home › Tires and wheels › Epicurean philosophy. Biography of Epicurus

Epicurean philosophy. Biography of Epicurus

Epicurus was born in 341 BC. in the family of Neocles and Chaerestrates. A few years before the boy was born, his father moved to the Athenian settlement on the island of Samos in the Aegean Sea. Epicurus was raised there. For four years he studied philosophy under the guidance of Pamphilius, a follower of the teachings of Plato. After this, at the age of eighteen, Epicurus went to Athens, where he would undergo military service for two years. After the death of Alexander the Great, his successor Perdiccas resettles the Athenians from the island of Samos to the city of Colophon, located in modern Turkey. Epicurus goes there after completing his service. He studies with Nosiphanes, who revealed to him the teachings of Democritus. Between 311 and 310 BC. Epicurus teaches in Mytilene, but after some disagreements arose with the local authorities, he left this city. From there he goes to Lampsak, where he establishes his own school. In 306 BC. Epicurus returns to Athens, where he will remain until his death in 270 BC. In this city, the philosopher acquired a plot of land, where he founded a school called the “Garden of Epicurus.”

This name was given to the school because classes took place in the garden located near the philosopher’s house. His very first students were Hermarch, Idomeneo, Leonteus and his wife Themista, the author of satirical philosophical works Kolot, Polyaenus of Lampsacus and Metrodorus of Lampsacus. The Garden of Epicurus was the first Greek school to admit women to teaching. Epicurus always proclaimed friendship to be a very important element on the path to a happy life, and therefore his school in every possible way contributed to the formation of friendly companies. Despite the fact that the formation of the philosophy of the school was influenced by the teachings of his predecessors, and Democritus in particular, Epicurus later renounced them. Of all the written sources, only three letters have survived to this day, included in the X volume of “Lives of Eminent Philosophers” by Diogenes Laertius. Here we find two cycles of quotations known as the “Principal Doctrines” of Epicurus. Some fragments of this work, which once consisted of XXXVII volumes and was called “Treatise on Nature,” were found in the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum.

The teachings of Epicurus

Epicurus played a significant role in the development of science and scientific methods, advocating that conclusions be based on direct observation and deductive reasoning. His ideas in many ways anticipate the most important scientific theories of our time. Epicurus's teachings and egalitarian views made him a prominent figure in the Axial Age, which lasted from 800 to 200 CE. BC. It was Epicurus, with his theory of “mutual benefit,” who laid the foundations of the ancient Greek concept of ethics as such. His teachings take their origins from various theories of ancient Greek thinkers, but to a greater extent intersect with the principles of the teachings of Democritus. Like Democritus, Epicurus is an atomist and firmly believes that the world consists of invisible material particles moving through space. According to his teaching, everything that happens in the world happens due to the collision, mutual repulsion and interaction of atoms, the actions of which have no laws or goals. Epicurus's theory of atomism diverged from the earlier theory of Democritus, arguing that atoms do not always move in a straight line, but often spontaneously deviate from their own path. This statement provided strong evidence for the existence of free will. Epicurus was the first to overcome the fear of the gods and break the existing traditions of worshiping them. In addition, he actively took part in the religious life of society.

According to the teachings of Epicurus, religious activity is an integral element of thinking about God, setting a pattern for a happy life. He rejected the generally accepted assertion that God punishes the wicked and rewards the good. On the contrary, according to Epicurus, God does not care at all about human beings. The philosopher proclaims that everything good that happens to people originates from pleasure or pain. Everything that causes pain is bad, just as everything that brings pleasure is good. His teaching also states that there are cases where pain preferred to pleasure subsequently leads to bliss. His calls to seek bliss with all his might were misunderstood by many, but the true meaning of these words is that, having gotten rid of pain, a person is freed from fear and heavenly punishment. From this Epicurus concludes that, without feeling pain, a person no longer needs pleasure, and therefore achieves the highest peace of mind. He strongly warns against excess, as it invariably leads to pain. This law applies to everything, including love. Epicurus calls friendship the surest path to happiness. He also refutes the fear of death, asserting that “death is nothing to us.” The philosopher develops this idea, adding that all feeling, consciousness and sensation disappears with death, after which neither pain nor pleasure remains.

Death

Epicurus suffered from urolithiasis, which in 270 BC. prevails over him, leading to death. The philosopher died at the age of 72. During his life he never married, and therefore left no heirs.

The Philosopher's Legacy

Many thinkers and ideological movements throughout the history of Western philosophical thought have taken the theories of Epicurean doctrine as their basis. Her influence is clearly visible in atomistic poems such as “The Atom Rules All the World”, as well as in the natural philosophy of Margaret Cavendish. During the French Revolution, Epicurus’s theory of “mutual benefit” would be adopted by the ideologists of the coup d’état. His egalitarian views would form the basis of the American Liberation Movement and the US Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson called himself an Epicurean and declared that “all men are created equal.” The influence of these teachings on Western philosophical thought is confirmed by the fact that Karl Marx received his doctorate for his work on the topic “The difference between the philosophies of nature of Democritus and Epicurus.” The teachings of Epicurus became a source of inspiration for the works of many philosophers, including Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. The similarity of the latter's philosophy with the ideology of Epicureanism is obvious in his works “The Gay Science”, “Beyond Good and Evil”, as well as in personal correspondence with Peter Gast.

