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Applying The Epicurean Worldview

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The happiest life possible to us cannot be obtained without effort. It is necessary to study nature and use our minds to understand that we need not live forever in order to live a full and complete life. We cannot be confident that we will not be punished after death, or that Fate does not hold us in its grip, or that the claims of absolute right and wrong and absolute virtue - the claim that all men should live exactly the same way and follow the same rules – unless we understand the nature of the universe. And we cannot successfully navigate the problems of life, or attain our happiest times, unless we have like-minded friends with whom to work in our pursuit of the best life. Epicurus taught that we cannot hope to attain the goal of living as “a god among men” without continued study and engagement in the study of nature, so it is necessary for us to work throughout our lives to understand the truths of the universe, for which the Epicureans believed the teachings of Epicurus himself were the best guide. We do not always need to remember the details, but we need to always be able to recall to memory the core elements of the Epicurean worldview.

First Understand The Big Picture And Then Learn How The Pieces Fit Into It​

The best way to learn about Epicurean philosophy, and the only real way to understand it, is first understanding the big picture and then

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  • PD27 - Of all the things which wisdom acquires to produce the blessedness of the complete life, far the greatest is the possession of friendship.

  • Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus - Meditate therefore on these things and things akin to them night and day by yourself; and with a companion like to yourself, and never shall you be disturbed waking or asleep, but you shall live like a god among men. For a man who lives among immortal blessings is not like unto a mortal being.

  • Epicurus' Letter to Herodotus - Here, Herodotus, is my treatise on the chief points concerning the nature of the general principles, abridged so that my account would be easy to grasp with accuracy. I think that, even if one were unable to proceed to all the detailed particulars of the system, he would from this obtain an unrivaled strength compared with other men. For indeed he will clear up for himself many of the detailed points by reference to our general system, and these very principles, if he stores them in his mind, will constantly aid him. For such is their character that even those who are at present engaged in working out the details to a considerable degree, or even completely, will be able to carry out the greater part of their investigations into the nature of the whole by conducting their analysis in reference to such a survey as this. And as for all who are not fully among those on the way to being perfected, some of them can from this summary obtain a hasty view of the most important matters without oral instruction so as to secure peace of mind.

  • Epicurus' Letter to Pythocles - All these things, Pythocles, you must bear in mind; for thus you will escape in most things from superstition and will be enabled to understand what is akin to them. And most of all give yourself up to the study of the beginnings and of infinity and of the things akin to them, and also of the criteria of truth and of the feelings, and of the purpose for which we reason out these things. For these points when they are thoroughly studied will most easily enable you to understand the causes of the details. But those who have not thoroughly taken these things to heart could not rightly study them in themselves, nor have they made their own the reason for observing them.

    • VS41 - We must laugh and philosophize at the same time, and do our household duties, and employ our other faculties, and never cease proclaiming the sayings of the true philosophy.

Remind yourself that supernatural gods do not exist. Gods did not create the universe and are not involved with humans, so gods are nothing to worry about.​

  • PD12 - A man cannot dispel his fear about the most important matters if he does not know what is the nature of the universe, but suspects the truth of some mythical story. So that, without natural science, it is not possible to attain our pleasures unalloyed. Epicurus' PD12
  • PD13 - There is no profit in securing protection in relation to men, if things above, and things beneath the earth, and indeed all in the boundless universe, remain matters of suspicion.
  • VS49 - It is impossible for someone to dispel his fears about the most important matters if he does not know the Nature of the universe, but still gives some credence to myths. So, without the study of Nature, there is no enjoyment of pure pleasure.

Remind yourself that life is short and there is no life after death, so treasure your life and do not procrastinate in pursuing pleasure.​

  • PD02 - Death is nothing to us, for that which is dissolved is without sensation; and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us.
  • VS10 - Remember that you are mortal, and have a limited time to live, and have devoted yourself to discussions on Nature for all time and eternity, and have seen “things that are now and are to come and have been.”
  • VS14 - We are born once and cannot be born twice, but for all time must be no more. But you, who are not master of tomorrow, postpone your happiness. Life is wasted in procrastination, and each one of us dies while occupied.
  • VS30 - Some men, throughout their lives, spend their time gathering together the means of life, for they do not see that the draught swallowed by all of us at birth is a draught of death.
  • VS31 - Against all else it is possible to provide security, but as against death all of us, mortals alike, dwell in an unfortified city.
  • VS38 - He is a little man in all respects who has many good reasons for quitting life.
  • VS60 - Every man passes out of life as though he had just been born.

