Epicurus and the atheist’s guide to happiness
Self-help books are consistently on the best-seller lists across the world. We can’t seem to get enough of happiness advice, wellness gurus, and life coaches. But, as the Book of Ecclesiastes says, there is nothing new under the sun.
Four schools of ancient Greek philosophy
Stoicism, Cynicism, Skepticism, and Epicureanism
- Each had their advocates and even had a kind of PR battle to get people to sign up to their side
- Today, we focus on the most underappreciated of these schools, the Epicureans
- In their philosophy, we can find a surprisingly modern and easy-to-follow “Four Part Remedy” to life
Practical Epicureanism
Epicurus’s guide to living is noticeably different from modern self-help books in just how little day-to-day advice it gives
- Just like it’s rival school of Stoicism, Epicurean is all about a psychological shift of some kind
- When we’re alive, death is nowhere near; when we’re dead, we won’t care
- Practical, modern, and straightforward, Epicurus offers a valuable insight to life
Epicureans
The first atheists
- They believed that the world was made up only of atoms, and that everything is simply a particular composition of these atoms.
- True contentment could not come from creating and indulging pointless wants, but must instead come from minimizing desire altogether.
The Four Part Remedy
Four principles they believed we ought to accept so that we might find solace and be rid of existential and spiritual pain
- Don’t fear God
- Everything is made of atoms, nothing is permanent
- Do not worry about death because there is no pain in death
- What is good is easy to get
- Pain is short-lived
- If basic biological necessities cannot be met then you die
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