1.Epicurus(341 - 270 BC) - ancient Greek materialist philosopher.

2. Main provisions Epicurus' teachings on nature and the cosmos are the following:

Atoms and emptiness are eternal;

3. "Canon" (the doctrine of knowledge) is based on the following main ideas:

The world around us is knowable;

4. “Aesthetics” of Epicurus (the doctrine of man and his behavior) can be boiled down to the following basic principles:

Epicurus (341 - 270 BC) - ancient Greek materialist philosopher.

Epicurus was born in 341 BC. on the island of Samos. His father Neocles was a school teacher. Epicurus began studying philosophy at the age of 14. In 311 BC. he moved to the island of Lesvos, and there he founded his first philosophical school.

Another 5 years later, Epicurus moved to Athens, where he taught a philosophical school known as the “Garden of Epicurus” until his death in 271.

During his life, Epicurus wrote about 300 philosophical works. None of them has reached us in full; only fragments and retellings of his views by other authors have survived. Often these retellings are very inaccurate, and some authors even attribute their own fabrications to Epicurus, which contradict the statements of the Greek philosopher that have survived to this day.

Thus, it is generally accepted that Epicurus considered bodily pleasure the only meaning of life. In reality, Epicurus' views on pleasure are not so simple. By pleasure he understood primarily the absence of displeasure, and emphasized the need to take into account the consequences of pleasure and pain:

“Since pleasure is the first and innate good for us, therefore we do not choose every pleasure, but sometimes we bypass many pleasures when they are followed by great trouble for us.

Thus, all pleasure is good, but not all pleasure should be chosen, just as all suffering is evil, but not all suffering should be avoided."

Therefore, according to the teachings of Epicurus, bodily pleasures must be controlled by the mind: “It is impossible to live pleasantly without living wisely and justly, and it is also impossible to live wisely and justly without living pleasantly.”

The philosophy of Epicurus is divided into three large sections:

The doctrine of nature and space ("physics");
the doctrine of knowledge ("canon");
the doctrine of man and his behavior (“aesthetics”).

And living wisely, according to Epicurus, means not striving for wealth and power as an end in itself, being satisfied with the minimum necessary to be satisfied with life: “The voice of the flesh is not to starve, not to thirst, not to be cold.

Whoever has this, and who hopes to have it in the future, can argue with Zeus himself about happiness... The wealth required by nature is limited and easily obtained, but the wealth required by empty opinions extends to infinity."

Epicurus divided human needs into 3 classes:
1) natural and necessary - food, clothing, shelter;
2) natural, but not necessary - sexual satisfaction;
3) unnatural - power, wealth, entertainment, etc.

It is easiest to satisfy needs 2, somewhat more difficult - 2, and needs 3 cannot be completely satisfied, but, according to Epicurus, it is not necessary.

Epicurus believed that “pleasure is attainable only by dispelling the fears of the mind,” and expressed the basic idea of his philosophy with the following phrase: “The gods inspire no fear, death inspires no fear, pleasure is easily attained, suffering is easily endured.”

“Let us assume that the sufferings of the world are of interest to the gods.

The gods may or may not, will or will not, eliminate suffering from the world. If they cannot, then they are not gods. If they can, but don’t want to, then they are imperfect, which is also not befitting of gods. And if they can and want to, then why haven’t they done it yet?”

Another famous saying of Epicurus on this topic: “If the gods listened to the prayers of people, then soon all people would die, constantly praying a lot of evil to each other.”

The main provisions of Epicurus' teaching about nature and the cosmos are the following:

Nothing comes from a non-existent and nothing becomes non-existent, because there is nothing outside the Universe that could enter it and produce changes (the law of conservation of matter);
the universe is eternal and infinite;
all substances (all matter) consist of atoms and emptiness;
atoms and emptiness are eternal;
atoms are in constant motion (in a straight line, with deviations, colliding with each other);
there is no “world of pure ideas”;
There are many material worlds in the Universe.

The “Canon” (the doctrine of knowledge) is based on the following basic ideas:

The world around us is knowable;
the main type of knowledge is sensory knowledge;
it is impossible to “contemplate with the mind” any “ideas” or phenomena if this is not preceded by sensory knowledge and sensation;
sensations arise due to the perception by the cognizing subject (person) of the outflows (images) of objects in the surrounding life.

