At the center of Epicurus' philosophy is happiness. Both his epistemology and his natural philosophy have the goal of enabling people to live a happy life. But how can we live happily? Which needs need to be met and which don't? And what influence does fear and pain have on our happiness? For Epicurus, a happy life is a pleasurable life. Pleasure is the highest good and the ultimate goal of all actions. Such an ethical position is called hedonism (from the Greek hēdonḗ - pleasure) and is in sharp contrast to the ethical positions of his time. While for Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics reason is the highest goal of man, according to Epicurus people can only be happy if they live a life full of pleasure. Humans naturally strive for everything that gives pleasure and avoids everything that causes pain. But Epicurus is not concerned with a dissolute life in which as many desires as possible should be satisfied. Because not every desire makes you happy in the long term. If I eat too much ice cream, I get a stomach ache. If I drink too much alcohol, I have a hangover the next day. Epicurus represents negative hedonism: the highest good is freedom from pain. The distinction between kinetic and catastematic pleasure is interesting in this context . Kinetic pleasure (from Greek kínēsis - movement) refers to the pleasure that arises when pain is eliminated or when an already existing pleasure changes. It is “pleasure in movement” and is connected to an activity. Catastematic (state) pleasure, on the other hand, is static and describes absolute freedom from pain, i.e. a state in which the person feels no pain at all. It occurs when the person is free from all physical and mental pain. In Epicurus's negative hedonism, catatastematic pleasure - the freedom from physical (aponia) and mental pain - is the highest pleasure. It is this state of pleasure that makes ataraxia, inner peace and mental serenity possible. He writes: “The health of the body and the unshakability of the soul [...] is the goal of a happy life.” A person can only achieve ataraxia if they live out their pleasure in a sensible manner and avoid pain. So we have to eliminate the sources of unpleasure in order to become happy. The three sources of unpleasure are desire, fear and pain. Desires are directed toward future pleasure and can lead to displeasure if they are not satisfied. They therefore represent a possible threat to peace of mind and a happy life. Epicurus distinguishes 3 different categories of desires. First, there are natural and necessary desires, such as for food or clothing. If such desires are not satisfied, they cause pain (hunger, thirst, cold). We must satisfy these desires so that we do not suffer pain and our inner peace is not disturbed. We are not completely free to decide whether we eat, drink or protect ourselves from the weather. However, natural and necessary desires are very easy to satisfy because nature provides us with everything we need. Then there are natural but unnecessary desires, such as sexuality. Such desires can be satisfied in moderation. However, if they are not satisfied, they do not cause pain and can therefore be easily suppressed. We are free to decide whether we want to live out our sexuality or forego it. We should refrain from such desires if satisfying them could lead to difficulties. And third, there are unnatural, unnecessary desires. These are pointless, lead to self-indulgence and should therefore be avoided completely. They arise from mere imagination. These desires include the pursuit of luxury goods, honor, power or wealth. If a person strives for such meaningless, empty things, his inner peace is disturbed. Because these desires are difficult to satisfy and create new desires as soon as they are satisfied. Unnatural, unnecessary desires can be controlled through reason and correct instruction can be eliminated. For Epicurus, a happy life requires a certain degree of freedom - on the one hand, from deficiencies such as hunger or thirst, and on the other hand, from unfulfillable desires. Nature shows us what we should strive for and what not. It shows us to seek pleasure and avoid pain, and provides us with all the things we need to live a happy life. Natural things are easy to obtain, whereas unnatural needs lead to self-indulgence and are difficult to satisfy. So we shouldn't pursue all emerging needs in principle, but rather concentrate on those needs that are easy to satisfy. Even natural and necessary needs do not have to be satisfied immediately or in an exaggerated manner. If I'm hungry but there's no food available at the moment, that craving can wait. Hunger is also easier to satisfy with a piece of bread than with a four-course meal. The four-course meal is both harder to obtain and harder to digest. Epicurus advises us to carry out a hedonistic cost-benefit analysis and, on this basis, to sensibly weigh up which needs we should satisfy, when and to what extent, and which we can do without. In order to be able to control our needs, two insights are particularly important: First: pleasure cannot be increased to infinity. If we are free from displeasure, any further striving is pointless. The condition of ataraxia cannot be increased. It is therefore completely pointless, even counterproductive, to pursue further desires when we are free from pain. Second: Pleasure can be achieved at any time using simple means. Nature provides us with everything we need to satisfy our natural and necessary desires. We do not achieve happiness through the accumulation of meaningless goods or through the satisfaction of constantly new desires, but through inner peace, through freedom from pain. In concrete terms, this means: A piece of bread and a glass of water satisfies our need for food better than a 4-course meal and an expensive red wine. If we reduce our desires to the natural and necessary needs, we can satisfy them easily, avoid pain and more easily reach the state of ataraxia: inner peace and serenity. Because all the goods we really need are available at all times. The second source of unpleasure is fear of the gods and death. This fear leads to unfulfillable needs: people want to escape the impending disaster. But this is not possible under divine punishment or death. Epicurus must therefore show that these fears are unfounded. The fear of the gods arises