The Art of Happiness (Penguin Classics)

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Oates, Whitney J. (1940). The Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, The Complete Extant Writings of Epicurus, Epictetus, Lucretius and Marcus Aurelius. New York: Modern Library. The Dalai Lama does not just refer to caring for each other; he also finds relationships very important and differentiates them in two ways.(111) The first is when you are in a relationship with someone because of wealth, power or position (material) – when these things disappear, the relationship normally ends. The second way is based on true human feelings (spiritual). The Dalai Lama also informs about sexual relationships. You can have a sexual relationship with no respect for each other. Usually it is just temporary satisfaction. Or sexual relationships bonded with a person who we think is kind, nice and gentle.(101–102)

Epicurus’s old questions are yet unanswered. Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil? In spite of this, DeWitt argues that Epicureanism and Christianity share much common language, calling Epicureanism "the first missionary philosophy" and "the first world philosophy". [135] Both Epicureanism and Christianity placed strong emphasis on the importance of love and forgiveness [136] and early Christian portrayals of Jesus are often similar to Epicurean portrayals of Epicurus. [136] DeWitt argues that Epicureanism, in many ways, helped pave the way for the spread of Christianity by "helping to bridge the gap between Greek intellectualism and a religious way of life" and "shunt[ing] the emphasis from the political to the social virtues and offer[ing] what may be called a religion of humanity." [137] Middle Ages [ edit ] Dante Alighieri meets Farinata, an Epicurean from Florence, in his Inferno in the Sixth Circle of Hell (canto 10). Epicurus and his followers are imprisoned in flaming coffins for the heretical belief that the soul dies with the body, [134] shown here in an illustration by Gustave Doré. Epicurus ( / ˌ ɛ p ɪ ˈ k j ʊər ə s/, EH-pih- KURE-əs; [2] Greek: Ἐπίκουρος Epikouros; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced by Democritus, Aristippus, Pyrrho, [3] and possibly the Cynics, he turned against the Platonism of his day and established his own school, known as "the Garden", in Athens. Epicurus and his followers were known for eating simple meals and discussing a wide range of philosophical subjects. He openly allowed women and slaves [4] to join the school as a matter of policy. Of the over 300 works said to have been written by Epicurus about various subjects, the vast majority have been destroyed. Only three letters written by him—the letters to Menoeceus, Pythocles, and Herodotus—and two collections of quotes—the Principal Doctrines and the Vatican Sayings—have survived intact, along with a few fragments of his other writings. As a result of his work's destruction, most knowledge about his philosophy is due to later authors, particularly the biographer Diogenes Laërtius, the Epicurean Roman poet Lucretius and the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus, and with hostile but largely accurate accounts by the Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus, and the Academic Skeptic and statesman Cicero. Epicurus spent most of his early life on the island of Samos, an Athenian settlement off the Aegean peninsula. He studied in Athens and after digesting the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and Democritus, he eventually returned there to start his own school, The Garden, which attracted many adherents. Epicurus is considered a major figure in the history of science as well as philosophy. He argued that we should only proportion belief to empirical evidence and logic, and he propounded the scientific view of atomism, according to which all facts in the macroscopic world are caused by the configuration of atoms or indivisible elements in the microscopic world. In ethics he is famous for propounding the theory of hedonism, which holds that pleasure is the only intrinsic value. As we shall see, however, his view of pleasure is far from the stereotypical one. 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. While chapter ten talks about shifting your perspective, chapter 11 talks about finding the meaning in pain and suffering, turning them into something you can reflect upon yourself. Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist and was imprisoned by the Nazis. He had a brutal experience in a concentration camp and gained insight into how people survived the atrocities (199). He observed that those who survived did so not because of youth or physical strength, but the strength derived from purpose. Being able to find meaning in suffering is powerful because it helps us cope even during the most difficult times in our lives. Being able to feel the rewards, we must search for meaning when things are going well for us too (200). For many people the search starts with religion. They give some examples from Buddhist and Hindu models. For our faith and trust in His plan allows us to tolerate our suffering more easily and trusting His plan he has for us. They give an example on how pain can be a good thing such as childbirth. It is very painful to give birth but the reward is having the child. Having suffering can strengthen us in many ways because it can test and strengthen our faith, it can bring us closer to God in a very fundamental and intimate way, or it can loosen the bonds to the material world and make us clever to God as our refuge (201). Clever to God means being or feeling closer to him and knowing what you should do.Konstan, David (2018). "Epicurus". Epicurus, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2013ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. forthcoming URL = < http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/epicurus/> In the second year of the 127th Olympiad, in the archonship of Pytharatus, according to Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 10.15 God, he says, either wishes to take away evils, and is unable; or He is able, and is unwilling; or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both willing and able. If He is willing and is unable, He is feeble, which is not in accordance with the character of God; if He is able and unwilling, He is envious, which is equally at variance with God; if He is neither willing nor able, He is both envious and feeble, and therefore not God; if He is both willing and able, which alone is suitable to God, from what source then are evils? Or why does He not remove them?

