(Epicurus, 3465438 BC+0 ~ 270 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher and founder of Epicurism. Epicurus successfully developed aristippus's hedonism and combined it with democritus's atomism. The main purpose of his theory is to achieve an undisturbed state of peace.

Epicurus was born in Samos in 34 1 BC, but his parents were Athenians. He moved to Athens at the age of 18, and then went to Asia Minor, where he was influenced by democritus's philosophy. In 207 BC, Athens established a school, which was active in Athens until his death. Legend has it that the school lives in his yard and is completely isolated from the outside world, so it is called "garden philosopher". It is said that there is a sign at the gate of the yard that says, "stranger, you will live a comfortable life here." Happiness here is the best. "

The biggest difference between Epicurus' theory and Socrates and Plato is that the former emphasizes staying away from responsibility and social activities. Epicurus believed that the greatest goodness came from happiness. Without happiness, there can be no goodness. Happiness includes both physical happiness and spiritual happiness. Epicurus distinguished between positive happiness and negative happiness, and thought that negative happiness had priority and was "narcotic ecstasy in a full stomach".

At the same time, Epicurus emphasized that when we consider whether an action is interesting, we must also consider its side effects. While pursuing short-term happiness, we should also consider whether it is possible to obtain greater, more lasting and stronger happiness. He also stressed that physical happiness is mostly imposed on us, while spiritual happiness can be dominated by us, so making friends and enjoying art is also a kind of enjoyment. Self-desire must be controlled, and a peaceful mind can help us endure pain.

Epicurus believed in democritus's atomism, but he did not think that the motion of atoms was governed by various natural laws. Epicurus denied religion and that God was the highest legislator, so he despised the principle of necessity. Epicurus' paradox is one of his famous legacies. Epicurus also agreed with democritus's statement about "soul atom", saying that after death, soul atoms leave the body and fly around, so there is no life after death. He said: "Death has nothing to do with us, because as long as we exist for one day, death will not come, and when death comes, we will no longer exist." Epicurus believed that the fear of death was irrational. Because knowing your own knowledge of death is ignorance of death itself.

Epicurus' theory did not develop the scientific tradition, but his attitude of free thinking and his opposition to superstition were always highly praised by some upper-class members in the early Roman Empire. Today, the word "hedonism" has a derogatory meaning and is used to describe people who pursue pleasure.

Epicurus theory

Epicurus is a very special philosopher and the most misunderstood philosopher. He can get rid of endless metaphysical arguments and focus on practical problems and solutions in life, unlike ordinary philosophers who just "explain" fate. Many people regard his name as a synonym for "hedonism", which is actually a great misunderstanding. His theory can be regarded as a practical "code of life on earth".

His theoretical background is strikingly similar to the society we are facing now. It's interesting to reread his theory now.

Hellenistic Period and Globalized Society

First of all, let's compare Epicurus' era with ours. Epicurus was born in 342 BC. At the age of six, Alexander of Macedonia succeeded to the throne and began to March eastward. In just a few years, he conquered all the Greek city-states, swept Persia and Egypt, and established an unprecedented empire. Although politically, Alexander conquered Greece, culturally, Greek civilization spread to the whole empire, exchanged and merged with various civilizations, and produced new blood, which is called "Hellenistic period". At this time, people in the Mediterranean expanded their horizons as never before, and so many different nationalities lived together, which made the Greeks who had been used to city-state life readjust their lifestyles and concepts to adapt to the new world.

The tone of that era was turbulent. For the first time in history, the Greeks saw a huge empire, a strange country full of unknowns and panic, a safe city-state had collapsed, and the relationship between people had completely changed. Everyone is like a boat drifting on the sea, helpless. This atmosphere of the times has a profound influence on the development of philosophy, either completely doubting and thinking that everything is empty, or believing that the supreme master of the world dominates people's destiny. Many new religions have sprung up, and fear has produced superstition. The whole society is filled with feelings of world-weariness and rejection, and the "cynics" who are famous for their cynicism came into being at this time.

