BIOGRAPHY

Like the Pre-Socratic philosopher, Pythagoras, Epicurus was born on the Greek island of Samos. At eighteen he went to Athens for a year, then joined his father in Colophon, the city where Xenophanes had been born. He studied the writings of Democritus and eventually set up his own school on the island of Lesbos. From there he moved to the Hellespont and, finally, to Athens in 307 B.C. As he moved from place to place, many of his students followed him. In Athens he established a community known as the "Garden" where he spent the rest of his life teaching and writing.

Epicurus' community welcomed people of all classes and of both sexes. The school required no fee from students, accepting what each individual was able and willing to pay. Epicurus himself was almost worshiped by his disciples, and members of his group had to swear an oath; "I will be faithful to Epicurus in accordance with whom I have made it my choice to live." Among the later followers of Epicurus' thought, the Roman poet Lucretius (98-55 B.C.) considered him to be a god. Yet Epicurus was not overbearing or authoritarian. According to all accounts, he was kind and generous, treating his followers as friends, not subordinates. While dying in agony from a urinary obstruction, Epicurus wrote a letter that illustrates his gracious spirit. The extant portion includes these words to his friend Idomeneus: "I have a bulwark against all this pain from the joy in my soul at the memory of our conversations together."

BASIC THOUGHT

Epicurus wrote over three hundred volumes, but all that has survived are some fragments, three complete letters, and a short treatise summarizing his views. These surviving works provide an understanding of Epicurus' physics and his ethics and give some sense of his psychology and theory of knowledge. Epicurus' first letter, To Herodotus, explains his atomistic theory. Like Democritus, Epicurus asserts that reality is composed of atoms and the void. But unlike Democritus, whose atomism is deterministic, Epicurus broaches the notion that atoms sometimes inexplicably "swerve." As atoms "fell downward" through the void, some of them swerved from their paths and collided with other atoms, setting off a chain reaction that eventually led to the world as we know it. Epicurus goes on to explore the implications of this theory for perception and knowledge.

The second letter, To Pythocles, on astronomy and meteorology, is of questionable origin and adds little to our understanding of Epicurus' thought. But the third letter, To Menoeceus, together with the short work, Principle Doctrines, explains his central ethical theory. Epicurus declares that pleasure is the highest good, though some pleasures are unnatural and unnecessary. In contrast to the modern understanding of the word "epicurean," Epicurus opposed exotic meals and profuse consumption. Such indulgences never bring permanent pleasure and frequently lead to its opposite: pain. Instead Epicurus advocates enjoying only the "natural" pleasures--those most likely to lead to contentment and repose.

A Greek orgy. Though he identified "happiness" with "pleasure," Epicurus disapproved of such indulgence. An orgy will not bring permanent happiness and leads to its opposite: pain.

LUCRETIUS (ca. 99-55 B.C.)

Epicurus' follower, Lucretius, wrote a famous poem, On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura), which expounds the philosophy of Epicurus. In particular Lucretius develops his master's atomistic materialism. Lucretius agrees that in all nature there are only atoms moving in a void. (Actually, Lucretius wrote in Latin and did not use the Greek word atom. His word was primordia, "first-beginnings.") In addition to "swerves" which cause the world as we experience it, Lucretius uses this theory to explain human activity as well. The human soul is made up of very fine atoms, and free will is simply the result of a "swerve" of atoms. Sensation occurs when thin films or "idols" (i.e., images) are thrown off from objects and, entering us through our sense organs, jostle the atoms of the mind. Consciousness is also explained atomistically as the motion of our soul atoms.