Of all philosophies, Epicureanism has always been the most unfairly maligned. The Christians burned his substantial works, and closed his schools. Yet, of all philosophies, I find Epicureanism to be the most benevolent and reasoned.
Epicurus' ideas are still in many ways, modern: he was one of the first atheists; he conceived of a atomic universe of atoms that had weight, and moved within the void of space, where motion was determined mechanically, not by gods; he held that only things created from atoms could exist--thus the idea of soul was dead wrong, as atoms that made up the brain, would cease to exist in their former form, the atoms would disperse, and thus ones mind or soul disappeared at death; he argued that if there was evil, then how could there be a god; and most famously, he held that pleasure free from suffering and pain, was the point of life--but he was no hedonist, and had a ethical system that was almost ascetic in its view of pleasure.
His ideas on death, are the most interesting, and ones I wish to share:
(this list is from the Internet Encylopedia of Philosophy)
Anyone who fears death should consider the time before he was born. The past infinity of pre-natal non-existence is like the future infinity of post-mortem non-existence; it is as though nature has put up a mirror to let us see what our future non-existence will be like. But we do not consider not having existed for an eternity before our births to be a terrible thing; therefore, neither should we think not existing for an eternity after our deaths to be evil.
So, do I have any converts?
Epicurus' ideas are still in many ways, modern: he was one of the first atheists; he conceived of a atomic universe of atoms that had weight, and moved within the void of space, where motion was determined mechanically, not by gods; he held that only things created from atoms could exist--thus the idea of soul was dead wrong, as atoms that made up the brain, would cease to exist in their former form, the atoms would disperse, and thus ones mind or soul disappeared at death; he argued that if there was evil, then how could there be a god; and most famously, he held that pleasure free from suffering and pain, was the point of life--but he was no hedonist, and had a ethical system that was almost ascetic in its view of pleasure.
His ideas on death, are the most interesting, and ones I wish to share:
(this list is from the Internet Encylopedia of Philosophy)
- Death is annihilation.
- The living have not yet been annihilated (otherwise they wouldn't be alive).
- Death does not affect the living. (from 1 and 2)
- So, death is not bad for the living. (from 3)
- For something to be bad for somebody, that person has to exist, at least.
- The dead do not exist. (from 1)
- Therefore, death is not bad for the dead. (from 5 and 6)
- Therefore death is bad for neither the living nor the dead. (from 4 and 7)
Anyone who fears death should consider the time before he was born. The past infinity of pre-natal non-existence is like the future infinity of post-mortem non-existence; it is as though nature has put up a mirror to let us see what our future non-existence will be like. But we do not consider not having existed for an eternity before our births to be a terrible thing; therefore, neither should we think not existing for an eternity after our deaths to be evil.
So, do I have any converts?