Let's look at the times we live in now. In recent years, globalization has suddenly become a popular word. In fact, since17th century, all countries in the world have quietly become interrelated whole. Different from Epicurus' time, the force that unified the world at that time was military conquest, but now it is economy.

After the industrial age, this interrelated relationship has developed more obviously, and people have experienced unprecedented large-scale social changes. Up to now, many multinational companies have branches all over five continents, producing raw materials in Africa or Latin America, processing them in Southeast Asia and selling them to Europe and North America. A large number of working people move around the world, and the boundaries between "countries" are gradually blurred. A powerful country can interfere in other countries' domestic politics, diplomacy and even economic construction policies for the resources of weak countries. Living in such an era, you will feel very small and powerless. It seems that nothing you can do can change the existing social structure. Man can only be a screw to recognize points, and it is difficult to understand the dignity of human nature and feel the integrity of life. Compared with people more than two thousand years ago, the most common way for us to make up for this problem now is consumption! A large number of unrealistic goods are everywhere, and with the flood of advertisements, people's attitudes towards life are constantly affected. All information is transient, one-sided and even contradictory. People can't find real spiritual sustenance.

We don't need to have an in-depth academic discussion, just give two examples of the current society: excessive attention to lust and obsession with religion. Lust is the most concrete and personal experience. When people can no longer grasp any real sense of existence, the only thing they can grasp is lust. However, grasping lust cannot solve the deeper inner needs, and various factions and groups with signs of spiritual growth have risen.

Comparing our era with that of Epicurus, we will find one thing in common: both of them are large-scale expansion of society, which leads to people's maladjustment, declining sense of value, full of nothingness, feeling that all actions are meaningless, and all of them have abnormal religious superstitions. Epicurus' theory was put forward to solve the current problems, which may also be helpful to our present situation.

The purpose of Epicurus' theory

Epicurus was born in Samos, an immigrant family from Athens. My father is a headmaster, and all his early primary education comes from his father. He/kloc-arrived in Athens at the age of 0/8. After his military service, he studied with some philosophers. After some independent thinking and research, he returned to Athens in 306 BC and bought a house and a small garden as his research base and school.

His group attached great importance to friendship, and they lived together according to common principles, including his three brothers, some friends, friends' wives and children, some of whom were slaves or prostitutes (which became one of the reasons why Epicurus was attacked). They live a very simple life, and their basic diet is bread and water. This garden is where he and his disciples practice their theories together.

Epicurus believed that philosophy must be completely produced for the practice of human life. He said: "medical knowledge is useless if it can't cure physical diseases, and philosophy is useless if it can't drive away the pain of the soul." So he thinks that people should be happy when they live in the world, and philosophy should help people achieve this goal. So many people mistakenly think that he refers to hedonism, which is a misunderstanding of his definition of happiness. Epicurus said that happiness means "no pain in the body and no turmoil in the soul".

The 40 main principles in his book are his prescriptions for how people should get rid of pain and get happiness. The first four can be said to be the key points to understand and get happiness.

Article 1: A happy and eternal existence has no troubles of its own and will not disturb any other existence; So he got rid of the bondage of anger or preference. This emotion exists only among the weak.

This article is about "God". Epicurus believed that those emerging religions at that time did not provide people with a way out, but deepened people's fears and caused greater mental pain. Therefore, he proposed: there is no anger or preference for supernatural beings, and we need not be afraid. The image of God is the perfect state of man, which is "immortal happiness" for Epicurus. People who reach this level will not be afraid of death.

Rule number two: Death doesn't matter to us. Because the decomposed things have no feelings, and the things without feelings have nothing to do with us.

This article is about how to transcend the fear of death. This statement looks like materialism at first glance, because he advocates that "decomposed things have no feelings"; But look carefully, if people don't feel after death, why does the subject "we" appear in the last sentence? Because death will make "us" get rid of decomposable substances, our bodies, the things we use, the creatures around us and so on. Only when our material life exists and our spirit is separated will it be meaningless. So he distinguished decomposable matter from immortal spirit. If the spirit can reach a "happy" state, death is only a process of transformation.

Article 3: Eliminating all pain is the quantitative limit of happiness. As long as happiness exists and lasts, there will be no pain and misfortune.

