July 25, 2003
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Quintus Horatius Flaccus Tu ne quaesieris - scire nefas - quem mihi, quem tibi finem di dederint, Leuconoë, nec Babylonios temptaris numeros. ut melius, quicquid erit, pati! seu plures hiemes, seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam, quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare Tyrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. |
I rejoice to discover a foe of austere abstinence and lover of life with all its pleasures who formed a school of philosophy in ancient Greece. Epicurus (c. 341-271 BCE) is one of the major philosophers in the Hellenistic period. He taught his students in his privately owned Garden groves. Communities of Epicureans flourished for centuries after his death, yet his philosophy has been criticised as "hedonistic and materialistic".
To Epicurus, the chief good in life is pleasure:
''All desires that do not lead to pain when they remain unsatisfied are unnecessary, but such desires are easily discarded when the thing desired is difficult to obtain or the desires seem likely to produce harm.''
''The man who follows nature and not groundless opinions is independent of all things. For in reference to what is enough for nature, every possession is riches - but in reference to unlimited desires, even the greatest wealth <is not riches but poverty.>
''No pleasure is a bad thing in itself: but the means which produce some pleasures bring with them disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.
''He who understands the limits of life knows that it is easy to obtain that which removes the pain of want and makes the whole of life complete and perfect. Thus he has no longer any need of things which are troublesome to attain.''
But Epicurus doesn't advocate effacing oneself:
Epicurus points to the reason why the philosophy of consciousness worshipping is desirable, for the practice of it produces great pleasure.
"Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more. Therefore, both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom, the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come. So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it."
At the end of Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus:
"Exercise yourself in these and related precepts day and night, both by yourself and with one who is like-minded; then never, either in waking or in dream, will you be disturbed, but will live as a god among men."
It is quite enlightening to learn that from earliest times there has been an alternative to the
stoical ascetic systems which deny pleasure seeking for stern duty's sake. Such 'black and white' systems, allowing for no gradations between 'good' and 'evil', have infested most of today's popular moral systems.
As the study of Epicureanism proves,
It wasn't always this way!
Proceed to a later look at Epicurus, March 18, 2004: What Is 'The Most Exalted State'?
Proceed to the next in the chronlogical sequence July 26, 2004: Set of Crystal Glasses
''Beauty and virtue and the like are to be honored, if they give pleasure; but if they do not give pleasure, we must bid them farewell.''
Epicurus celebrated the goodness of sensuality, as he stated:
''I do not know how I can conceive the good, if I withdraw the pleasures of taste, withdraw the pleasures of love, withdraw the pleasures of hearing, and withdraw the pleasurable emotions caused by the sight of a beautiful form.''
He exhorts:
''Do not think it unnatural that when the flesh cries out, the soul cries too. The flesh cries out to be saved from hunger, thirst, and cold. It is hard for the soul to repress these cries, and dangerous for it to disregard nature’s summons, because the soul accustomed to independence day by day.''
Desiring things as great wealth and fame are the vain desires which can never be satisfied, for once we have a little, we always want more.
''LXIV. We should welcome praise from others if it comes unsought, but we should also be engaged in improving ourselves.''
It is far better then, rather than concerning ourselves with thoughts of possible fame, but to what actions we can pursue that are worthy of fame. Here, too, is the meaning behind the Egyptian phrase 'Kheper', 'conscious willed evolution'.
At the beginning of Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus:
Go to More Than Matter - Epicurus Revisited (Again!) - May 24, 2004
Go Back to INDEX of Markings Of My Path
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