Remind yourself that unendurable pain is not to be feared. Pain is short if intense, endurable and offset by pleasure if long, and can always be escaped by death.​

  • PD04. Pain does not last continuously in the flesh, but the acutest pain is there for a very short time, and even that which just exceeds the pleasure in the flesh does not continue for many days at once. But chronic illnesses permit a predominance of pleasure over pain in the flesh.

Remind yourself that you need not live forever to experience a full life. Pleasure has a limit in quantity; when all pain is eliminated, the quantity of pleasure does not increase, but only varies.​

  • PD03. The limit of quantity in pleasures is the removal of all that is painful. Wherever pleasure is present, as long as it is there, there is neither pain of body, nor of mind, nor of both at once.
  • PD18. The pleasure in the flesh is not increased when once the pain due to want is removed, but is only varied: and the limit as regards pleasure in the mind is begotten by the reasoned understanding of these very pleasures, and of the emotions akin to them, which used to cause the greatest fear to the mind.
  • PD19. Infinite time contains no greater pleasure than limited time, if one measures, by reason, the limits of pleasure.
  • PD20. The flesh perceives the limits of pleasure as unlimited, and unlimited time is required to supply it. But the mind, having attained a reasoned understanding of the ultimate good of the flesh and its limits, and having dissipated the fears concerning the time to come, supplies us with the complete life, and we have no further need of infinite time; but neither does the mind shun pleasure, nor, when circumstances begin to bring about the departure from life, does it approach its end as though it fell short, in any way, of the best life.

Surround yourself, remember, and occupy your mind with things that bring you pleasure.​

  • VS18 - Remove sight, association, and contact, and the passion of love is at an end.
  • VS19 - Forgetting the good that has been, he has become old this very day.
  • VS55 - We must heal our misfortunes by the grateful recollection of what has been, and by the recognition that it is impossible to undo that which has been done.

Be honest and frank with yourself and your friends.​

  • VS29. For I would certainly prefer, as I study Nature, to announce frankly what is beneficial to all people, even if none agrees with me, rather than to compromise with common opinions, and thus reap the frequent praise of the many.

Become as self-sufficient and independent of the "crowd" - those who are not your friends - as reasonably possible, and do not err in being either too extravagant or too frugal.​

  • VS44 - The wise man, when he has accommodated himself to straits, knows better how to give than to receive, so great is the treasure of self-sufficiency which he has discovered.
  • VS45 - The study of nature does not make men productive of boasting or bragging, nor apt to display that culture which is the object of rivalry with the many, but high-spirited and self-sufficient, taking pride in the good things of their own minds and not of their circumstances.
  • VS58 - We must free ourselves from the prison of public education and politics.
  • PD39 - The man who has best ordered the element of disquiet arising from external circumstances has made those things that he could akin to himself, and the rest at least not alien; but with all to which he could not do even this, he has refrained from mixing, and has expelled from his life all which it was of advantage to treat thus.
  • PD40 - As many as possess the power to procure complete immunity from their neighbors, these also live most pleasantly with one another, since they have the most certain pledge of security, and, after they have enjoyed the fullest intimacy, they do not lament the previous departure of a dead friend, as though he were to be pitied.
  • VS63. Frugality too has a limit, and the man who disregards it is like him who errs through excess.
  • VS77. The greatest fruit of self-sufficiency is freedom.

Value prudence and live wisely.​

  • VS46. Let us utterly drive from us our bad habits, as if they were evil men who have long done us great harm.
  • VS47. I have anticipated thee, Fortune, and I have closed off every one of your devious entrances. And we will not give ourselves up as captives, to thee or to any other circumstance; but when it is time for us to go, spitting contempt on life and on those who cling to it maundering, we will leave from life singing aloud a glorious triumph-song on how well we lived.
  • VS48. We must try to make the end of the journey better than the beginning, as long as we are journeying; but when we come to the end, we must be happy and content.
  • VS71. Every desire must be confronted by this question: What will happen to me if the object of my desire is accomplished, and what if it is not?

One source of such discussion with like-minded friends is EpicureanFriends.com, where you can set up a free account, start reading our existing discussions, and ask questions and discuss Epicurus yourself.

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As mountain-ranging hounds smell out a lair, and animals covert, hidden under brush, once they are certain of its track, so you, all by yourself, in matters such as these, can see one thing from another, find your way to the dark burrows and bring truth to light. - from Lucretius, On The Nature of Things, Book One (Humphries)

Participating in our work at EpicureanFriends.com is a great way to spend quality time with other serious students of Epicurus. Before we get to that, however, let's stress something very important to our project -- We Are A No-Politics Zone!