Main REPRESENTATIVES of the SPICUREIANS in philosophy

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Do you want to expand your knowledge about the Epicureans in philosophy and meet their main representatives? If so, continue reading this lesson from a PROFESSOR, because we are going to talk to you about this philosophical current, founded in the 4th century BC. C. in Athens by Epicurus of Samos, and from his school, The garden, where he imparted his doctrine, based mainly on the pursuit of happiness, which the philosopher associates with pleasure.

And how can man achieve this happiness? For this, it is necessary that there is a balance between the pleasures of the body and the mind, and a liberation from fear, above all, from the fear of death, fate or the gods themselves. All human beings, said Epicurus, seek pleasure and avoid pain. And from here, he will develop his ideas. He keeps reading and discovers the main representatives of the Epicureans in philosophy.

Index

1. Epicurus and his school, the Garden
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2. Main representatives of the Epicureans
3. Diogenes of Enoanda
4. Zeno of Sidon
5. Horacio, another of the representatives of the Epicureans
6. Lucretius

The father of Epicureanism was Epicurus of Samos, born in 341 a. C and founder of his own school, which he called, The garden, where he develops his philosophical doctrine. Epicurus was educated by his father, who was his teacher, as well as by other philosophers of the time. For this thinker, everything that exists is made up of atoms, and only through the senses, could human beings grasp their properties.

Epicurus will define pleasure as the absence of pain, and to that end the acts of beings must be directed humans, who had to get away from all disturbances, as well as from luxuries and excess material goods. The secret is to find the harmony between body and soul, between the physical and the psychological. This will lead to serenity o ataraxia, that is, to the imperturbability of the spirit, the Epicurean ideal.

“Pleasure is the good first. It is the beginning of all likes and dislikes. It is the absence of pain in the body and restlessness in the soul ". Epicurus of Samos.

Epicureanism can be associated with hedonism, but moderate, considering the most important intellectual pleasures than those of the body and when making a defense of prudence in the pursuit of pleasure. Among its main representatives, in addition to Epicurus, the poets Lucretius and Horace stand out, whose literature reflects the philosophy of Epicurus.

The Garden was the courtyard of the house of Epicurus, and in this school, everyone was allowed to enter, including women, which caused some controversy at the time, being accused of indecent practices. This did not prevent the success of Epicurus and his school, which had a large following, mainly from Greece and Asia Minor. Everyone wanted to hear the ideas of the Athenian.

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The most famous followers of Epicurus occurred in Ancient Rome. Among the main representatives of Epicureanism stand out philosophers such as Diogenes of Enoando and Zeno of Sidon or the poets Horacio, Virgilio and Lucrecio. Horacio's is the famous phrase “Carpe Diem”, Or, live in the moment.

For 7 centuries, the philosophy of Epicurus influenced countless thinkers attracted by his ideas, but with the Middle Ages, the end of the legacy of Samos also came. The work of his followers is central to an understanding of Epicurus' doctrine, since much of his work was lost.

Next, we tell you which are the main representatives of Epicureanism.

One of the main Representatives of the Epicureans in philosophy was Diogenes of Enoanda, a Greek philosopher of the 2nd century and one of the main disseminators of the ideas of Epicurus. He even had some of the maxims of the Athenian Epicurus engraved on a wall near the main market. of Enoanda, to let the public know that it is not possible to achieve happiness by buying things.

There is no doubt that this would be a good lesson for the society of the 21st century, which associates happiness with consumerism. Unfortunately, today, only a few engravings are preserved on the wall, which was destroyed by an earthquake.

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This philosopher was born in the 1st century BC C. in the city of Sidon in Greece, and was a contemporary of Cicero. The latter says of Zeno, in his book, “On the nature of the gods” that he detested all philosophers, even Socrates himself.

Like Epicurus, Zeno despises riches and warns that they do not help to achieve happiness. Living only in the present does not help either, the point is not to be afraid of the future.

Quinto Horacio Flaco, one of the most important poets of the Ancient Rome, and very popular due to his satirical poems. All of Horacio's work revolves around desire and he makes a defense of retirement as a lifestyle or

Beatus ille, as he himself called it. Horacio coined the phrase Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero, which means, "seize the day, don't trust tomorrow."

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Lucretius was another of the representatives of the Epicureans in philosophy. A Roman philosopher and poet who lived between 99 BC. C and 55 a. C and of it only one work is preserved, By rerum natura,or "On the nature of things", which constitutes a defense of the doctrine of Epicurus and the atomism of Democritus.

Lucretius bets on the mortality of the soul, and like Epicurus, he urges the human being to free himself from the fear of death and of the gods themselves and of death, since they prevent happiness from being achieved.

To end this lesson, a Seneca quote speaking of Epicurus:

“That is why I take pleasure in remembering the egregious sentences of Epicurus because I verify that those who come to they with the vile hope of covering up their vices, they will understand that wherever they go they have to live honestly”.

If you want to read more articles similar to Representatives of the Epicureans in philosophy, we recommend that you enter our category of Philosophy.

Carlos García Gual, Emilio Lledó, Pierre Hadot. Philosophy for Happiness, Epicurus. Ed. ERRATA NATURAE, 2013.