Epicurus

philosophy

light bulb joke

famous last word

advice

stoicism

is wrongly considered a hedonist. He is better understood if you simply replace the word 'pleasure' with 'contentment' or 'happiness.'

is of the belief that we ought not seek pleasure in its usual sense, but ataraxia —tranquillity, equanimity, repose of mind; all of which trembles on the verge of Zeno's "apathy.".

In the end he proposes to seek not pleasure in its usual sense, but ataraxia —tranquillity, equanimity, repose of mind; all of which trembles on the verge of Zeno's "apathy."

is not at all a hedonist. He felt that pleasure should not be avoided, but rather selected; namely, the joys of the intellect

Nature leads every organism to prefer its own good to every other good";—even the Stoic finds a subtle pleasure in renunciation. "We must not avoid pleasures, but we must select them, 55 Epicurus, then, is no epicurean; he exalts the joys of intellect rather than those of sense; he warns against pleasures that excite and disturb the soul which they should rather quiet and appease.

is a stoic philosopher who taught that apathy is impossible, and that pleasure (though not necessarily sensual pleasure) is the only conceivable, and quite legitimate, end of life and action.

Such a principle cried out to heaven for its opposite, and Epicurus, though himself as Stoic in life as Zeno, supplied it. Epicurus, says Fenelon, 2 "bought a fair garden, which he tilled himself. There it was he set up his school, and there he lived a gentle and agreeable life with his disciples, whom he taught as he walked and worked. . . . He was gentle and affable to all men . . . He held there was nothing nobler than to apply one's self to philosophy." His starting point k Q conviction that apathy is impossible, and that pleasure-though not necessarily sensual pleasure—is the only conceivable, and quite legitimate, end of life and action.

Epicurus, n.Memes

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