Epicurus, Aristippus, and Lucretius: Were the Epicureans Stoic-Lite Philosophers?

Today we will learn and reflect on the philosophy of the Epicureans,
named after the Greek Epicurus. The Epicureans believed that we should
seek to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, that the pursuit of pleasure
is the greatest good.
Does this mean that Epicureans were hedonists?
The answer depends on, What defines hedonism? Do we accept the
Playboy definition where pleasure is the only morality, that we should do
whatever our sexual passions drive us to do, flagrantly ignoring the harm
done to our loved ones, our acquaintances, and our neighbors? Should
sex, drugs, and rock and roll rule our life?

We cannot flatly condemn Epicureanism, lest we condemn ourselves, nor can we
uncritically embrace Epicureanism. If we live our life for the weekend, holidays, and
vacations, for time we will spend with our friends and family at the movies and
Disney and amusement parks, we are enjoying a middle-class Epicurean lifestyle.
But if we neglect our families and instead spend our free time drinking and dancing
and carousing, then our hedonism and selfishness harms both us and our family and
friends, if they are our true friends. We need to be like the Greeks, nothing to
excess, avoiding hubris.
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources used for this video, and my blogs
that also cover this topic. Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments, sometimes these will generate short videos of their own. Let us learn
and reflect together!

YouTube Video:
Epicurus, Aristippus, and
Lucretius: Were the Epicureans
Stoic-Lite Philosophers?
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We used as our thumbnail a famous painting of Plato’s Symposium, for three
reasons: first, the dinner party was the primary entertainment for prosperous slave-
owning men in Athens, and second, this is the sort of activity that Epicurus
encourages, not participating in the life of the state, but spending your time
entertaining your good friends, pursuing pleasures, avoiding pain, but like a good
Greek, in moderation, of course.
Epicurus would agree with Plato and Socrates in depicting the rogue friend of
Alcibiades, seen here drunkenly crashing the party with his young boyfriend, as
behaving outrageously. If you know of the history of Alcibiades from the
Peloponnesian Wars, Alcibiades was known for both his drunken debaucheries and
for his outrageous acts of hubris, all too often sleeping with the wives of kings and
fellow aristocrats.

Plato's Symposium, depiction by Anselm
Feuerbach, painted 1869

The third reason is this thumbnail also reminds us that there are many similarities
between the moderate philosophies of Epicurus, and stoic philosophy and
Platonic philosophy. Among the stoics, Epictetus despised Epicurus, whereas
Seneca often quoted Epicurus approvingly in his stoic writings. It is these
similarities between these philosophies that led me to ask the question whether
Epicureanism can be seen as a stoic-lite philosophy.
Seneca, an important Roman Stoic philosopher, quotes Epicurus often in his Moral
Discourses, so the two philosophies were not necessarily antagonistic. Some
scholars note that Epicureanism was more popular among the wealthy, like
Seneca, and ignored by the more impoverished, like Epictetus and Rufus, since the
pleasures of life do require a level of prosperity; nevertheless, we in the
prosperous modern world basically live an Epicurean lifestyle, living for the
weekend, enjoying evenings at restaurants and the moves, and vacations in the
summers in nice hotels, drinking moderately but not excessively. While we can
learn from the Epicurean philosophers, we must be mindful that Christianity is
more compatible with Stoic philosophy than Epicureanism.

To encourage the study of moral philosophy, the Stoic Emperor Marcus
Aurelius provided Roman public funding for the four schools of
philosophy in Athens, the schools for Platonic Philosophy, Aristotelian
Philosophy, Stoic Philosophy, and Epicurean Philosophy. Though there
was sniping between these schools of philosophy, these were not like
mutually exclusive traditions, they borrowed heavily from each other.
All four of these schools had their roots in philosophers who studied
under Socrates, so he was indeed a Father of Moral Philosophy. Cicero
tells us when he sent his nephew to study philosophy in Athens to
spend six months studying in each school of philosophy, so he could
absorb the best in each school.

Raphael, The School of Athens, 1509–1511, fresco at the Raphael Rooms, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

Dr. Arthur Holmes, philosophy professor at Wheaton College,
says plainly that Epicurean Philosophy is hedonistic. Holmes
states that the earliest and most extreme Epicurean is
Aristippus of Cyrene, who was a former student of Socrates
who was condemned in Plato’s dialogues as a Sophist who
charged fees for his wisdom. After his death, his school was
absorbed into the more moderate Epicurean school.