Epicurus’s “aesthetics” (the doctrine of man and his behavior) can be reduced to the following basic principles:

A person owes his birth to himself (parents);
man is the result of biological evolution;
gods may exist (as a moral ideal), but they cannot interfere in the lives of people and earthly affairs;
the fate of a person depends on himself and on circumstances, but not on the gods;
the soul is a special type of matter;
the soul of man is mortal, like the body;
a person must strive for happiness within the limits of earthly life;
Man's happiness consists in pleasure;
pleasure means the absence of suffering, health, doing what you love (and not sensual pleasures);
Reasonable limitation (of desires, needs), equanimity and serenity (ataraxia), and wisdom should become the norm of life.

Types of judgments in logic

1. General characteristics of judgment

Judgment is a form of thinking in which something is affirmed or denied about the existence of objects, the connections between an object and its properties, or the relationships between objects. Examples of judgments: “Cosmonauts exist”...

Division of concepts: essence, types, division rules, possible errors

The place of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the revival of the Fatherland and the preservation of its values

1.
General characteristics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD of Russia) is a federal executive body...

Some questions of philosophy

1. General characteristics of the era

An important stage in the development of philosophical thought is the philosophy of the Renaissance. It touches on a wide range of issues relating to various aspects of natural and social life...

Positivism of Henry Buckle

§1.
General characteristics of positivism

Positivist philosophy contrasted global metaphysical historicism with its substantial schemes of social development and utopian ideals of progress with the idea of endlessly transforming evolution with simultaneous...

The concept of a name. Contents and scope of the name

1.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NAME

A name is a language expression denoting an object or set, a collection of objects. In this case, “object” is understood in the broadest, most general sense of the word. . Objects are trees, animals, rivers, lakes, seas, numbers, geometric shapes...

Concept: general characteristics, content and volume, types

1. General characteristics of the concept

Signs of objects. Essential and non-essential features. The characteristic of an object is that in which objects are similar to each other or in which they differ from each other.

Any properties, features, states of an object...

Concepts and relationships between them

1.1 General characteristics of the concept

A concept is usually defined as one of the basic forms of thinking; this emphasizes its important role in cognition...

The problem of the influence of patristics on the formation and development of Eastern culture

1.
General characteristics of medieval patristics

The first stage of medieval philosophy, called patristics, was the stage of “deconstruction” of ancient philosophy. The ideologists of Christianity were faced with the task of destroying Hellenic (pagan) wisdom and creating (by borrowing some ideas...

Modern Western philosophy

§ 3.1: Existentialism: general characteristics and problems

"Existentialism is humanism."

The title of this book by the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre can serve as the motto of existentialism, as the most concise and accurate expression of the meaning and purpose of an entire trend of modern philosophy...

Social philosophy of the Enlightenment: T. Hobbes, J.-J. Rousseau

3. Characteristics of the views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“General will” refers to the unity of will of individuals, i.e.

it does not belong to a specific person, but represents the entire people.

Rousseau elaborates on the concept of the general will: “Immediately instead of individuals...

Epicurus' teachings on overcoming fear

3. FOLLOWERS OF EPICURUS' VIEWS

The school of Epicurus existed for almost 600 years (until the beginning of the century).

4th century AD), not knowing strife and preserving the continuity of students who, according to Diogenes Laertius, were chained to his teaching as if by the songs of the Sirens (Diogenes Laertius) ...

Renaissance philosophy

1. General characteristics of the Renaissance

The figures of the Renaissance themselves contrasted the new era with the Middle Ages as a period of darkness and ignorance. But the uniqueness of this time is rather not the movement of civilization against savagery, culture - against barbarism...

Hegel's philosophical system and its structure

1.
General characteristics of Hegel's philosophy

A number of important dialectical ideas were formulated in the philosophical teachings of Fichte (for example, the antithetical method) and Schelling (especially the dialectical understanding of natural processes) ...

Freudianism and neo-Freudianism. Key ideas and representatives

3. NEO-FREUDISM. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Neo-Freudianism is a direction in psychology that developed in the 20-30s of the 20th century, founded by the followers of Sigmund Freud, who accepted the foundations of his theory, but in which the key concepts of Freud’s psychoanalysis were reworked, for example...

Epicurus was born in 341 BC. on the island of Samos. He began studying philosophy at the age of 14.

In 311 BC. he moved to the island of Lesvos, and there he founded his first philosophical school. Another 5 years later, Epicurus moved to Athens, where he founded a school in the garden, where there was an inscription on the gate: “Guest, you will be happy here; here pleasure is the highest good.”

This is where the very name of the school “Garden of Epicurus” and the nickname of the Epicureans—philosophers “from the gardens”—later arose. He led this school until his death in 271 BC. It is generally accepted that Epicurus considered bodily pleasure the only meaning of life. In reality, Epicurus' views on pleasure are not so simple. By pleasure he understood primarily the absence of displeasure, and emphasized the need to take into account the consequences of pleasure and pain:

“Since pleasure is the first and innate good for us, therefore we do not choose every pleasure, but sometimes we bypass many pleasures when they are followed by great trouble for us.

We also consider many pains to be better than pleasure when greater pleasure comes to us after we have endured pain for a long time.

Thus, all pleasure is good, but not all pleasure should be chosen, just as all pain is evil, but not all suffering should be avoided."

