Epicouros (341-270 BC)
Epicouros is still today a very misunderstood Greek philosopher, who was fought by the establishment of all times, because his teaching and his positions on the man of his time bothered some and for this reason they tried to distort it as much as they could. It would not be an exaggeration to say that most people know very little and the opposite of what the great philosopher taught. It is also true that he had many friends and faithful disciples for many centuries. Peace of mind and tranquility are the main goals of the auxiliary philosophy acquired with the Greek measure. The shopping pleasure of calm and serenity becomes the purpose of people’s lives.
I once read, fifty years ago, the following from Epicurus and it almost changed my life,
“Most people are unhappy because they care about what they do not have and are not happy about what they have.”
“It is not possible to live happily, if one does not live wisely, morally and justly, just as one cannot live wisely, morally and justly, if one does not live happily” Assistant, Mr. Glory
“The universe is infinite. We are not at the center of the universe, but we are one of the innumerable worlds of a vast universe. ”
We understand, “we are not the center of the world”, we are very insignificant.
A great figure in world history, Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826), the third President of the United States. (1801-1809) and lead author of the Declaration of Independence, had written: “
“As you say about yourself, so I am an Epicurean. I believe that the authentic (not the fake) teaching of Epicurus contains everything logical from the practical philosophy left to us by Greece and Rome “
For those who want to know more and the truth about Epicurus I unreservedly recommend the book by Ch. Theodoridis,
“Assistant: The true face of the ancient world”
Ch. Theodoridis, a professor at the University of Thessaloniki, tells us
“The book began to be born from the moment the charming figure of Epicouros appeared in my mind. Even today, after the deeper work on the heritage of the Ancients, few imagine the exceptional position of Epicurus in the intellectual life of the ancient world. Many, most of those who met with love and understanding the Ancients, who were fascinated by the beauty of speech, chisel and contemplation, do not suspect that what they loved is a face, not the good, the most genuine of what we call Greek Ancient times.
The ancient world came to us sadly shattered. Many of his written monuments were lost, buildings collapsed, statues and vases were dismembered and buried under soil or under later buildings. But most sadly, the heritage of the Ancients was handed down to us mutilated, misunderstood and distorted by the generations that passed. The climate of the years after Alexander, the epigenetic temperament and the secret theocratic spirit determined the one-sided choice of the treasure of the Ancients and its reverse evaluation. “
In the above link we can also see: Letter to the Tenant: Mr. Doxai
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epicurus/
The philosophy of Epicouros (341-270 BC) was a complete and interdependent system that included the view of the purpose of human life (happiness, which came from the absence of physical pain and mental disorder), an empirical theory of knowledge ( senses, together with the perception of pleasure and pain, are infallible criteria), a description of nature based on atomic materialism and a naturalistic description of evolution, from the formation of the world to the emergence of human societies ”
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%95%CF%80%CE%AF%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82
“Epicouros (341 BC – 270 BC) was a Greek philosopher. He founded his own philosophical school, called Kipos tou Epikourou, which is considered one of the most famous schools of Greek philosophy.
The Auxiliary Philosophy
During the Hellenistic period, that is, the period that begins with the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) and ends conventionally with the naval battle of Aktio, in 31 BC, the dominant position in ancient philosophy is occupied by the schools of the Stoics and of the Epicureans, in parallel with those of the Platonists, Aristotelians, Skeptics, Cynics, etc.
Epicouros and his theory focus on a moral character of philosophy. [4] Its purpose was to find the causes of human misery and the false beliefs that cause it, such as superstition, asThere should be a counter-proposal for the prospect of a pleasant life (ZIN IDEOS), for the achievement of which Epicurus offered clear philosophical advice. Life is already achieved in the absence of pain and fear and by living a life of self-sufficiency surrounded by friends.
Epicouros taught that pleasure (or, in other words, pleasure) and pain are the measure of what we should prefer and what we should avoid. A pleasure, for Epicurus, is morally legitimate and we must pursue it, since it is a means of securing our ultimate voluptuous state, which is none other than our peace of mind. Even pain, if it sometimes helps us to achieve our peace of mind, acquires a positive meaning. In the context of the moderate form of hedonism, the criterion for choosing between pleasures is no longer quantitative, that is, their intensity, but qualitative. Epicurus distinguishes the shoplifting from the moving pleasures, considering the former superior to the latter. Moving pleasures are dynamic pleasures, in the sense that when they bear fruit, one fulfills a desire that, until it was not satisfied, one felt discomfort. Satisfaction of hunger, then, during the time it takes place, is a moving pleasure. The state of calm that follows when the person is full enough, according to Epicurus, is a store form of pleasure. However, if he is seduced, eats uncontrollably and fights heavily, he will have fulfilled a moving pleasure, but not having acquired the shoplike pleasure of calm and serenity, he will be unhappy. [5]
The basic principles of his teaching are the following: – with death comes the end not only of the body but also of the soul – the gods do not reward or punish people – the universe is infinite and eternal – everything in the world happens in the end, based on the movements and interactions of people moving in empty space.
The tetrapharmacy is known, that is, the four “principles” that Epicurus put forward in a modern Greek version:
God is not for fear (because divine power does not threaten by nature),
death is not a cause for concern (because there is no life after death) •
and the good (what we really need) is easily obtained,
and evil endures (whatever makes us suffer, we can easily endure it). ”
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