Epicureanism
Epicureanism
Ancient Philosophies
This series provides fresh and engaging new introductions to the major schools of philosophy of antiquity. Designed for students of philosophy and classics, the books offer clear and rigorous presentation of core ideas and lay the foundation for a thorough understanding of their subjects. Primary texts are handled in translation and the readers are provided with useful glossaries, chronologies and guides to the primary source material.
Published
The Ancient Commentators on Plato and Aristotle
Miira Tuominen
Ancient Scepticism
Harald Thorsrud
Cynics
William Desmond
Epicureanism
Tim O’Keefe
Neoplatonism
Pauliina Remes
Presocratics
James Warren
Stoicism
John Sellars
Forthcoming
Classical Islamic Philosophy
Deborah Black
Confucianism
Paul Goldin
Indian Buddhist Philosophy
Amber Carpenter
Plato
Andrew Mason
Socrates
Mark McPherran
Epicureanism
Tim O’Keefe
For Mom and Dad
First published in 2010 by Acumen
Published 2014 by Routledge
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© Tim O’Keefe, 2010
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ISBN: 978-1-84465-169-6 (hardcover)
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Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Sources and abbreviations
Chronology
1.
Introduction: the life of Epicurus and the history of Epicureanism
I.
Metaphysics and physics: introduction and overview
2.
Atoms and void
3.
Atomic motion
4.
Sensible qualities
5.
Cosmology
6.
Biology and language
7.
The mind
8.
Freedom and determinism
II.
Epistemology: introduction and overview
9.
Scepticism
10.
The canon
III.
Ethics: introduction and overview
11.
Pleasure, the highest good
12.
Varieties of pleasure, varieties of desire
13.
The virtues and philosophy
14.
Justice
15.
Friendship
16.
The gods
17.
Death
Glossary of terms
Notes
Further reading
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Why to read this book
Epicurus’ thought had a significant impact on the world: along with Stoicism and Academic Scepticism, Epicureanism was one of the major philosophical systems competing for the allegiance of thoughtful people in the Hellenistic world; Epicurean communities flourished for hundreds of years after Epicurus’ death; and the rediscovery of Epicurus’ philosophy helped shape the scientific revolution. Also, and in my view more importantly, Epicurus was a first-rate philosopher. He provides a systematic account of the nature of the world and our place in it, how we can come to know the world, and how we can attain happiness. Along the way he lays out arguments on a whole host of subsidiary topics, such as the nature of the mind and its relationship to the body, the untenability of scepticism, the development of society, the role friendship plays in attaining happiness, and the afterlife (or lack thereof). In my own experience, grappling with what Epicurus has to say about something has always helped sharpen and deepen my own thinking on that subject, even where I ended up concluding that he was deeply mistaken. Epicurus himself would claim that we should study him simply to attain happiness. According to Epicurus, a proper understanding of the workings of the world and the natural limits of ourdesire will free us from superstitious fears and allow us to attain an untroubled, blessed life.
But Epicurus’ own writings are mostly lost to us, and what is left consists largely of summaries of his positions and short sayings, often written in a dense and jargon-laden style. The extended expositions of Epicurus’ philosophy by Lucretius and Cicero are more informative and approachable, but even these can be deeply puzzling if used as starting-points for understanding Epicurus, since Lucretius and Cicero did not aim their writings at an audience of twenty-first-century English speakers. I hope that this book serves as a useful introduction to Epicurus’ positions and the arguments he gives in favour of them.
How to use this book
This book is intended as a stand-alone introduction. I do not include extended quotations from ancient sources; instead, I usually summarize matters in my own words. However, I encourage interested readers to go back to the ancient texts themselves. I gather together a list of ancient readings on Epicureanism for each chapter at the end of the book. Some readers (or teachers) may wish to pair this book with a compendium of ancient texts. For these readers, I also include references to the two best compendia of texts on Epicureanism in English translation: the second edition of Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings, by Brad Inwood and Lloyd Gerson (1997) and The Hellenistic Philosophers, by A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley (1987). Many of the ancient texts I refer to are also in these compendia; where this is so, I indicate this using the following conventions: (IG
to that I refer to along the way to help illuminate Epicureanism.