because people believe that gods intervene in world events, for example by punishing people with thunderstorms, drought or illness. To eliminate this superstition, Epicurus shows that the gods are not interested in what is happening in the world or in people. All phenomena can also be explained scientifically. In addition, people are afraid of death. They are afraid that death will be painful. They are afraid of what will happen to them after death. And they fear that death will rob them of future pleasurable moments. However, Epicurus does not consider death to be an evil. On the one hand, with death the sensation also disappears, that is, death does not affect us because we then no longer exist. (1+2) On the other hand, pleasure ends with death, but people can achieve the highest pleasure while they are still alive. A further increase is not possible because the pleasure lasts longer. Both the fear of the gods and of death can be eliminated through rational instruction. For this purpose, Epicurus developed a comprehensive natural philosophy, about which there is a separate video in this series. The third source of pain is pain. Unlike death, pain is an actual evil that does not simply disappear through rational consideration. But we can also counteract this displeasure with reason. On the one hand, we can do this by weighing up whether overall pleasure or displeasure outweighs (hedonistic calculation). Pain can have a positive value as a means to greater pleasure . For example, we accept the pain of medical treatment if it benefits our future health. We can override pain that does not serve health with pleasurable experiences - pleasant music/memories of past pleasures or expectations of future pleasures. However, if the pain is so severe that we cannot ignore it, we can console ourselves with the fact that such pain does not last long. Either anesthesia occurs or death. Epicurus names five sources of pleasure that we must satisfy in order to live happily. These sources of pleasure are food, drink, sexuality, friendship and philosophy. Eating and drinking are natural and necessary needs. These needs must be met so that pain does not arise. However, food and drinks do not have to be particularly fancy or rich. People can be content with the little that nature easily provides them with. We only really appreciate culinary delights like fish or wine when we don't always have them. Sexuality is also a basic need that we should satisfy in order to live happily. This need is natural, but not necessary. We can satisfy our sexual desire as often as we want, as long as it does not cause us or others any discomfort, we do not violate any laws or customs, and we do not harm our own health. Since sexuality is not necessary, there is no pain if we do not satisfy this need. We can therefore easily give up sex - for the reasons just mentioned. The fourth source of pleasure is friendship. Good friends provide support, share sympathy, offer reliability and enable constancy in life. They create a feeling of security and thereby reduce fear. Although friendship is not necessary for survival, it is still essential for a happy life as it creates pleasure and calms the soul. The fifth source of pleasure is philosophy. It occupies a special role among the lusts because its practice produces immediate pleasure. In addition, only philosophy makes it possible to deal with our needs and fears correctly. Through philosophical insight, people can free themselves from superfluous desires and through the study of nature from the fear of gods and death. Philosophy contributes to more serenity and thus a better life. For Epicurus, friendship and philosophy are the two most important sources of pleasure. He writes: “The noble person cares most about wisdom and friendship.” Epicurus also subordinates virtues such as wisdom, bravery, temperance and justice to the pleasure principle. They should only be pursued if they increase pleasure. He writes: “I spit on the morally beautiful and on those who admire it without reason if it does not produce pleasure.” And: “One chooses the virtues because of pleasure, not because of themselves [...].” For Epicurus, virtues are not desirable for their own sake, but only insofar as they produce pleasure or avoid pain. Only those who are wise, brave, temperate and just can lead a happy life. Because only such a person can avoid unnecessary needs and achieve inner peace. On the other hand, anyone who strives for power, wealth, fame or immortality is bound to become unhappy. Reason is therefore also essential in Epicurus' hedonistic philosophy. Because reason makes the development of the virtues possible. Only with the help of reason can we correctly assess which needs should be satisfied and which should not. It shows us what leads to as much pleasure as possible and as little suffering as possible in the long term, and how the state of ataraxia can best be achieved. Through wisdom the unnatural desires can be recognized and avoided, from which hatred, strife and war arise. Such desires disturb our peace of mind and the happiness of other people. Bravery is necessary so that we do not allow ourselves to be disturbed by unfounded fears and can endure pain better. Moderation or modesty helps us to be satisfied with little and not to develop excessive, pointless needs. Furthermore, pleasures are all the more pleasurable after we have experienced deprivation or lack. And justice ensures a carefree, fear-free life, while injustice disturbs our inner peace. If a person behaves unfairly and causes harm to other people, he must always fear that his transgressions will eventually come to light or that those affected will take revenge on him. According to Epicurus, people should live in secret, not hold public office and not concern themselves with other people's affairs. Epicurus advises us to live a simple, self-sufficient life , freeing ourselves from both pointless needs and unfounded fears. He gives his students the following four pieces of advice: First, do not fear the gods. Second, don't worry about death. Third: Happiness is easy to come by. And fourth: suffering is easy to endure. Do you think Epicurus' teachings are still relevant today? What would change if we followed his advice? With the Quizlet learning set “Epicurus” you can now test your knowledge. Have fun learning and see you soon!