The first sentence means that people will feel unhappy only when they feel pain. If they don't feel pain, they naturally don't pursue happiness in particular. The second sentence goes on to say that if you can live a happy life, there will be no pain and misfortune. Basically, he thinks that both pain and happiness are influenced by thoughts.

This article is often misunderstood. Epicurus had many arguments with philosophers at that time. He believes: "Peace of mind and getting rid of pain are static happiness, while pleasure and happiness are dynamic happiness. The way to get happiness is related to people's desires, which can be divided into "natural" and "illusory". Correct analysis and choice of desire is the foundation of happiness. If, after weighing, you find that some happiness is not only short-lived, but also brings more pain, you must give up. Therefore, the premise of happiness is rationality, not indulgence.

Article 4: Physical pain won't last long. Extreme pain is always short-lived, and the pain beyond happiness in the body will not last for many days. After a long illness, happiness is more than pain.

This article teaches people not to be too obsessed with physical discomfort. Epicurus suffered from stomach trouble and painful urinary incontinence for many years. Epicurus wrote to his disciples before his death: "Nothing is more painful than this. But remember in my heart that the joy of our conversation is above these pains. " He wrote a will. Frankly speaking, he took a bath, drank a glass of wine and died peacefully. Action can prove the difference between "platitudes" and "practical wisdom".

Attach importance to friendship

The word friendship in Greek comes from the verb love, because people become friends because of love. Therefore, love, friends and friendship are interlinked for the Greeks, and this relationship can include blood relationship very broadly. Aristotle believes that friendship is the basis of maintaining the city-state, because friendship is the most authentic form of justice. After the disintegration of the polis, Epicurus inherited the Greek concept of friendship, and some of his "main principles" emphasized the importance of friendship.

Article 27: Of all the happiness that wisdom gives to life, friendship is the most important.

Article 28: We believe that nothing terrible will last or last forever. This belief also makes us realize that even in our limited living conditions, nothing can enhance our sense of security more than friendship.

Epicurus' emphasis on friendship is related to his views on justice and happiness. In order to be happy, you can't do things that hurt others, so as not to bring revenge or conscience condemnation from others. This is a negative principle of justice. However, if we look at mutual respect between people more positively, the highest principle is friendship. This quality can not only achieve true justice, but also make people get support and enjoy happiness in complete sharing. The meaning of fraternity is the love of human brothers and sisters, which is the same as that of Christ, but in different ways. Epicurus' premise is that if everyone can love each other, naturally they will not do anything that infringes or hurts others. As long as everyone can practice this, social disputes will be reduced.

This view may seem too simple today, but it meets our needs in some ways. All love is the opening of the heart chakra. Taking care of the energy operation of the good-hearted wheel will affect the operation of people, things and things around it and lead the future to a positive development direction. When everything goes well and there is energy, people don't have to live in fear every day. Epicurus even provided a way to make friends:

Article 39: Those who are best at coping with the frightening and disturbing factors in the external environment should try their best to make friends, while those who cannot make friends should try their best to avoid making enemies. If you can't do this, alienate them and avoid interacting with them.

Abstract: The modern significance of Epicurus' theory.

Most of us are not familiar with philosophy, because our philosophers have never really left the university to speak in the language of ordinary people. Not only philosophers, but also researchers in the college did not put their own research into real life, which caused the disconnection between academics and Chang Min. In this respect, Epicurus provides a good example, he can simplify a difficult argument into a few sentences that ordinary people can understand. After all, knowledge and common sense must be combined and should not be separated from each other.

The most important point he raised was "practice in life". He set an example by turning theory into action, which is irresistible. His theory was called "the only gospel philosophy produced by the Greeks" by later scholars, and his influence spread all over the Hellenistic world until the fall of the Roman Republic, which lasted for more than 300 years.

If history develops in a spiral, we and Epicurus only have the same coordinates but different heights. If we can learn his spirit, we may be able to create our own philosophy of life. When we meet the new era, we can still live well on the earth and face our lessons and challenges with a happy and calm heart.