Professor Holmes summarizes
the philosophy of Epicurus thus:
The Greeks say, “Know thyself.”
The Epicureans interpret this as:
“Know the pleasures, to seek
our pleasures.
But be moderate, be
reasonable, be master of your
passions.”
The Fall of Adam and Eve, Michelangelo,
Sistine Chapel ceiling, 1500’s

The historian Will Durant
says that that “the blunt
hedonism of Aristippus
was in part due to his
delight in scandalizing the
respectable sinners of the
town.” He shares this
desire to scandalize with
our friends the Greek
Cynic philosophers, but
not the Roman Stoic
philosophers, who take
life more seriously.

According to the scholar
Copleston, Aristippus
adopted the Sophist view
that it is “our sensations
alone that give us certain
knowledge.” “Subjective
sensations, then, must be
the basis for practical
conduct.” Aristippus
reasoned, “If my individual
sensations form the norm
for my practical conduct,
then the end of conduct is
to obtain pleasurable
sensations.” Seeking
pleasure is the goal of the
Cyrenaic School of
Philosophy founded by
Aristippus.

The Debate Of Socrates And Aspasia,
Musée Pouchkkine, circa 1800
Will Durant says it best,
“Whatever we do, according to
Aristippus, is done through
hope of pleasure or fear of
pain, even when we impoverish
ourselves for our friends, or
give our lives for our generals.”
Unlike Epicurus, who seeks to
maximize pleasure in the long
run, Aristippus is more
interested in today’s pleasures.
“The art of life lies in plucking
pleasures as they pass, and
making the most of what the
moment gives.”

Socrates Dragging Alcibiades from the Embrace of
Aspasia, by Jean-Baptiste Regnault, painted 1785
Copleston states, “Socrates
declared that virtue is one
path to happiness, and he
held out that virtue is the
one path to happiness, but
he did not maintain that
pleasure is the end of life.
Aristippus, however, seized
the one side of Socratic
teaching and disregarded
all the rest.” Many of his
successors suggest that
“the wise man will, in his
choice of pleasure, be
cognizant of the future,”
which leads to a less selfish
and more loving
philosophy.

Diogenes also tells us what
distinguishes the philosophies of
Aristippus and Epicurus. “The
removal of pain, which Epicurus
discusses, does not seem to
Aristippus and the Cyrenaics to be
pleasure; no more than the
absence of pleasure seems to be
pain.” “The absence of pain is like
someone who is asleep.”
“Some people, whose judgement
has been perverted, are capable
of not choosing pleasure,” a
philosophy totally at odds with
the ascetism of the Stoics and
early Church Fathers.
The Debate Of Socrates And Aspasia,
Musée Pouchkkine, circa 1800

What Diogenes mostly tells are stories from his life, and the stories of Aristippus
definitely suggest a playboy mentality. One story is he was offered by a king his
choice of three courtesans, and he chose all three for the night! The king asked
him his reason, and Aristippus replied that Paris brought on the fall of Troy by
choosing one naked goddess rather than all three.

Jean-Léon Gérôme :
Socrates seeking Alcibiades
in the house of Aspasia,
painted 1861.
Aspasia was a courtesan and
also the lover and wife of
Pericles, the Athenian
statesman at the start of the
Peloponnesian Wars.

El Juicio de Paris by Enrique Simonet, c. 1904.

Jean-Léon Gérôme : Socrates
seeking Alcibiades in the house
of Aspasia, painted 1861.
When someone reproached
him for living with a courtesan,
Aristippus asked, “Is there any
difference between taking a
house in which many once lived
and taking one in which no one
has lived?”
When the man said, “No,”
Aristippus answered, “Then it
makes no difference whether
the woman you live with has
lived with many or with
nobody.”

Maybe these anecdotes suggest why the monks did not want to copy
the manuscripts of Aristippus, or the Greek Cynics, or Zeno, the Greek
stoic, since they all held somewhat libertine views.
And we are not done.

Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Arms of
Pleasure, Jean-Baptiste Regnault, painted 1791 Another time
when Aristippus
was faulted for
consorting with
Lais the courtesan,
he said, “I possess
Lais, but am not
possessed by her.
For it is the height
of virtue not to
abstain from
pleasures, but to
conquer and not
be mastered by
them.”

Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Arms of
Pleasure, Jean-Baptiste Regnault, painted 1791 To a courtesan who said, “I am pregnant by you.”
Aristippus answered, “You could be no more sure of
that than if, after walking through a field of rushes, you
claimed you had been pricked by a particular thorn.”
Diogenes quotes
Aristippus as saying:
“Openly, and without
embarrassment, the
wise man will engage
in sexual relations
with those who he
loves.”
And yukkily, the
footnote says this
may refer to
pederasty.

This sounds like the alcoholic who says he can quit drinking anytime, but never
wants to quit, and never tries to quit, no matter what. Like Amy Winehouse
singing, before she died at 27, of alcohol poisoning, “They tried to make me go to
rehab, I said, No, No, No.”
Epicurus was more moderate. Aristippus might be okay with the sex, drugs, and
rock and roll culture of our youth, but Epicurus would have been horrified.
Cicero tells us that one of successors of Aristippus, Hegesias, lectured so much
about how life was so miserable and how impossible it is to truly seek happiness
that some of his students committed suicide out of despair. In response the
authorities ordered him to quit lecturing on such a despairing philosophy.
After the founding of the Epicurean school of philosophy there were debates
between the Cyrenaics and the Epicureans, but over time the Cyrenaic school died
out, in effect merging with the Epicurean school.

Rehab Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUmZp8pR1uc

LIFE AND PHILOSOPHY OF EPICURUS
Epicurus was born at Samos several generations after Socrates and moved to Athens first to
serve in the military and then studied at the Academy before founding his own school of
philosophy. Epicurus willed his house and garden to his students to continue his studies, and he
freed his slaves in his will.
Was Epicureanism a cult? Or perhaps we should ask, was Epicureanism like a philosophical
fraternity? One prominent scholar, AA Long, suggests that Epicurus’ school of philosophy was
more a philosophical community centering on personal friendship than it was a formal school of
philosophy. Many ancient philosophers wrote about the virtues of friendship, but the virtues of
friendship are core to the Epicurean experience, and the Epicureans sought pleasure through
their friendships. This community was egalitarian, it was one of the few in ancient world that
admitted women and slaves, and in his letters, Epicurus expresses deep affection for his friends
and followers.

AA Long says this, “those who committed
themselves to Epicurus we not so much
students ‘reading for a course’ as men and
women dedicated to a certain style of
life.”
Epicurus was accorded near-divine status
by his students during his lifetime, many
of his sayings were learned by heart by his
students. Seneca says their motto was,
“Act always as if Epicurus is watching.”
Some scholars describe Epicureanism as a
missionary philosophy, where disciples
found Epicurean communities in several
cities, including Antioch and Alexandria.
Quoting AA Long, “the adherents of
Epicurus regarded him as ‘savior’, as the
bringer of ‘light,’ words we more
commonly associate with Judaism and
Christianity.”

REPEAT:
Epicurean motto: “Live as though the eye of Epicurus were upon thee.”
The Platonic, Aristotelean, and Stoic schools of philosophy encourage
their students to think independently, to think for themselves, so they
can advance the study of philosophy.
But since Epicureanism developed around the personality of Epicurus,
his disciples treasured his teachings like they were religious teachings
that needed little modification.

Epicurean motto: “Live as though the eye of
Epicurus were upon thee.”
Epicurus learned his physics from Democritus,
learned the wisdom of pleasure from Aristippus,
and they learned the pleasure of wisdom from
Socrates. Will Durant tells us that Epicurus lived
unobtrusively, “in Stoic simplicity and prudent
privacy,” “content with water and a little wine,
bread and a little cheese.” Although Epicurus
“took part dutifully in the religious rituals of the
city, he kept his hand clear of politics, and his spirit
free from the affairs of the world.” Copleston
observes, “Epicurus concentrated on Ethics even
more than did the Greek Stoics, declaring science
and mathematics useless, since they had no
connection with the conduct of life.”

