Epicurus Essay

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    Lucretius Beliefs

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    Epicurus supported that the images people had for gods were varying due to the different preconceptions that had been implanted to every person separately. Very often there were false convictions expressed by people even if their preconceptions reflected their own natural goals. Lucretius protested against voices who presented gods as having evil intents and as prone to partiality and fury: “Unhappy human race, to attribute such behavior, and bitter wrath too, to the gods! What lamentations did they

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    Epicurus is a well-known ancient Greek philosopher who has had a remarkable impact on teachings and beliefs of Philosophy. His goal was to teach all people to find happiness by following his way of life. To this day, there are still many that follow the beliefs of Epicurus. I see some of his beliefs positively and others seem unnecessary. Epicurus did not believe in the supernatural. His beliefs were more about physics, logic, and ethics. To him everything experienced in life happens naturally

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    Epicurean Lifestyle Epicurus was a revered philosopher in ancient Greece during the late 4th century bce with his teachings focusing on living simply and without vanity. Epicurean philosophy is a way to approach life and learning with Epicurus believing “The aim of knowledge is freedom from fear and mental uncertainty” (Hibler, 21); to achieve this freedom Epicurus said a person needed to, “live pleasurably…prudently, honorable, and justly” (Letter to Menoeceus, 4). To begin, Epicurus did not believe

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    Death Is Not Death?

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    the unknown. Epicurus however did not have any fear of death, he believed that death was simply nothing to us and that fearing being dead was senseless because we would not be present to actually experience it. According to Epicurus we should not fear death because our soul dies along with our bodies, because it is irrational to fear nonexistence as we have experienced it before and lastly because fearing death can only take away from us enjoying the short time we have on earth. Epicurus himself was

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    It is easy to assume that a life spent seeking pleasure will definitely not be just. Epicurus however, disagrees. In the Principal Doctrines, Epicurus explicitly states that there is no such thing as absolute justice - only general justice. This justice is mutually beneficial for all the members of society as it prevents people from harming others, and vice versa, others being harmed by them. The agreements amongst society over what is ethical and what is not, decides what “just” means. “Natural

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    where happiness comes from, or rather how one can achieve such a notoriously sought-after phenomenon. In fact, the philosophy of human happiness is such a complicated concept that two of the most established philosophers in history, Aristotle and Epicurus, are not even able to come to a concise formula for where it comes from and how one can obtain it. While both philosophers agree upon the idea that material items and goods that involve others, things such as money and fame, will not bring us any

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    Epicurus believed that in order to live a good life, humans should make life choices that fit their own desired nature. Like every other animal on earth, humans naturally seek pleasure and try to avoid pain. Epicurus suggests that we should try to pursue pleasure as rationally and intelligently as possible. To pursue pleasure rationally, Epicurus said before going forth with an action, we should first consider what pleasures this action or event might lead to. Ask yourself; is this going to cause

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    reach happiness. Epicurus tackles the questions, “what is the key to being happy?” and helps one understand how we ought to understand happiness. Epicurus agree that happiness is the ultimate life goal and the reason for human existence. In this essay, I will view and discuss Epicurus’s thoughts on happiness and also share my thoughts on his views. For complete happiness, we must seek pleasure and avoid pain. Many philosophers were not interested in a pleasurable lifestyle but Epicurus was devoted to

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    Overmyer REL-287 17 Oct 2017 Philosophy of Happiness Throughout this course, we have learned about many philosophers that have been influential in the topic of Happiness. However to me, Aristotle and Epicurus have been the most interesting philosophers to me personally so far. Epicurus viewed happiness or eudaimonia as a static pleasure and believed that pleasure was the greatest good, however to attain this pleasure, you would have to attain tranquility, freedom from fear, and absence of

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    all the bad actions in their lifetime. Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher of the Hellenistic period of 323-31 BCE, believed that death is the end of our existence and thus argued that the act of fearing death is irrational (Letter to Menoeceus, 10.124-125). The Epicurean argument I will discuss in this paper is in support of him claiming the fear of death is irrational is better-titled as the privation of experience argument. In his own words Epicurus claimed that “death is nothing to us” in

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