Rist, J.M. (1972). Epicurus. An introduction. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08426-0. Imagine if you will a lush garden full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Robed figures pass to and fro along the paths, stopping now and then to engage one another in pleasant conversation on science, philosophy, and art. In one corner a minstrel plays harmonious chords on his lyre. In another there is a discussion on freewill: the teacher explains that there is no reason to fear the gods and that human beings have complete freedom to choose their own path in life and to obtain happiness in the here and now. A cool wind blows as one breathes in the Mediterranean ocean-air amidst the beauty of Nature and the fellowship of friends and family. If you have imagined all of this, you have imagined Epicurus’s “Pleasure Garden,” a place where he and his students would congregate in the pursuit of achieving the most pleasant life possible in this world. The aim is not the positive pursuit of pleasure but rather the absence of pain, a neutral state he calls “ataraxia,” which is freedom from all worry, often translated simply as “inner tranquility.”When we say, then, that pleasure is the end and the aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do through ignorance, prejudice, or willful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul. It is not an unbroken succession of drinking bouts and of revelry, not sexual lust, not the enjoyment of fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, that produces a pleasant life. It is rather sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs that lead to the tumult of the soul.” There have been numerous studies that support the idea that “developing compassion and altruism has a positive impact on our physical and emotional health” (126). James House found that “interacting with others in warm and compassionate ways, dramatically increased life expectancy, and probably overall vitality as well” (126). These studies have concluded that there is a direct correlation to compassion and physical and emotional health. The next chapter tells how to cope with suffering, from the loss of a loved one. False beliefs produce unnecessary pain; among them, that the gods will punish us and that death is something to be feared.

Exercise yourself in these precepts day and night both by yourself and with one who is like minded; then never, either in waking or in one’s dreams will you be disturbed, but will live as a god among men. For man loses all semblance of mortality by living in the midst of immortal blessings.” Epicurus was first to assert human freedom as a result of the fundamental indeterminism in the motion of atoms. This has led some philosophers to think that, for Epicurus, free will was caused directly by chance. In his On the Nature of Things, Lucretius appears to suggest this in the best-known passage on Epicurus' position. [107] In his Letter to Menoeceus, however, Epicurus follows Aristotle and clearly identifies three possible causes: "some things happen of necessity, others by chance, others through our own agency." Aristotle said some things "depend on us" ( eph'hemin). Epicurus agreed, and said it is to these last things that praise and blame naturally attach. For Epicurus, the "swerve" of the atoms simply defeated determinism to leave room for autonomous agency. [108] Theology [ edit ] First-century AD Roman fresco from Pompeii, showing the mythical human sacrifice of Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon. Epicurus's devoted follower, the Roman poet Lucretius, cited this myth as an example of the evils of popular religion, in contrast to the more wholesome theology advocated by Epicurus. [109]Epicurus's teachings caused strife in Mytilene and he was forced to leave. He then founded a school in Lampsacus before returning to Athens in c. 306 BC, where he remained until his death. [6] There he founded The Garden (κῆπος), a school named for the garden he owned that served as the school's meeting place, about halfway between the locations of two other schools of philosophy, the Stoa and the Academy. [26] [11] The Garden was more than just a school; [7] it was "a community of like-minded and aspiring practitioners of a particular way of life." [7] The primary members were Hermarchus, the financier Idomeneus, Leonteus and his wife Themista, the satirist Colotes, the mathematician Polyaenus of Lampsacus, and Metrodorus of Lampsacus, the most famous popularizer of Epicureanism. His school was the first of the ancient Greek philosophical schools to admit women as a rule rather than an exception, [ citation needed] and the biography of Epicurus by Diogenes Laërtius lists female students such as Leontion and Nikidion. [27] An inscription on the gate to The Garden is recorded by Seneca the Younger in epistle XXI of Epistulae morales ad Lucilium: "Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure." [28] a b Apollodorus of Athens (reported by Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 10.14–15) gives his birth on the fourth day of the month February in the third year of the 109th Olympiad, in the archonship of Sosigenes Legacy [ edit ] Ancient Epicureanism [ edit ] Bust of Epicurus leaning against his disciple Metrodorus in the Louvre Museum Epicurus discouraged participation in politics, as doing so leads to perturbation and status seeking. He instead advocated not drawing attention to oneself. This principle is epitomised by the phrase lathe biōsas ( λάθε βιώσας), meaning "live in obscurity", "get through life without drawing attention to yourself", i.e., live without pursuing glory or wealth or power, but anonymously, enjoying little things like food, the company of friends, etc. Plutarch elaborated on this theme in his essay Is the Saying "Live in Obscurity" Right? ( Εἰ καλῶς εἴρηται τὸ λάθε βιώσας, An recte dictum sit latenter esse vivendum) 1128c; cf. Flavius Philostratus, Vita Apollonii 8.28.12. [120] Works [ edit ] Epicurus, in the Nuremberg Chronicle Obbink, Dirk (1989). "The Atheism of Epicurus". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 30 (2): 187–223.

Academic interest in Epicurus and other Hellenistic philosophers increased over the course of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, with an unprecedented number of monographs, articles, abstracts, and conference papers being published on the subject. [143] The texts from the library of Philodemus of Gadara in the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, first discovered between 1750 and 1765, are being deciphered, translated, and published by scholars part of the Philodemus Translation Project, funded by the United States National Endowment for the Humanities, and part of the Centro per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi in Naples. [143] Epicurus's popular appeal among non-scholars is difficult to gauge, [143] but it seems to be relatively comparable to the appeal of more traditionally popular ancient Greek philosophical subjects such as Stoicism, Aristotle, and Plato. [151] See also [ edit ] Note the emphasis Epicurus places on practicing the precepts “with one who is like minded.” In keeping with Aristotle, Epicurus sees the indispensable value of friendship as a crucial motivator towards one’s own true happiness. The problem is that more often than not, other people are a detriment to our happiness, by creating false competition for unnecessary pleasures. The solution to this is to remove oneself from ordinary society and to create a special commune where you interact only with those fellow like-minded pursuers of wisdom. In creating this vision, Epicurus no doubt influenced many Utopian thinkers from More to Marx who pin their hopes of happiness on a complete change in the social relations that form the fabric of who we are as human beings. ConclusionHe also says to build Self-Esteem we should have social friends and be happy throughout his life he takes example of Jake he was a little kid who was playing out of his house in his front yard.Then a kidnapper took the child home , but the child said I will call the police.