The easiest way is to satisfy needs (1), somewhat more difficult - (2), and needs (3) cannot be completely satisfied, but, according to Epicurus, it is not necessary. Epicurus believed that “pleasure is achievable only when the fears of the mind are dispelled”, and expressed the main idea of his philosophy with the following phrase: “The gods inspire no fear, death inspires no fear, pleasure is easily attained, suffering is easily endured.” Contrary to the accusations leveled against him during his lifetime, Epicurus was not an atheist.

He recognized the existence of the gods of the ancient Greek pantheon, but had his own opinion about them, which differed from the views that prevailed in the ancient Greek society of his time.

According to Epicurus, there are many inhabited planets similar to Earth.

The gods live in the space between them, where they live their own lives and do not interfere in the lives of people. Epicurus proved this as follows: “Let us assume that the suffering of the world is of interest to the gods. The gods may or may not, want or do not want to destroy suffering in the world.

If they cannot, then they are not gods. If they can, but don’t want to, then they are imperfect, which is also not befitting of gods. And if they can and want to, then why haven’t they done it yet?”

Another famous saying of Epicurus on this topic: “If the gods listened to the prayers of people, then soon all people would die, constantly praying a lot of evil to each other.” At the same time, Epicurus criticized atheism, believing that gods are necessary to be a model of perfection for humans.

But in Greek mythology, the gods are far from perfect: human character traits and human weaknesses are attributed to them.

This is why Epicurus was opposed to traditional ancient Greek religion: “It is not the wicked who rejects the gods of the crowd, but the one who applies the ideas of the crowd to the gods.”

This is quite consistent with ancient cosmogony, which asserts the origin of the world from Chaos. But, according to Epicurus, this process occurs spontaneously and without the intervention of any higher powers.

Unlike Democritus, who believed that atoms move along strictly defined trajectories, and therefore everything in the world is predetermined in advance, Epicurus believed that the movement of atoms is largely random, and, therefore, different scenarios are always possible.

Based on the randomness of the movement of atoms, Epicurus rejected the idea of fate and predestination. “There is no purpose in what is happening, because a lot of things are not happening the way they should have happened.” But, if the gods are not interested in the affairs of people, and there is no predetermined fate, then, according to Epicurus, there is no need to be afraid of both.

One who does not know fear cannot instill fear. The gods know no fear because they are perfect. Epicurus was the first in history to say that people's fear of the gods is caused by the fear of natural phenomena that are attributed to the gods .

Therefore, he considered it important to study nature and find out the real causes of natural phenomena - in order to free man from the false fear of the gods. All this is consistent with the position about pleasure as the main thing in life: fear is suffering, pleasure is the absence of suffering, knowledge allows you to get rid of fear, therefore without knowledge there can be no pleasure- one of the key conclusions of the philosophy of Epicurus.

During the time of Epicurus, one of the main topics for discussion among philosophers was death and the fate of the soul after death. Epicurus considered debates on this topic pointless: “Death has nothing to do with us, because while we exist, death is absent, but when death comes, we no longer exist.” According to Epicurus, people are afraid not so much of death itself as of the death throes: “We are afraid to suffer from illness, to be struck by the sword, torn by the teeth of animals, reduced to dust by fire - not because all this causes death, but because it brings suffering.

Of all evils, the greatest is suffering, not death." He believed that the human soul is material and dies along with the body. Epicurus can be called the most consistent materialist of all philosophers. In his opinion, everything in the world is material, and the spirit as something separate from matter essence does not exist at all. Epicurus considers direct sensations, and not judgments of the mind, to be the basis of knowledge. In his opinion, everything that we perceive is true, sensations never deceive us.

Misconceptions and errors arise only when we add something to our perceptions, i.e. the source of error is the mind. Perceptions arise as a result of the penetration of images of things into us. These images are separated from the surface of things and move with the speed of thought. If they enter the sense organs, they give real sensory perception, but if they penetrate the pores of the body, they give fantastic perception, including illusions and hallucinations.

In general, Epicurus was against abstract theorizing that was not related to facts. In his opinion, philosophy should have a direct practical application - to help a person avoid suffering and life mistakes: “Just as medicine is of no use if it does not banish the suffering of the body, so philosophy is of no use if it does not banish the suffering of the soul.” The most important part of Epicurus' philosophy is his ethics.

However, Epicurus’s teaching about the best way of life for a person can hardly be called ethics in the modern sense of the word. The question of adjusting the individual to social attitudes, as well as all other interests of society and the state, occupied Epicurus least of all. His philosophy is individualistic and aimed at enjoying life regardless of political and social conditions. Epicurus denied the existence of universal morality and universal concepts of goodness and justice, given to humanity from somewhere above.

He taught that all these concepts are created by people themselves: “Justice is not something in itself, it is some agreement between people not to harm and not to suffer harm.” .