Although he has more accounts of the moderation of Epicurus, Diogenes
also offers some conflicting accounts and criticisms from his enemies.

Epicurus and his student, Leontion, who may have been a courtesan.
Diogenes quotes
Epicurus as writing, “I do
not know what I would
consider good apart from
the pleasures derived
from taste, sex, sound,
and beautiful form.”
Diogenes noted that a
former student criticized
Epicurus for vomiting
twice a day from
overindulging at
banquets.

Copleston identifies three core criteria in the
philosophical system of Epicurus:
• Perceptions are what we observe with our senses,
that are the basis for our individual understanding of
truth.
• Concepts are the memory images of our perceptions.
To Epicureans, concepts are, by definition, always
true, we encounter issues of truth or falsity when we
formulate opinions or judgments based on these
concepts. Under this system, “feelings are criteria for
conduct. The Greek Stoics adopted this idea of
concepts.
• Feelings: The feeling of pleasure is the criterion of
what we should choose, and the feeling of pain shows
us what we should avoid.”
Metrodorus, the leading follower of Epicurus.

Baird and Kaufmann describe his
beliefs thus: “Epicurus declares
that pleasure is the highest good,
though some pleasures are
unnatural and unnecessary. In
contrast to modern understanding
of the word epicurean, Epicurus
opposed exotic meals and profuse
consumption. Such indulgences
never bring permanent pleasure
and frequently lead to its
opposite: pain. Instead, Epicurus
advocates enjoying only the
‘natural’ pleasures – those most
likely to lead to contentment and
repose.”

Epicurus does not deny the existence of the gods, he denies that they
care about the affairs of men, the gods are distant and are so ignorant of
the affairs of men that men need not fear the gods, or so Epicurus says.
The Greek gods are like men, they breathe and eat and feel as men do.
Likewise, Epicurus rejects the notion of the immortality of the soul, he
does not believe there is life after death, which he gives as a reason not
to fear death, since there is no judgment and no punishment after
death, or so he says. In particular, Epicurus objects to the view that
astronomical phenomena are caused by the gods.

The Council of Gods, Raphael, painted 1518

The Council of Gods, Raphael, painted 1518
As Copleston notes, Epicurus says that “Men may honor the gods for their excellence and may
even take part in the customary ceremonial worship, but all fear of them is out of place, as is
all attempts to win their favor by sacrifices. True piety consists in right thought.”
AA Long observes, “Epicurus regarded belief in the gods as a prime source of human anxiety.”

Like the Stoics, Epicurus enthusiastically praises the study
of philosophy, “Let no young man delay the study of
philosophy; for it is never too early nor too late to care for
the well-being of the soul. The man who says the season
of study has not yet arrived or has already past is like the
man who says it is too early or too late for happiness.”
Like St Paul, who exhorts us to pray without ceasing, so
Epicurus bids us to “practice and study philosophy, the
principles of the good life, without ceasing.”

What Epicurus says about the worship of the gods is also often true
about how we worship God. “It is not the man who destroys the
gods of popular belief who is impious, but he who describes the
gods in the terms accepted by many. For the opinions of the many
about the gods are not perceptions but false suppositions.”

We see this tendency today. There are many who label themselves
Christian but have many un-Christian beliefs they falsely believe are
inspired. The false beliefs include imagining the Bible says that God
helps those who help themselves, that charity should be avoided
because it increases dependence, that we should not pity the poor
because we judge them to be lazy, that God blesses the faithful with
material prosperity, that God will shield the godly from unnecessary
suffering. All these delusions are selfish delusions that lead us away
from the two-fold Love of God and neighbor.

Epicurus continues, read closely, he is condemning the
prosperity Gospel! “According to these popular
suppositions, God sends great evils to the wicked, and great
blessings to the righteous, for they, being always well
disposed to their own virtues, approve those who are like
themselves, regarding as foreign all that is different.”

The translator’s footnote points out the Greek as well as the English is
intentionally vague, does “they” refer to the gods, who approve of men
like themselves, or does “they” refer to men, who approve of the gods?
Epicurus believes that “pleasure is the greatest good,” which sounds like
a belief Christians should condemn, but before we condemn the belief
we must first ask ourselves, what does Epicurus mean when he says this,
how does Epicurus define pleasure and happiness?