Lucretius is our best source for Epicurus’ metaphysics and physics, as well as being a wonderful poet. Both LS and IG include some selections from Lucretius (LS much more extensively than IG). However, they (understandably) leave much out, given the length of Lucretius’ poem, so some people may find it useful to read this book along with Lucretius too. Fortunately, a large number of good and reasonably priced translations of Lucretius are available. Three in particular I recommend: Martin Ferguson Smith’s translation On the Nature of Things (2001) is accurate and readable, and includes useful notes. For those who want to read Lucretius’ poetry as poetry, not prose, Rolfe Humphries’ vigorous translation The Way Things Are (1968) is outstanding, albeit fairly free in its rendering of Lucretius, while A. E. Stallings’s recent translation The Nature of Things (2007) is also quite good and closer to the text and tone of Lucretius. Many of Cicero’s treatises are our best sources of information for key parts of Epicureanism. This is particularly true of his De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (On ends), which reports Epicurus’ ethics in book one and criticizes it in book two. Raphael Woolf gives a fine translation, accompanied by Julia Annas’s (2001) extensive introduction.
I avoid extensive wrangling in scholarly controversy of the sort that is better done in journal articles, since doing so would quickly derail this book from its purpose. Instead, I just put forward what I myself take Epicurus’ views to be, backed up by references to the texts, although I do sometimes indicate where what I say is controversial. Since my interpretations of Epicurus are not especially idiosyncratic, I do not think that the reader will be badly misled by this approach. However, the reader should be aware that many aspects of Epicurus’ thought are controverted. I include Further Reading at the end of the book for readers who wish to explore scholarly issues further. Volume 2 of LS includes an excellent (if now dated) annotated bibliography, organized topically. And The Cambridge Companion to Epicureanism edited by James Warren (2009) aims to give insight into the current scholarship, and hence has an extensive bibliography.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the many students at the University of Minnesota, Morris, and at Georgia State University to whom I have taught bits and pieces of Epicureanism, particularly the students in my Epicurus class at Georgia State during autumn 2008. Interacting with all of you has helped immensely in writing this book.
I had the privilege of being on the committee for Kelly Arenson’s dissertation on Epicurean pleasure, and of supervising Melissa Strahm’s MA thesis on Epicurean friendship. Both of them improved my understanding and appreciation of Epicureanism.
Steven Gerrard has been an encouraging and patient editor, and the reviewers for Acumen gave detailed and useful feedback. Sylvia Berryman and Hal Thorsrud both looked over a draft of the complete manuscript and improved it in innumerable ways.
Anne Farrell has been a great sounding board and support throughout the writing process. Quinn, Brennan and Katie have shown me that the Epicureans might be right that children do not generally bring tranquillity, but they can give joy. I dedicate this book to my mom and dad. In their roles as Gammy and Pa, they stepped up and gave me the time I needed during a crucial stage of the composition of the book.
Tim O’Keefe
Decatur, Georgia
Sources and abbreviations
Athenaeus (Ath.)
Deipnosophists
Aristotle (Arist.)
Cael. = De caelo
Eth. Nic. = Nicomachean Ethics
Int. = De interpretation
Metaph. = Metaphysics
Part. an. = Parts of Animals
Ph. = Physics
Cicero (Cic.)
Acad. = Academica
Fat. = On Fate
Fin. = On Ends
Nat. D. = On the Nature of the Gods
Diogenes Laertius
DL = Lives of the Philosophers
Epicurus
Ep. Hdt. = Letter to Herodotus
Ep. Men. = Letter to Menoeceus
Ep. Pyth. = Letter to Pythocles
KD = Principal Doctrines
VS = Vatican Sayings
Galen (Gal.)
On Medical Experience
Lactantius (Lactant.)
On the Anger of God
Lucretius
DRN = On the Nature of Things (De rerum natura)
Philodemus (Phld.)
Piet. = On Piety
Plato (Pl.)
Grg. = Gorgias
Hp. mai. = Greater Hippias
Men. = Meno
Phd. = Phaedo
Phlb. =Philebus
Rep. = Republic
Tht. = Theatetus
Ti. = Timaeus
Plutarch (Plut.)
Adv. Col. = Against Colotes
Non posse = A Pleasant Life
St. Rep. = On Stoic Self-Contradictions
Porphyry (Porph.)
Abst. = On Abstinence
Seneca (Sen.)
Ep. = Letters
Sextus Empiricus (Sext. Emp.)
Math. = Against the Professors
Pyr. = Outlines of Pyrrhonism
Simplicius (Simpl.)
in Phys. = Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics
Stobaeus (Stob.)
