What is the best way to live? Epicurus was a philosopher who wanted to answer that question. Should I say yes to that handsome boy who asked me on a date? Should I eat ice cream every day? Should I delete my Instagram and Facebook? Even though Epicurus has been dead for 2,500 years, he provides an answer to all those questions. He has only one principle for this. Enjoy life. But for Epicurus, enjoyment was something completely different than you would expect.
Hedonism: pain and pleasure
Epicurus was a hedonist. He thought life was about pain and pleasure. That’s what happiness consists of. We should avoid pain as much as possible and obtain pleasure as much as possible. But how do you do that?
Avoid pain
By living very quietly and moderately. You would expect that Epicurus, for example, liked wild parties, but he did not. Why? Because high peaks lead to high valleys. If you party wildly, you’ll be hungover the next day. Enjoying life also lasts a lifetime. When making your decisions, you should therefore remember that short-term pleasure does not outweigh long-term pain – such as arguments. It is better to feel happy all the time than very happy sometimes, thought Epicurus.
Ataraxia: no worries
If you are not in pain, you will naturally be happy. By pain Epicurus meant not only physical pain, but also mental or emotional pain. In society we worry about all kinds of things: how much money we have, how much influence we have, whether our status is in danger. When the pain of worry disappears, you might think a person is feeling neutral. But according to Epicurus, the lack of worry is a positive feeling in itself. Not intense, but a calm contentment. He called this ataraxia , or soul peace. Hakuna matata.
Epicurus’ exemplary garden
Epicurus thought it was not possible to achieve ataraxia in a large city. In a society all kinds of unnatural desires are created. We want to wear expensive clothes, we want a lot of likes on Facebook, we want to buy all kinds of things and we want to look beautiful. In a society we look for status, power and continuous recognition. Epicurus retreated to an estate with a small group (several dozen). Here he had a large garden where the natural, basic needs of man were satisfied: shelter, food and friendship. That’s all a person needs, Epicurus thought. In this way unnecessary worries were avoided. Epicurus even advised against falling in love, because its intensity could easily throw you off balance.
Art of living and death in the Letter about Happiness
Epicurus advised his friends about the good life by writing letters to them. His friend Menoeceus was afraid of death. Epicurus stated that by thinking carefully and rationally, most worries can be nipped in the bud. The same goes for the fear of death. He thought that when you die, you no longer exist. There is no heaven, no hell, there is pure nothing. Also no dream or a black space, you no longer have any form of experience. And that’s exactly why it’s okay to die, Epicurus thought. If something is bad, it must be painful. But when you’re dead, you don’t feel pain anymore. You don’t feel anything. When you are there, death is not there; if death is there, then you are not there, he stated. There is no moment when you can experience death. Only dying may be unpleasant, but being dead is not. And if death is the worst thing that can happen to a person, then there can’t be much reason to worry.
And god?
Epicurus believed in special gods. He saw gods as examples for humanity. Gods do not interfere in human affairs. Gods live secluded, enjoy simple existence and reflect on life in peace.
Conclusion
So the answers to the questions in the introduction are: no, no, yes. It is better not to get involved in love, because that causes a lot of worries. A good friendship works much better. The suffering from possible health problems outweighs the pleasure of having an ice cream every day. And try to organize your life in such a way that you don’t have to worry too much about your status and how people look at you. Delete Facebook, even throw away your smartphone. Epicurus thought that the simple, carefree life was the best life.