Epicurus tells us, “The truest
happiness does not come from
enjoyment of physical pleasures but
from a simple life, free from anxiety,
with the normal needs satisfied.”
“Pleasure means the state where our
body is free from pain and our mind
is free from anxiety. Neither
continual drinking and dancing, nor
sexual love, nor a luxurious table
brings us the pleasant life,” but sober
reason that examines the motive for
every choice and rejection. “The
truly wise man can be happy with a
little,” simple and plain living is
healthy living.

Epicurus warns, “pleasure is the
greatest good, but some pleasures
bring pain,” and “not every pleasure
should be chosen.”

This thought is not fully developed in the fragments remaining of
Epicurus’ works. One interpretation is he is referring to false pleasures,
selfish pleasures, pleasures that harm our neighbors or our loved ones,
pleasures that rule our lives, addictions that ruin our lives.

Epicurus writes that “the
chief good is prudence.
Prudence is more precious
than philosophy itself. All
other virtues spring from
prudence. You cannot live
pleasantly without also
living prudently, nobly, and
justly, nor to live prudently,
nobly, and justly without
living pleasantly.”

What distinguishes Epicureanism from other
philosophies? AA Long observes, “for Plato and Aristotle
happiness the source of happiness is virtue, excellence
of ‘soul’,” as expressed in how you live your life. “But for
Epicurus virtue is necessary to happiness not as an
essential ingredient but as a means to its attainment.”

Virtue leads to pleasure, but pleasure is the goal, AA Long quotes
from Epicurus, “we say that pleasure is the beginning and end of
living blissfully, for pleasure is a good which is primary and innate.
From pleasure we begin every act of choice and avoidance. It is to
pleasure that we return, we use our experience of pleasure as the
criterion of every good thing.”

We may condemn Epicureanism in comparison it to the more
morally rigorous Stoicism, and this condemnation is well
deserved, but we must also realize that this perfectly sums up
the American obsession of living for the weekend so we can
spend time with our friends and loved ones. Or maybe a modest
Epicureanism can be a type of Stoicism-Lite, the spiritual danger
is that we could underemphasize the importance of virtue in our
lives.
Perhaps Epicurus himself recognizes this danger of his
philosophy. Aristippus takes the short view of pleasure, while
Epicurus takes the long view.

Plato's Symposium, Anselm Feuerbach, painted 1869

AA Long quotes Epicurus, “Since pleasure
is the good which is primary and innate,
we do not choose every pleasure,
sometimes we pass over pleasures if their
consequence is greater pain.” For
example, Epicurus is not fond of
hangovers, so he drinks in moderation.
“And we regard many pains as superior to
pleasures when a greater pleasure arises
for us after we have put up with pains
over a long time.” For example, we suffer
the pains of education so months or years
later we can earn more than the minimum
wage. And, although every pleasure seems
to be good, “not every pleasure is to be
chosen, and not every pain is bad.”

AA Long states, “although Epicurus
regarded the virtues as means and
not as ends, he held that the virtues
are necessary for happiness and are
inseparably bound up with the
hedonist life.” And he quotes
Epicurus, “Of the sources of pleasure,
the starting-point and greatest good
is prudence. Therefore, prudence is
more valuable than philosophy. From
prudence the other virtues arise.
Prudence tells us that it is not
possible to live pleasurably without
living prudently, nobly, and justly. Nor
can you live prudently, nobly, and
justly, without living pleasurably.”

Prudence often leads to happiness, but how you say that pleasure is
contingent for prudence? This can only be so when you define pleasure
as the heavenly joy for those who truly love their neighbor, living
selflessly, not living a selfish life. But Epicurus always talks about our
selfish pleasures, he never defines pleasure as a heavenly joy. Epicurus
never talks about the need to love our neighbor, no matter who they
may be. Were the Epicurean communities truly egalitarian, or did they
evolve into social clubs for wealthy citizens? We can ask the same
question of our churches, are they truly egalitarian communities, or are
they social clubs for middle and upper class citizens?

