied philosophy for four years under the Platonist teacher Pamphilus. At the age of 18 he went to Athens for his two-year term of military service. The playwright Menander served in the same age-class of the ephebes as Epicurus.

After the death of Alexander the Great, Perdiccas expelled the Athenian settlers on Samos to Colophon. After the completion of his military service, Epicurus joined his family there. He studied under Nausiphanes, who followed the teachings of Democritus. In 311/310 BC Epicurus taught in Mytilene but caused strife and was forced to leave. He then founded a school in Lampsacus before returning to Athens in 306 BC. There he founded The Garden, a school named for the garden he owned about halfway between the Stoa and the Academy that served as the school's meeting place.

Even though many of his teachings were heavily influenced by earlier thinkers, especially by Democritus, he differed in a significant way with Democritus on determinism. Epicurus would often deny this influence, denounce other philosophers as confused, and claim to be "self-taught".

Epicurus never married and had no known children. He suffered from kidney stones, to which he finally succumbed in 270 BCE at the age of 72, and despite the prolonged pain involved, he wrote to Idomeneus:

"I have written this letter to you on a happy day to me, which is also the last day of my life. For I have been attacked by a painful inability to urinate, and also dysentery, so violent that nothing can be added to the violence of my sufferings. But the cheerfulness of my mind, which comes from the recollection of all my philosophical contemplation, counterbalances all these afflictions. And I beg you to take care of the children of Metrodorus, in a manner worthy of the devotion shown by the young man to me, and to philosophy."

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicurus

Reviews

[Costangeles · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE LEADING DOCTRINES OF EPICURUS:

1. The blessed and indestructible being of the divine has no concern on its own, nor does it make trouble for others.
2. Death means nothing to us, because that which has been broken down into atoms has no sensation and that which has no sensation is no concern of ours.
3. The quantitative limit of pleasure is the elimination of all feelings of pain.
4. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without also living sensibly, nobly and justly.

One of the best philosophers I ever read. I recommend him to all people who question religion but don't have concrete answers yet.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

So often mischaracterized, Epicurus calls for the "lack of pain," not pleasure as his aim. The many parallel quotations from Lucretius were helpful as well as the introductory essay about how Epicurus differs from Democritus and their contributions to modern science. I found the Letter to Menoeceus the most profound.

[Brandon Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

It astonishes me how much truth about our world is recognizable by simple observation and by reasoning from a starting point of the world being composed of small particles. Epicurus gets surprisingly close to our modern understanding of physics at some points in his metaphysics albeit by unscientific reasoning. However, Epicurus does not seek to understand the world for understanding's sake, by having the principle of multiple causation the Epicurean kind of demonstrates that. It is not important to understand exactly why the world behaves the ways it does, it is only to have natural hypotheses. The only thing important for the Epicurean to understand about the universe is that everything in the universe is natural and predictable for the sake of obtaining human happiness from disregarding the fear of divine retribution, this is also of course why the Epicurean seeks to understand death.

Epicurus' main principle of obtaining pleasure and disregarding pain while I do not believe is in itself the sole key to life, as even Epicurus accepts enduring pain if it means gaining pleasure later, although I do not yet philosophically accept that pain is in itself an evil, I think this principle is a large part of the key to living life well. My take away from adapting Epicurus' philosophy to my view of life. As we live only once and at least in the Epicurean view death is the end of sensation as far as we can tell, we must live fully and seek experiences and enjoy our lives doing things we find fulfilling and enjoying the nice things in life most importantly with loved ones. I find despite the great rivalry between the Stoics and Epicureans on key issues, I think the view of death is one that neatly knits together in understanding that everything must die and we have to extract the most from our lives and take nothing for granted. At least that's my take away, I do this review only to try and keep what I've read and understood fresh in my mind. I'm sure an expert in Greek philosophy can blow away all of my conceptions from this book.

I also quite enjoyed how the introduction is almost half of the book, the editor I presume deserves way more credit in this book as we spends almost half the book explaining everything in a very academic tone until in the middle of the introduction having a political and philosophical rant about modern politics and religion, and then returning to his academic tone for the rest of the book, which I found amusing.

[Sam Hamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

His metaphysics is interesting in that he was right about atoms but where I'm astounded is his ethics.

[Otchen Makai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll preface my review by saying I'm an avid fan of physics, astrophysics, astronomy, science, philosophy and even coffee shop conversations, (as you tend to see some very interesting conversations happen between philosophically minded folks who have been steadily drinking coffee for several hours, together).

As i sit here with my cup of tea, for me, this book reads like a conversation between a group of philosophers who agree and also disagree on several points and aspects of philosophical thought processes of one another. Including even the translator, who adds his thoughts through out.
To read this is to be a fly on the wall of many great and interesting thought streams, some running congruent with one another and others in stark contrasting opinions (which is to be expected as the philosphers/translators in question span hundreds of years from one another). All of which are quite fascinating.

I found this very thought provoking, interesting, and even entertaining.
I enjoyed the theories, philosophical thoughts, and even found myself nodding along in agreement to a lot of different areas of this book as I read through the various thought streams and opinions.
This will be a book I come back to again and again for many rereads, and at some point to pin notes to various pages as well as on here. I really enjoy Epicurus's ethical and morality philosophical thoughts, as well as his life views. It would be really interesting to see how his thoughts varied based on the society of today, and how much of his philosophical thoughts would remain cemented as they are. Something tells me a lot of it would hold strong as a lot of it is still very relevant to societies issues today.

Obviously, a lot of his thoughts regarding physics, astronomy and science were based on what they knew back then and would drastically change based on the present day knowledge, but his perspectives, reasoning, and logic from what he knew back then is still quite interesting based on the information that was available then.
The more things change, the more things seem to remain the same.
Recommend to fans of philosophy.

[Dante Pulice · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a pretty good selection of the writings of both Epicurus and Lucretius, however Strodach's commentary often feels too opinionated and unhelpful.

[Billy Nye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic

[Vlad Scutelnicu · Rating 5 out of 5]

His philosophy, among others like Spinoza, is perhaps my favorite way of thinking from the past.

[Henry Manampiring · Rating 3 out of 5]

This line of philosophy is little understood even though it has much benefits for us. Amazing early thought on atomic concepts and how it leads to a life free from religius terrors.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It is senseless to ask the gods for what a man is able to provide for himself.”