Epicurus, Stoics, And John Locke On Free Will

Epicurus was a Greek philosopher born in 341 B.C., and he lived until 240 B.C. According to The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, “He [Epicurus] claimed to be self-taught, although tradition states that he was schooled in the systems of Plato and Democritus by his father and various philosophers” (Columbia). These prior philosophers heavily influenced the ideals that Epicurus would popularize later on in life. The ideals of Epicurus went on to be known as Epicureanism, which essentially was a school of thought that recognized pleasure as the greatest virtue (James).

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who was born in 341 BC and died in 270 BC. As a boy, he studied philosophy for four years under the Platonist teacher Pamphilus, when he turned 18 he went to Athens for his two-year term of military service. Many of his teachings were strongly influenced by earlier thinkers but Epicurus would deny this influence, and call other philosophers confused and he’d claim to be “self –taught”. Epicurus’ school was based in the garden of his home, and he called it “The Garden”. His school was one of the first ancient

Many times I find myself sitting and wondering whether I am fully free or not. I wake up every single morning and do the same routine, which is eat breakfast, go to class or work, do homework, go to the gym, shower, and then go to bed. Does this truly mean I am free? There are a lot of questions that you can ask yourself while following a routine. Is this really the path I should have taken? Were my choices determined by external factors? Determinism is the thesis that an any instant there is only one physically possible future. Robert Blatchford and Walter Terence Stace, two philosophers, both agree that determinism is true, although they have two different views on whether this means that people are free or not. Blatchford believes that everything is predestined. Stace on the other hand, believes that a person chooses what they do because of free will. In this essay I am going to discuss both of the philosophers’ views more in depth and why I favor Stace’s view over Blatchford’s.

Epicurus was born on (341-271 B.C.) on the island of Samos, his parents were Athenians. So he had an Athenian citizenship, he joined the military as an obligation of the city. After the death of Alexander The Great, Athens was really in a political turmoil of who was going to replace him. Epicurus parents were evicted from Samos by the Macedonians, who had taken over the area, he and his family moved to Colophon in Asia minor and lived there for ten years. It was in Colophon under the tutelage of Nausiphanes, a philosophy that he learned a version of atomism. His version was quite different from his predecessors.

Stoicism’s primary differentiating feature from other varieties of Greco-Roman philosophy is its assertion that the individual has absolute control over some aspects of their life and absolute powerlessness to affect others. The thinking that follows is that the only concern for humans should be that which we individually can control – the rest can be regarded as up to chance and therefore irrelevant to ideal human behavior. Stoicism therefore dismisses, even rejects, the ideas of natural superiority and inferiority, constructs that defined much of the Roman social-political system. However, despite this egalitarian premise, the Stoic emphasis on individual agency irrespective of individual circumstance

Epicureanism came from Epicurean school and was founded by Epicurus. He adapted the Atomistic views of Democritus saying that happiness will only achieve through pleasure and it will be better to

Epicurus was the son of a schoolmaster, who studied philosophy and died of natural causes. He left an impact with his last dying words about the secrets of happiness: storing up pleasures against rainy days of pain. What this means is that if you live by his theories of four principles of happiness, then you can overcome anything that might bring you unhappiness. The four principles are; The gods exist, but not in the way we suppose; Death is nothing to fear; Pleasure is the key to happiness; Everything we need to be happy is easy to obtain. Epicurus mentions that pleasure is pain, for pleasure is good, but not all should be pursued, and all pain is bad, but not all should be avoided. He also mentions how you should accentuate the negative

Stoicism is similar to Epicureanism: they both share the view that eudaimonia is attained by atraxia, a calmness or tranquility of the mind that comes from apathy, or more specifically, indifference. This indifference has to do with ignoring things related to human life, which is viewed as mundane: things like health, money, political office, and material possessions cause pleasure that is bad, and when you ignore these things and become indifferent, your mind becomes calm. This is similar to Epicureanism in that Epicureanism defines happiness as the absence of pain, like the need for earthly pleasures; in Stoicism, happiness is found in the indifference towards these things. However, the difference between the two is that Epicureanism understands that desires and some external pleasures are part of being human, and

Epicurus was a very inventive writer and only a few letters and or fragments of his writing are existent. His writings depict his theories of physics and astronomy, ethics, and overall knowledge. “By nature men seek pleasure, but by knowledge they are guided to the choice of the true

We see free will as usually something that we don’t have or do. In stoic philosophy, we learn how nature is in control of the consequences of our actions whether they are good or bad. While St.Augustine of Hippo believes that while nature is all-knowing, nature gives us the ability to have complete control of our free will but depending on our actions will we recieve paradise. With both of these philosophies in question, we can tell that while both are different we can also see the similarities in each other.

The free-willers argued against the Stoic’s theory of casual determinism. They stated that if everyone is fated to be who they are, why give recognition to a great man and demonize a criminal? Either way they were determined to do what they did, why should

The stoic worldview that is presented in Epictetus’s Handbook is considered a divergence from Socrates’s conception of philosophy. According to Epictetus’s Handbook, he was as a firm believer that emotions would result in errors of judgement which would essentially lead to an unhappy life. To live a happy and well life one must be emotionless and should be absent. Epictetus’s ultimate telos was virtue, which has to do with doing right and abstaining from doing wrong, would essentially achieve one’s good life. Whereas Socrates’s conception of philosophy consisted of only the truth. His ultimate telos was eudaimonia, which is happiness. He was willing to die in the name of philosophy because of how strongly he felt about it. Socrates believed that in order to have a good life one had to do good. Although both of their end purpose consisted of happiness, they still differed.

Epicurus is an ancient Greek philosopher as well as the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism.

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy known as Epicureanism.

In this paper I aim to answer these questions, after critically explaining and analyzing Augustine’s views on free will. The main focus of the paper will be my own beliefs and my own conclusions, and thoughts on how humans can be both predetermined and have free will. I aim to show my understanding on Augustine and also provide a clear and concise explanation of how and why I believe the way I do.