Anthology
Theophrastus (Theophr.)
Sens. = De sensibus
Xenophon (Xen.)
Mem. = Memorabilia
Compendia
DK = Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, H. A. Diels & W. Kranz
IG = Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings, 2nd edn, Brad Inwood & Lloyd Gerson (1997)
LS = The Hellenistic Philosophers, A. A. Long & D.N. Sedley (1987)
Chronology
BCE c.515–440 Parmenides
c.460–370 Democritus
c.429–347 Plato
384–322 Aristotle
c.365–270 Pyrrho
341 Epicurus born in Samos
334 Zeno of Citium born
306 Epicurus founds the Garden in Athens
c.301 Zeno of Citium founds the Stoic school in Athens
271 Epicurus dies; Hermarchus assumes headship of the Garden
c.268 Arcesilaus becomes head of the Academy and turns it in a sceptical direction
262 Zeno of Citium dies
214–129 Carneades
c.110–40 Philodemus
106–43 Cicero
c.94–55 Lucretius
early-mid 1st century Aenesidemus founds Pyrrhonian scepticism
CE c.50–120 Plutarch
79 Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying Epicurean villa and library in Herculaneum
2nd century Sextus Empiricus
late 2nd century Diogenes of Oinoanda
c.225 Diogenes Laertius composes Lives and Opinions of the Philosophers
ONE
Introduction: the life of Epicurus and the history of Epicureanism
Epicurus was born in 341 BCE in the Athenian colony of Samos, an island in the Mediterranean Sea near present-day Turkey. He began practising philosophy early, at the age of either twelve or fourteen, according to different reports. This interest was apparently spurred because of contempt for his schoolteachers. He wanted to understand what Hesiod meant when he claimed in the Theogony that first of all Chaos came into being, and from Chaos sprang Earth, Eros, Darkness and Night. When they were unable to interpret these lines for him, he turned to philosophy.
Epicurus said he was self-taught, but this claim is usually not taken seriously. The details of his early philosophical education are unclear, but he is said to have studied with Pamphilus, a follower of Plato (c.429–347 BCE), and (in a more reliable report) under Nausiphanes, a follower of Democritus (c.460–370 BCE), one of the inventors of atomism.
Even in the sketchy story above, we can discern many of the formative influences on Epicureanism. One of the main themes of Epicurus’ philosophy is its resolute stand against the sort of destruc
tive and retrograde superstition represented by Hesiod’s theogony. Hesiod begins with a mythological account of the spawning of the universe from Chaos, and ends up with the triumph of the Olympian deities over their Titanic forebears. And with their triumph, these jealous beings, with superhuman powers and subhuman characters, are free to use us as pawns in their petty squabbles.
Epicurus lived in a time of great intellectual ferment, when the hold of traditional Greek religion, as promulgated in Hesiod and Homer, was weakened but not yet shattered. The first Greek philosophers (nowadays called the “Presocratics”) proposed that phenomena such as earthquakes could be explained naturalistically, instead of being seen as the will of the gods. For instance, Anaximenes said that earthquakes were the result of the earth cracking as it dried out. This was rightfully seen as threatening by traditionalists. The philosopher Anaxagoras was reportedly banished from Athens for impiety because he said that the sun was a hot stone (instead of the chariot of Apollo), and Socrates was executed in 399 BCE in part because he denied the gods of the city. Plato’s Apology and the unflattering portrayal of Socrates in Aristophanes’ play The Clouds make it clear that one of the reasons people thought this of him is that he was (wrongly) viewed by some people as one of the “natural philosophers” who sought to replace the gods with elements such as air. And even in Epicurus’ lifetime, Aristotle was indicted for impiety (although the charges were politically motivated) and fled Athens in 323 BCE (DL V 5–6).
One of the main sources of human unhappiness, according to Epicurus, is the fear fostered by such superstitious accounts of natural phenomena. In order to combat this fear, we must banish the meddling gods of popular religion by providing rational, naturalistic explanations in place of superstitious ones. This theme is given its strongest expression near the start of Lucretius’ massive and magnificent poem On the Nature of Things, which sets forth Epicurean physics. Lucretius says that human beings were grovelling and crushed under the weight of superstition. But then Epicurus travelled through the measureless universe and discovered what could be and what could not, and with this knowledge trampled superstition underfoot and lifted us to the heavens (DRN I 62–79).