Epicurus
Ancient philosophyHow do we achieve happiness? This is the fundamental question to which Epicurus proposes an answer. In this Greek philosophical school, pleasure occupies a privileged place.
However, Epicureanism is also based on a physical conception inherited from Democritus, atomism.
Freedom from fears linked to religious superstition is a third essential aspect of this doctrine.
The works of Epicurus summarised on this site
Principal Doctrines
This work condenses the essential precepts and practical recommendations that the wise man must follow in order to achieve happiness.
Further reading: analyses and commentaries
To discover this author's thought in greater depth, these books will be useful:
O'Keefe, Tim (2009). Epicureanism. University of California Press.
Rist, J.M. (1972). Epicurus. An introduction. London: Cambridge University Press.
Warren, James (2009). The Cambridge Companion to Epicureanism. New York: Cambridge University Press
Jones, Howard (1989). The Epicurean Tradition. London: Routledge
Hibler, Richard W. (1984). Happiness Through Tranquillity. The school of Epicurus. Lanham, MD: University Press of America
Recommended videos
Conferences, symposia, radio broadcasts... here are 7 videos that will help you better understand Epicurus' thought.
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Biography: life of Epicurus
Youth
Little is known about Epicurus' life. We do not even know where he was born, in 341 BC: Athens or Samos, an island near Turkey—sources differ.
In any case, he was in Athens when he was 18: he went there to complete his military service. But it was in Samos that he was taught by Nausiphanes, a philosopher influenced by two very distinct schools: the scepticism of Pyrrhon, and the atomism of Democritus. Through this teacher, Epicurus discovered these two doctrines.
He then set off to found his own school in Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, near the Turkish coast, which he soon left to settle in Lampsak, on the Troad, for four years. This was an opportunity for him to meet his first disciples, including Hermarchus, who would later become his successor.
The Garden
In 306 BC, at the age of 35, he returned to Athens, followed by some of his pupils, and bought a plot of land. There, he founded the Garden School, where he would deliver his teachings for the rest of his life.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, who taught only orally, Epicurus wrote numerous works. There were nearly three hundred writings of all kinds (books, letters, etc.), but only a tiny fraction have survived (three letters and a few maxims).
His many detractors spread the rumour that the Garden was a place of debauchery. In fact, 'Epicurean' is often synonymous with 'libertine'. In reality, Epicurus was content with a frugal lifestyle. A little bread and cheese was enough for him.
Posterity
His doctrine consists of both ethical teaching, based on a conception of pleasure understood as an absence of pain, and a physical conception of the world falling under atomism. It freed us from superstition and the fear engendered by certain natural phenomena (thunderstorms, etc.), considered at the time to be divine warnings.
After his death in 270 BC in Athens, his teachings continued to be dispensed by his disciples and were perpetuated for several centuries, spreading throughout the Mediterranean basin. He was popularised by Lucretius, a Latin poet, who put the essence of his doctrine into verse.
Main works
Main works
Letter to Menoeceus
Principal Doctrines
Vatican Sayings