Will Durant says this of the positive aspects of the Philosophy of
Epicurus: “The wise man does not burn with ambition or lust for fame,
he does not envy the good fortune of his enemies, or even of his
friends; he avoids the fevered competition of the city and the turmoil
of political strife; he seeks the calm of the countryside and finds the
surest and deepest happiness in tranquility of body and mind.”
Copleston notes that when Epicurus talks about the positive aspects of
pleasure that he does not mean “the pleasure of the moment, but the
pleasure that endures throughout a lifetime. Also, pleasure for
Epicurus consists of the absence of pain rather than positive
satisfaction.” Also, “Epicurean hedonism does not result in libertinism
and excess, but in a calm and tranquil life; for a man is unhappy either
from fear or from unlimited and vain desires, but when he bridles
these desires, the wise man secures for himself the blessings of
reason.” “Virtue is this tranquility of the soul.” “The wise man can be
happy even when he is tortured on the rack,” a saying of Epicurus that
is more stoic than epicurean.

Will Durant says that the profoundest defect
of Epicureanism “is its negativity: it thinks of
pleasure as freedom from pain, and of
wisdom as an escape from the hazards and
fullness of life; it provides an excellent
design for bachelorhood, but hardly for a
society.” Stoicism teaches implicitly, and
Christ and the Church Fathers teach
explicitly, that the core of our faith is our
two-fold Love of God and our neighbor.
Epicurus seems to says this implicitly, but his
over-emphasis on pleasure is too easily
misunderstood by those who seek approval
to live for short-term selfish pleasure.

Alas, Epicurus is not Kant. Kant teaches that we must
live by the moral imperative, regardless of the
consequences, that there is a higher good that we
must adhere to. In contrast, the writings of Epicurus
suggest that our actions are unjust only when we are
caught and punished. In his Principal Doctrines
Epicurus proposes that:
XXXI. “Natural justice is a compact resulting from
expediency to prevent men from injuring each other.”
XXXIII. “Justice in the abstract does not exist, it is
merely a compact between men” that they will not
harm each other.
XXXIV. “Injustice is not evil it itself, but only in the
fear and apprehension that” you will not escape
punishment.

Unfortunately, Epicurus does not resolve the many logical
questions that spring from these propositions, such as:
Is injustice evil only when it is punished?
Does this mean injustice is not evil when it is merely noticed but
not punished?
Or is injustice evil only if the unjust admits their injustice?
For there to be justice, do all parties need to agree on what
justice is?
If justice is expedient, does that mean that justice is changeable?
Who determine what justice is, the weak or the strong?

Although he lived several centuries after Epicurus, the Philosophy of
Lucretius does not deviate from that of Epicurus. Lucretius is known
both as a poet and as an Epicurean Philosopher.
The Roman Epicurean philosopher Lucretius several centuries later had
some emphatic moral teachings, as quoted from his main surviving
work:

Engraving of Roman poet Lucretius,
by Michael Burghers, 1800
Lucretius writes:
Greed and blind lust for fame
Which compel men to transgress
The bounds of law, and often times make them
Allies and ministers of crime, strive night and day,
With toil and sweat to gain the heights of power,
These wounds of life in no small part are fed
By fear of death. For it is the common view
That shameful scorn and bitter poverty
Are far removed from a sweet and stable life,
And, as it were, are simply lingering
Before the gates of death.
By civil strife they make wealth for themselves
And heap up riches, murder upon murder,
Piling in greed. Envy consumes them.

Lucretius is describing attitudes we see today in our wealth
worshiping culture. In our modern culture, businessmen prize
most those who can sell, those who can earn six and seven digits
in commissions in a year, and they often tolerate the deception
needed to turn such large sales, for the wealthy who work hard
are blessed, and the poor who are lazy are cursed. You may
object that not all wealthy work hard, and that not all poor are
lazy, but yet we do tend to credit the wealthy for their wealth
and success and blame the poor for their failures and poverty.

