Notes on Epicurus

-his philosophy is a complete, independent system consisting of ...
-view of the human life's goal (happiness, no physical pain or mental disturbance)
-empiricist theory of knowledge (sensations, perception of pleasure/pain, is truth)
-theory of nature based on atomistic materialism
-dispensed transcendent entities like Forms, disproving the possibility of soul's survival
and punishment in afterlife
-naturalistic account of evolution, from formation of world to human societies
-his philosophy was everything; you don't need much knowledge
-regarded unacknowledged fear of death and punishment as cause of anxiety, which caused irrational desires
-elimination of fears left person free to physical and mental pleasures and to enjoy peace of mind and satisfaction
-account of social evolution helped explain where irrational fears came from
-proposed exercises to assist novice in throwing off habitual thoughts
-advice on things like
-politics (avoid when possible)
-gods (they're not concerned with humans; shouldn't be a problem)
-the role of sex (dubious)
-marriage (also dubious)
-friendship (essential)


Life:
-son of Neocles and Chaerestrata
-moved to Athens in 323
-after death of Alexander, when Athenians were expelled from Samos, he rejoined his father in Colophon (321)
-here, studied philosophy under Nausiphanes, who had skeptical learnings
-in ethics, Nausiphanes had something called "akataplexia" (undauntability), sorta like
Epicurus' "ataraxia" (imperturbability)
-ten years later, moved to Mytilene and then Lampascus, teaching and gathering followers
-returned to Athens in 307/306
-remained there till death in 270, at 70 years age
-in Athens, purchased property that became known as the "Garden" (later used as a name for his school) and began to develop his own school
-number of slanderous stories spread by opponents, but most hold he had a extraordinarily humane disposition
-in will, among other things, he provides for friends' children etc.


Physical Theory:
-atomist: elementary constituents of nature is undifferentiated matter: discrete, solid, indivisible particles - atoms - below perception, and empty space
-four kinds of atoms: breath, heat, air, unnamed
-sensations come from Animus (mind, will, emotions - rational) and anima (sensations - irrational)


Psychology and Ethics:
-everything is made of atoms and void; an incorporeal entity could neither act on or be acted on and moved by bodies (as the soul is seen to do)
-soul atoms are fine and distributed throughout body
-through them, we have sensations, and the experience of pain/pleasure (called "pathe" - a term
used by Aristotle to mean feelings)
-body without soul atoms is unconscious/inert; when body atoms are disarranged so it can no longer contain conscious life, soul atoms are scattered and can not provide sensations
-a part of the soul is concentrated in the chest, seat of higher intellectual power
-in the rational part, error in judgement enter
-sensation is incorrigible because it is a function of the non-rational part which does not modify a perception with opinion of belief
-corporeal nature of soul has two important consequence:
1)soul does not survive death of body
-texture is too delicate to exist independently; connection with body is necessary for
sensation to occur
-therefore, no punishment after death, or regret for lost life
2)soul is responsive to physical impressions from without or within body
-no phenomena are purely mental, disembodied states of objects of pure consciousness
-elementary sensations of pleasure/pain, rather than abstract principles, are the best guides for good and bad
-function of human mind (the part in the chest) is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain = entire objective
-substantial risk is that it might miscalculate, subject to false beliefs
-beliefs occur when certain atoms of something are fine enough to penetrate straight to mind
-misunderstanding is always an incorrect inference of something
-egs centaurs: fine particles of horses and men mixed up getting into our minds
-one barrier to correct thinking is language
-eg. by having a word for "death" may suggest that "death" is something that one can "experience"
-beliefs must be tested against knowledge of world
-hêdonê, algêdôn = pleasure, pain
-death is nothing to fear: while we exist, death does not, and when death comes, we do not exist
-as there is pain, there is also negative mental states: eg. fear, anxiety
-positive mental states as well, also depend on belief (whether true or false
-classification of desires into three parts
-natural desires
-two parts: some unnecessary, and those htat are merely natural
-empty desires
-natural and necessary look to life itself (happiness, physical well-being)
-natural but unnecessary: good things, nice odors, tasty foods, etc.
-empty desires have as their objects things which are empty - eg. immortality which cannot
exist for humans; wealth and fame, etc.
-based on empty belief, therefore can't be satisfied in same way empty fears (eg. of death) can't be alleviated
-atoms move according to fixed laws; what gives us liberty in a mechanistic universe is a minute swerve in the motions of atoms
-met a lot of critique
-offers a breach in any strict predestination