Epicurus gave friendship a major role in relationships between people, contrasting it with political relations as something that brings pleasure in itself. Politics is the satisfaction of the need for power, which, according to Epicurus, can never be fully satisfied, and therefore cannot bring true pleasure. Epicurus argued with the followers of Plato, who put friendship at the service of politics, considering it as a means of building an ideal society.

In general, Epicurus does not set any great goals or ideals for man. We can say that the goal of life, according to Epicurus, is life itself in all its manifestations, and knowledge and philosophy are the path to obtaining the greatest pleasure from life. Humanity has always been prone to extremes. While some people greedily strive for pleasure as an end in itself and cannot get enough of it all the time, others torment themselves with asceticism, hoping to gain some kind of mystical knowledge and enlightenment.

Epicurus proved that both were wrong, that enjoying life and learning about life are interconnected.

The philosophy and biography of Epicurus is an example of a harmonious approach to life in all its manifestations. However, Epicurus himself said it best: “Always have a new book in your library, a full bottle of wine in your cellar, a fresh flower in your garden.”

Epicureanism is a philosophical doctrine based on the ideas of Epicurus and his followers. Epicureanism was one of the most influential philosophical movements in Antiquity. [source not specified 26 days]

Epicurus founded his school in 310 BC. e. first in Colophon, and then, in 306 BC. e., transfers it to Athens. The school was located in the philosopher’s garden, for this reason it received the name “Garden”, and the followers of Epicurus began to be called “philosophers from the gardens.” Women and slaves were accepted into the school, and they were not required to give up their property. There was an inscription on the school gate: “Guest, you will feel good here; here pleasure is the highest good"

Epicurean philosophy, especially the philosophy of Epicurus himself, does not have the ultimate goal of finding theoretical truth, it does not set itself the task of obtaining some kind of pure knowledge. Epicureanism serves very specific needs: it seeks a way to relieve a person from suffering.

The Epicureans believed that for a happy life a person needs:

absence of bodily suffering; equanimity of the soul (ataraxia); friendship.

The main interest for Epicureans is the sensory world, so their main ethical principle is pleasure. But Epicurus presented pleasure not in a vulgar and simplistic way, but as a noble calm, balanced pleasure. He believed that human desires are limitless, and the means of satisfying them are limited. Therefore, it is necessary to limit yourself only to needs, the dissatisfaction of which leads to suffering. Other desires should be abandoned; this requires wisdom and prudence.

Unlike the Stoics, who considered fate inevitable, the Epicureans endow man with free will. A person can indulge in pleasure according to his desires. Life is the main pleasure. Dying, Epicurus took a warm bath and asked to bring him wine.

The most famous representatives of the Epicurean school

The largest representative of Greek Hellenistic Epicureanism is, first of all, Epicurus himself. Roman Epicureanism was represented by Lucretius and Caius; this trend also influenced Roman eclecticism.

Metrodorus, a student of Epicurus; Kolot of Lampsacus; Apollodorus of Epicurea; Zeno of Sidon, a student of Apollodorus; Phaedrus; Philodemus of Gadara; Metrodorus of Stratonicea; Diogenes of Oenoanda.

Having disappeared with the spread of Christianity, Epicureanism was revived during the Renaissance, becoming one of the sources of French materialism (Pierre Gassendi)

----Hedonism in philosophy. The question of pleasure is extremely relevant for modern man. Now almost every member of the human race wants three things: pleasure; eternal youth (health); happiness. Moreover, pleasure and happiness in most cases merge into one phenomenon. People believe that, having achieved pleasure, they will reach the highest point of human existence - happiness.

What is hedonism Hedonism is a value system that sees pleasure as the highest goal of human existence. For a hedonist, pleasure and happiness are synonymous. Moreover, it doesn’t matter at all what a person gets the most pleasure from: sensual (sexual, gastronomic) or intellectual-spiritual (reading books, watching films) pleasures. Intellectual efforts and sensual pleasures are put on a par when the former do not pursue the goal of learning, but are performed solely for the sake of pleasure. In other words, we can say that hedonism is, among other things, also an activity that is not burdened by a goal or any external or internal results. For example, a person watches movies and reads books just for entertainment or to improve self-esteem.

--Asceticism.

His motivation in various kinds of religious and philosophical teachings is not the same. Thus, in dualistic teachings that consider materiality and the body as a “prison of the soul,” asceticism acted as a way to overcome the flesh, from its liberation (especially in such a syncretic religious teaching as Manichaeism), and among the Cynics it was determined by the idea of freedom from social connections, needs. So, the article will consider such a concept as asceticism (what it is, its ideas, principles). We will mainly talk about its philosophical component. Asceticism: what is it? It is translated from Greek as “to exercise.” This is a moral principle that prescribes self-denial for people, suppression of sensual aspirations, renunciation of worldly pleasures and benefits for the sake of achieving certain social goals and moral self-improvement.

So, we have learned about asceticism (what it is), now we should move on to its history. It would be useful to know how this concept was perceived in the Middle Ages.