The Parable of the Rich Fool by Rembrandt, 1627.
We must not be like the rich man
in the parable in Luke: “The land of
a rich man brought forth
plentifully; and he thought to
himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have
nowhere to store my crops?’ And
he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull
down my barns and build larger
ones; and there I will store all my
grain and my goods. And I will say
to my soul, Soul, you have ample
goods laid up for many years; take
your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This
night your soul is required of you;
and the things you have prepared,
whose will they be?’ So is he who
lays up treasure for himself and is

Were Epicureanism and Stoicism competing schools of
philosophy? They were competing but not necessarily always
opposing schools of philosophy, both were inheritors of the
Greek world view testified by the inscriptions carved at the
ancient Oracle at Delphi, Know Thyself and Nothing in Excess.
They differed in emphasis. You could say that while the Stoics
believe that your goal should be to live a godly life, and if you
truly live a godly life, sometimes you will be happy, and
sometimes you will not, while the Epicureans believe your goal
should be to live a happy and pleasurable life, but not a selfish
and ungodly life, for selfishness and ungodliness leads to misery,
not true pleasure.

View of Delphi with
Sacrificial Procession
by Claude Lorrain,
painted late 1600’s

UTILITARIANS AND EPICUREANS
In an essay in the Appendix of the leading English
translation of the Lives of Eminent Philosophers by the
ancient Diogenes, Anthony Grafton describes how Thomas
More, the Utilitarian Philosopher, was inspired by Epicurean
Philosophy in his novel, Utopia.

Grafton notes that, like the
Epicureans, “the Utopians have their
own religion and philosophy. They
hold that humans should pursue
pleasure; in particular, the permanent
pleasures of the mind and soul,
though they do not look down on the
pleasures of the body. By doing so,
they argue, one can achieve salvation.”
This attitude assures the hostility of
devout and serious Christian believers
and clergy, just as Epictetus was
hostile towards Epicurus.

SOURCES:
Most of what we know of the philosophy of Aristippus and
Epicurus are included in the work by the ancient Greek Diogenes
in his “Lives of the Eminent Philosophers.” The leading English
translation also includes an excellent essay on Epicurus in the
Appendix by James Allen.

Diogenes has a high opinion of Epicurus, he
writes: “For Epicurus has many witnesses
to his unsurpassed goodwill to all men – his
native land, which honored him with
bronze statues; his friends, so many in
number that they could hardly be counted
by whole cities, and indeed all who knew
him, held fast as they were by the siren-
charms of his doctrine,” “his gratitude to
his parents, his generosity to his brothers,
his gentleness to his servants,” “and his
benevolence to all mankind.”

For most of the philosophers in his history, Diogenes includes more
anecdotes than quotations from their work, but in his last chapter on
Epicurus he quotes extensively from his writings. Allen notes that
Diogenes sees his history of philosophy as culminating in the maxims by
Epicurus, so many scholars suspect that Diogenes was himself an
Epicurean.
Diogenes has other quotations from Epicurus, some make sense to me,
others do not, and personally I think Diogenes is a bit sloppy in his
scholarship, but he is the main and sometimes preponderant, or only
source for many philosophers whom he discusses.
There are multiple copies of this work by Diogenes in the Vatican Library
and elsewhere.

Frederick Copleston’s classic History of Philosophy is used as a textbook
by many Catholic seminaries, and likewise, Will Durant’s Life of Greece is
another classic, both are joys to read with many excellent observations.
We also consulted a reader with mostly excerpts from the main works on
Hellenistic Philosophy, and AA Long’s book on Hellenistic Philosophy.
We also consulted a reader with short commentaries on Ancient
Philosophy by Walter Kaufman, this series is used by Professor Arthur
Holmes of Wheaton College in his YouTube courses on the History of
Philosophy, which we highly recommend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnU7QS1dHM&list=PL9GwT4_YRZdBf9nIUHs0zjrnUVl-KBNSM&index=15
Dr Arthur Holmes

To be honest, for Epicurus and the lesser known early Greek philosophers, Diogenes of
Laertius is the primary source, and often the secondary sources are fragments and
quotations, so my advice is to read Diogenese as a primary source.
In a future video, we plan to collect what Seneca, Epictetus and Cicero say about the
philosophy of Epicurus. The evaluation of these Stoic philosophers on Epicurus is both
interesting and valuable,.
The main work of Lucretius is De Rerum Natura, translated as, On the Nature of Things. This
work was lost until it was rediscovered in 1417, Wikipedia lists the history of dozens of
translations made from perhaps three original manuscript families, the oldest manuscript
dating back to the ninth century. This work was very influential in the Middle Ages, and we
are planning a video on Lucretius in 2022.

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Epicurus, Aristippus, and
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