Did Epicureans Believe Happiness?

Alexander Ross
Alexander Ross
• • 7 min read

Epicurus Epicurus Following the Cyrenaic Philosopher Aristippus, Epicurus Believed That the Greatest Good Was to Seek Modest, Sustainable Pleasure in the Form...

Did Epicureans Believe Happiness?

Epicurus

Epicurus
Following the Cyrenaic philosopher Aristippus, Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable pleasure in the form of a state of ataraxia (tranquility and freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of bodily pain) through knowledge of the workings of the world and limiting desires.
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agrees with Aristotle that happiness is an end-in-itself and the highest good of human living. However, he identifies happiness with the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain rather than with the pure exercise of reason.

What did the Epicureans believe?

Epicureanism argued that pleasure was the chief good in life. Hence, Epicurus advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one's lifetime, yet doing so moderately in order to avoid the suffering incurred by overindulgence in such pleasure.

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What is epicureanism happiness?

For Epicurus, the most pleasant life is one where we abstain from unnecessary desires and achieve an inner tranquility (ataraxia) by being content with simple things, and by choosing the pleasure of philosophical conversation with friends over the pursuit of physical pleasures like food, drink, and sex.

Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross

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Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.