The concept under consideration from the point of view of philosophyAsceticism in philosophy- this is neglect of the sensory world, its belittlement, denial for the sake of the future, the spiritual world. In its simple form, it involves restriction, suppression of desires, as well as voluntary enduring of suffering, pain, etc. If we consider more radical cases, here asceticism requires the renunciation of property, family, etc., in order to ensure the priority of the highly spiritual over the worldly material, the perfect world over the real. In a broader sense, it has a number of ontological foundations, since it is based on the worldview that exists in reality regarding the structure of the world, its parts, and their interrelations. The exaltation of a completely ideal world, which is the essence of this concept, presupposes an extremely large-scale affirmation of the main values of such a world in the actually existing one.

----Autonomy– the degree of independence and freedom of action within one person, society, organizations, state and other institutions of social and political life. The term is found in many areas of human existence, such as philosophy, law, culture and many others. In the aspect of philosophy, Autonomy represents an individual’s awareness of freedom of action, within the framework of internal moral principles and external social and political laws. In the legal sense, Autonomy is the right of various social entities and the institutions formed by them to self-government within certain frameworks established by law.

6) Outstanding representatives of Epicureanism are Epicurus (341-270 BC) and Lucretius Carus (c. 99-55 BC). This philosophical movement dates back to the turn of the old and new eras. The Epicureans were interested in questions of structure and personal comfort in the complex historical context of that time.

In philosophy, Epicurus is largely self-taught. He had many students and followers. Arriving at the age of 35 with his students in Athens, he bought a secluded garden with a house. The famous “Garden of Epicurus” was located here, above the entrance of which was inscribed: “Guest, you will feel good here: here pleasure is the highest good.” We are not talking about excesses, but about moderate pleasures. The fellowship of Epicureans tried to live quietly, simply and for their own pleasure. Epicurus is the founder of utilitarianism: do what is useful, this is the path to happiness. Man consists of atoms, which provides him with a wealth of feelings and satisfactions. Man is a free being, this has its basis in the spontaneous deviation of atoms from straight trajectories, for such deviations do not allow for the existence of once and forever established laws. It is important to note that for a happy life a person needs three main components: the absence of bodily suffering (aponia), equanimity of the soul (ataraxia), friendship (as an alternative to political relations). Gods also consist of atoms, but special ones. The gods are indifferent to human affairs, as evidenced by the presence of evil in the world.

Epicurus developed the ideas of atomism. According to Epicurus, in the Universe there are only bodies located in space. Οʜᴎ are directly perceived by the senses, and the presence of empty space between bodies follows from the fact that otherwise movement would be impossible. Epicurus put forward an idea that differed sharply from Democritus's interpretation of atoms. This is the idea of the "bending" of atoms, where the atoms move in a "coherent flow". According to Democritus, the world is formed as a result of the mutual “impact” and “rebound” of atoms. But the sheer weight of atoms contradicts the concept of Epicurus and does not allow us to explain the independence of each atom: in this case, according to Lucretius, the atoms would fall, like raindrops, into an empty abyss. If we follow Democritus, the undivided dominance of the utmost importance in the world of atoms, being consistently extended to the atoms of the soul, will make it impossible to admit the free will of man. Epicurus solves the question this way: he endows atoms with the ability of spontaneous deflection, which he considers by analogy with the internal volitional act of man. It turns out that atoms are characterized by “free will,” which determines “inevitable deviation.” For this reason, atoms are able to describe different curves, begin to touch and touch each other, intertwine and unravel, thanks to which the world arises.
Posted on ref.rf
This idea made it possible for Epicurus to avoid the idea of fatalism. Cicero is right in asserting that Epicurus could not have avoided Fate any other way than with the help of the theory of atomic spontaneity. Plutarch notes that the spontaneity of atomic deflection is what happens. From this Epicurus draws the following conclusion: “There is no extreme importance in extreme importance!” However, Epicurus for the first time in the history of philosophical thought put forward the idea of the objectivity of chance.

According to Epicurus, life and death are equally not terrible for the sage: “As long as we exist, there is no death; when death exists, we are no more. Life is the greatest pleasure. Such as it is, with a beginning and an end.

Characterizing the spiritual world of man, Epicurus recognized the presence of a soul. He characterized it this way: there is nothing subtler or more reliable than this essence (soul), and it consists of the smallest and smoothest elements. The soul was thought by Epicurus as the principle of the integrity of individual elements of the spiritual world of the individual: feelings, sensations, thoughts and will, as the principle of eternal and indestructible existence.

Knowledge, according to Epicurus, begins with sensory experience, but the science of knowledge begins primarily with the analysis of words and the establishment of precise terminology, ᴛ.ᴇ. The sensory experience acquired by a person must be comprehended and processed in the form of certain terminologically fixed semantic structures.
Posted on ref.rf
In itself, a sensory sensation, not raised to the level of thought, is not yet genuine knowledge. Without this, only sensory impressions will flash before us in a continuous stream, and this is simply continuous fluidity.