Tetrapharmacos: four-fold antidote for fear, one for each major fear (death, gods, pain, desires)
1) Divine beings have no concerns of its own, and none for others
-Gods are in a state of perfection, ataraxia; therefore, they won't disturb our world, they
don't need anything!
-we should imitate, not fear
2) Death means nothing
-broken down into atoms after death; no body, no soul, no hell
-traditionally, death is separation of body/soul
-for Epicurus: privation of sensation
-death/person can't exist at same time, so how can we possibly fear it?
-man who fears death does not live and enjoy present
-greed, desire for fame, all springs from our fear of death
-fear of death is not for what happens after, but for leaving everyone behind
-main argument against Epicurus, no answer
3) Regulation of Desires
-three types of desires:
1)natural/necessary: (survival) food and drink, (body) shelter, happiness (philo)
2) natural, not necessary: sex, love, friendship
4) Capacity to tolerate severe pain
-either pain is going to finish in a while, or you'll die

-children can't be happy cuz they're not rational; to be happy, you have to be conscious of it

Happiness/Ataraxia VS Cura/Anxiety

Social Theory:
-in beginning, humans were solitary: reproduced randomly, no verbal communication, no social institutions, survived cuz they were strong
-overtime, race softened, partly cuz of discovery of fire, partly cuz of emergence of family, which created gentler people
-put human beings in a position to gather to fend of natural dangers => development of language, agriculture and other technical skills
-alliances and friendships further contributed to collective security
-advantages of early social life:
-scarcity of goods prevented excessive competition (sharing = survival), setting limits on those
unnatural desires which later would give ways to wars etc
-before language developed further, words more accurately conformed to their actual thing; was
less a source of confusion
-gradual accumulation of money => struggle over goods infected social relations => tyrants and autocrats
-tyrants eventually overthrown => state of anarchy till people realized the wisdom of the rule of law
-with law came generalized fear of punishment which is a taint
-religious ideas are brought in; thunder and lightning considered to be wrath of gods; primitive humans may have been odd, but would not have considered it punishment till now
-if not law, what is the motive for living justly?
-where there is law, its best to follow, even in secret affairs, since otherwise you'll be anxious
over detection etc, disturbing mental state
-someone who is incapable of living prudently, honorably and justly cannot live happily, and vice versa
-thus, justice seems pragmatic and selfish
-doesn't go about it the way Plato does, considering, what if there was no possibility of punishment; would there be a reason to be just?
-perhaps a person who knows what is desirable would have no need to accumulate wealth, or hurt other people, cuz he knows how to reason correctly about his needs


The Epicurean Life:
-extremely high value on friendship, or love
-held that a wise man would feel the torture of a friend no less than his own
-would die for a friend rather than betray him; if he did so, his own life would be screwed
-these seem highly altruistic for a philosophy whose objective is to live without
physical pain and mental disturbance
-Epicurus justifies it in the same way he justifies living justly
-only by treating loyalty as a consummate value will one feel secure in ones friends, thus living happily
-his followers thought of themselves as friends
-Epicureans encouraged to form communities, observe certain rituals
-Epicureans paid attention to pedagogy also, trying to think of ways to teach newcomers without discouraging them
-Epicurus understood philosophy first as a therapy for life - philosophy that does not heal the soul is no better than medicine that does not cure the body
-life free of mental anxiety and open to pleasure was a life like the gods'

SOURCES

Jankovic, Zoran. Class Lecture on Epicurus. University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2010.

"Epicurus." Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy.
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