Epicureanism is a school of thought in ancient Greek philosophy founded by Epicurus of Samos. It holds the belief that the best life is one of long-term pleasure that results from moderation.

1. WHAT IS
epicureanism?

2. EPICUREANISM is a school
of thought in ancient Greek
philosophy founded by Epicurus
of Samos. It holds the belief that
the best life is one of long-term
pleasure that results from
moderation.

3. “Eat now,
drink now,
have sex,
and be merry
for tomorrow
you will die”.
Epicureanism has often been misunderstood
because people tend to collapse it with
extreme hedonism, which is known for the
famous line:

4. For Epicurus,
on the contrary,
the ultimate goal
of life is not the
attainment of
maximum pleasure
but ataraxia or
peace of mind.

5. Peace of mind characterizes what
Epicurus calls the “good life”
which, for him, must be attained
in this world.
In fact, Epicurus believed that
postulating supernatural influences
in nature was a source of terror.

6. Full transcript of this presentation is
available at:
https://philonotes.com/index.php/2019/11/08/what-is-
epicureanism/
A video version of this presentation is
available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUwdje3kKLs

7. For this reason, Epicurus and
his followers preferred naturalistic
explanations to supernatural entities.
And, they strongly
protested against
magic, astrology,
and divination.

8. This led Epicurus’s
passionate disciple
Lucretius to proudly
refer to the master
as the “destroyer of
religion”.

9. The type of pleasure, therefore,
that we can glean from Epicurus’s
notion of hedonism is one that results
from the satisfaction of one’s basic needs.
Hence, the good life for Epicurus consisted
more of the absence of pain than the
presence of intense pleasure.

10. In fact, for Epicurus, intense pleasure
(the one that is found in extreme hedonism)
must be avoided
because it is always
followed by pain,
such as “headache”
after drinking
too much alcohol.

11. Epicurus also urged his followers to
avoid power and fame because such
things make others envious and they
may become enemies.
This explains why
Epicurus and his
followers withdrew
from society and
lived a simple life.

12. As a matter of fact, for Epicurus
and his followers, the good life is
simple, free, rational, and
moderate. And in this sense, the
good life is characterized by
sufficient food, a comfortable
dwelling, peaceful relationships,
and good friends.