The basic principle of Epicurean ethics is pleasure - the principle of hedonism. At the same time, the pleasures preached by the Epicureans are distinguished by an extremely noble, calm, balanced and often contemplative character." The pursuit of pleasure is the initial principle of choice or avoidance. According to Epicurus, if a person’s feelings are taken away, there will be nothing left. Unlike those who preached the principle of “enjoyment of the minute”, and “there, what will be, will be!” Epicurus wants constant, even and unsettling bliss. The sage’s pleasure “splashes in his soul like a calm sea on solid shores” of reliability. The limit of pleasure and bliss is to get rid of suffering According to Epicurus, one cannot live pleasantly without living rationally, morally and justly, and, on the contrary, one cannot live rationally, morally and fairly without living pleasantly!2

Epicurus preached piety and worship of God: “a wise man must kneel before the gods.” He wrote: “God is an immortal and blissful being, as the general idea of God was outlined (in the human mind), and does not ascribe to him anything alien to his immortality or inconsistent with his bliss; but imagines everything about God that can preserve his bliss, combined with immortality. Yes, gods exist: knowing them is an obvious fact. But they are not what the crowd imagines them to be, because the crowd does not constantly retain its idea of them.

Lucretius Carus, a Roman poet, philosopher and educator, one of the outstanding Epicureans, like Epicurus, does not deny the existence of gods consisting of the finest atoms and residing in the interworld spaces in blissful peace.

Could Epicurus have thought that in the coming centuries his name would become a household name to describe people whose meaning of life lies in the endless search for pleasure, and that they would say about them: “He is a true Epicurean!” How history has turned “the essence of the matter and character” inside out!

Stoicism

The founder of Stoicism is Zeno of Citium. The founder of Stoicism is Zeno of Citium. He propagated his teachings in the Athenian gallery with columns (in ancient Greek “stoa”).

The Stoics taught that life must be accepted as it comes. One should live in complete harmony with nature, the gods, and fate. You cannot change life with passions, which means you should rely on reason, directing your will in accordance with it. There is no reason to whine, if possible, be healthy, strong, courageous and noble. But if you have to become sick, weak and poor, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is to fulfill your duty as a person, protect your place in the unity of nature and the community of people around the world.

Zeno's disciples were called Stoics. The fact is that Zeno of Citium philosophized in the portico, which was built on the market square. The portico (in Greek - standing) was an architectural structure with an open entrance.

Physics. Cosmos is a fiery organism, a fiery all-penetrating pneuma. Nature is God, God is all nature (pantheism).

Logics. Through the senses, a person comprehends sensations, through the mind, conclusions, but the center of knowledge is in the idea, in the agreement of sensations and conclusions, and this is the meaning of words and sentences.

Ethics. Man exists within the framework of cosmic laws, he is subject to cosmic fate. The meaning of the world is learned especially clearly in representation. Cognized representation leads to ataraxia, peace of mind, equanimity. Happiness can be achieved not in the eternal pursuit of a fleeting good, but in the conscious adherence to cosmic, or, what is the same, divine laws. All people walk under the same divine-cosmic laws. The difference is that, as Seneca put it, “fate leads those who want, but drags those who don’t want.”

Stoicism as a specific direction of philosophical thought has existed since the 3rd century. BC. until the 3rd century Stoicism is the least “Greek” of all philosophical schools. The early Stoics, mostly Syrians: Zeno of Kition from Cyprus, Cleanthes, Chrysippus. Their works have survived only in separate fragments, so a thorough understanding of their views is significantly difficult. The late Stoics (1st and 2nd centuries) include Plutarch, Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius - these are mainly Romans. Their works have come to us in the form of complete books.

Already with one word “stoic”, according to A.F. Losev, an idea arises of a wise man who very courageously endures all the hardships of life and remains calm despite all the troubles and misfortunes he experiences. Indeed, the Stoics in their views certainly highlighted the concept of a calm and always balanced, even “unfeeling” sage. This manifested the ideal of inner freedom, freedom from passions, which was cherished by almost all the Stoics.

According to Chrysippus (c. 280-208 BC), there is a world soul. This is the purest ether, the most mobile and light, feminine-tender, as if the finest type of matter.

The representative of late Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius (121 -180; Roman emperor from 161 AD) was convinced that God gives each person a special good genius as a leader. (This idea was revived in Christianity in the image of a guardian angel.) It is worth saying that for him the Universe is a closely connected whole; is it one, living being? . possessing one substance and one soul. Let us cite some of the aphorisms of Marcus Aurelius: “Think more often about the connection of all things in the world and about their interrelationships,” “Whatever happens to you is predetermined for you from eternity.” And a web of reasons connected your existence from the very beginning

Reading the Stoics, delving into their intellectual attempts to comprehend the nature of the soul, you acutely feel the desire to comprehend the soul as something integral, as if merging the spiritual with the material, and with the subtlest kind of material, something like ether.

Characterizing the various properties of the soul, the Stoics paid special attention to the phenomenon of will; the teaching was built on the principle of will, self-control, patience, etc. They strived for complete self-sufficiency. (And in our minds, a Stoic sage is a person with powerful and unyielding willpower.)

