Around the year 300 B.C., Epicurus (341-270) founded a school of
philosophy in Athens. His followers were called Epicureans. He developed the
pleasure ethic of Aristippus and combined it with the atom theory of
Democritus.
The story goes that the Epicureans lived in a garden. They were
therefore known as the “garden philosophers.” Above the entrance to this
garden there is said to have hung a notice saying, “Stranger, here you will live
well. Here pleasure is the highest good.”
Epicurus emphasized that the pleasurable results of an action must
always be weighed against its possible side effects. If you have ever binged
on chocolate you know what I mean. If you haven’t, try this exercise: Take all
your saved-up pocket money and buy two hundred crowns’ worth of
chocolate. (We’ll assume you like chocolate.) It is essential to this exercise
that you eat it all at one time. About half an hour later, when all that delicious
chocolate is eaten, you will understand what Epicurus meant by side effects.
Epicurus also believed that a pleasurable result in the short term must
be weighed against the possibility of a greater, more lasting, or more intense
pleasure in the long term. (Maybe you abstain from eating chocolate for a
whole year because you prefer to save up all your pocket money and buy a
new bike or go on an expensive vacation abroad.) Unlike animals, we are able
to plan our lives. We have the ability to make a “pleasure calculation.”
Chocolate is good, but a new bike or a trip to England is better.
Epicurus emphasized, though, that “pleasure” does not necessarily
mean sensual pleasure—like eating chocolate, for instance. Values such as
friendship and the appreciation of art also count. Moreover, the enjoyment of
life required the old Greek ideals of self-control, temperance, and serenity.
Desire must be curbed, and serenity will help us to endure pain.
Fear of the gods brought many people to the garden of Epicurus. In this
connection, the atom theory of Democritus was a useful cure for religious
superstitions. In order to live a good life it is not unimportant to overcome the
fear of death. To this end Epicurus made use of Democritus’s theory of the
“soul atoms.” You may perhaps remember that Democritus believed there
was no life after death because when we die, the “soul atoms” disperse in all
directions.
“Death does not concern us,” Epicurus said quite simply, “because as
long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer
exist.” (When you think about it, no one has ever been bothered by being
dead.)
Epicurus summed up his liberating philosophy with what he called the
four medicinal herbs:
The gods are not to be feared. Death is nothing to worry about. Good is
easy to attain. The fearful is easy to endure.
From a Greek point of view, there was nothing new in comparing
philosophical projects with those of medical science. The intention was simply
that man should equip himself with a “philosophic medicine chest” containing
the four ingredients I mentioned.
In contrast to the Stoics, the Epicureans showed little or no interest in
politics and the community. “Live in seclusion!” was the advice of Epicurus.
We could perhaps compare his “garden” with our present-day communes.
There are many people in our own time who have sought a “safe harbor”—