They also interpreted the development of nature in a religious spirit, believing that everything was predetermined. God is not separated from the world, he is the soul of the world, a beneficent providence.

The Stoics proceeded from the principle of universal expediency. Everything has its own meaning: even bedbugs are useful, because they help you wake up in the morning and not lie in bed for too long. The essence of this principle is well expressed in the following verses:

Freedom for the famous thinker, writer and statesman Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD) is a deity who rules over all things and events. Nothing can change it. Hence humility, endurance and persistent enduring of life's adversities. The Stoic sage does not resist evil: he understands it and steadfastly remains in its semantic fluidity, in connection with this he is calm and calm.

It is not for nothing that throughout the entire history of Stoicism, Socrates was the main deity of the Stoics; his behavior during his trial, refusal to flee, calmness in the face of death, the assertion that injustice causes more harm to the one who commits it than to the victim - all this was entirely consistent with the teachings of the Stoics.

The early Stoics followed the ancient tradition in their ideas of existence. They proceeded from the fact that the body of the world is formed from fire, air, earth and water. The soul of the world is fiery and airy pneuma. All existence was thought of only as varying degrees of tension of the divine-material primordial fire.

---- Eudaimonism. Representatives of eudaimonism argued that happiness is the highest goal of human life. This was one of the basic principles of ancient Greek ethics, closely related to the Socratic ideal of internal freedom of the individual, its dependence on its own inner world. This was also the Epicurean version of the interpretation of the meaning of human life.

In contrast to this version, the Stoics taught that human life is dramatic, sometimes colored in tragic tones. A person’s destiny is to behave courageously in the face of the real threat of trouble, catastrophe, deprivation, and death. What is the reason for this? - The fact that the meaning of life, according to the Stoics, is determined by the nature of the universe, the command of the Creator, and the laws of social history.

Russian religious philosophers, as already noted, believed that a person’s moral dignity and his moral freedom are determined not by how he himself understands morality and freedom, but by how it is predetermined from above. It turned out that a person must subordinate his life to the transcendental goal set for him. Freedom gives him the opportunity to subordinate his life to the supreme good.

In Europe, the place and prospects of man in the world, the strategy of his behavior and the highest goals were determined by Christian morality. According to Christianity, a person must become internally free - worthy of freedom and eternal life. The religious meaning of the earthly history of mankind lies in the redemption and salvation of the world. Renaissance philosophers deviated from these principles in many ways. They believed that the meaning of human life should be sought in human existence itself, and not in God's “orders.” When interpreting the meaning of life, Kant turned to mandatory moral laws, the moral and rational nature of man, which is the same for everyone. In Hegel's philosophy, human life only acquires meaning if it serves as an instrument of self-development and self-knowledge of the human spirit.

In modern social theories, the meaning of life is still often seen in the realization of ahistorical, i.e. divine tasks or, on the contrary, in achieving consumer standards and individual well-being. Some philosophers proclaim the meaninglessness and absurdity of any activity due to the lack of any obvious direction in it. Some philosophers generally deny the possibility of a reliable, precise answer to the question of what the meaning of life includes.

It turns out that this problem depends very much on the essence of human nature. Many philosophers are concerned about the fact that the 20th century. demonstrated the growth of aggression and violence, revealing the phenomenon of destructiveness in. person. It was no coincidence that Fromm called his work “Anatomy of Human Destructiveness”; he showed that the value of life can elude a person...

As for another tendency, the supporters of which deny that a person reveals a huge, ineradicable love of life, we observe this tendency in any living matter around us: in the grass, which through stones seeks its path to light and life; in an animal that fights to the last to avoid death; in a person whose love of life sometimes overcomes serious illnesses, both individual and social.

According to Fromm, love of life underlies various versions of humanistic philosophy. These versions, the philosopher believes, although they have dissimilar systems of concepts, are imbued with the same spirit as the philosophy of the Dutch thinker Venedict Spinoza (1632-1677). They say: a healthy person loves life, sadness is a sin, and joy is a virtue; The goal of human life is to feel an attraction to everything living and to abandon everything that is dead and mechanical.

Many philosophers have raised the question of the development of love for life, the freedom to create, and the creation of the necessary prerequisites for fully acquiring the meaning of life. This system of reasoning emphasized the greatness of man, the nobility of his nature, the ability to respond to the pain of others, and to be sensitive to life in general.

But thinkers could not help but pay attention to man’s ability to destroy life. Modern discoveries in the field of philosophy force the human community to think through this problem with great care. Nature has given us a painful, difficult-to-solve riddle: how to explain the fact that there are non-humans among us, which we are really beginning to guess about. We don't yet know what to do with this discovery. Of course, one can reason as follows: since they are not like us, they must be destroyed. But it is possible that this is the voice of the same criminal blood.

Another may say: what’s special about this, it has always been like this. Didn’t the crowds in Ancient Rome applaud when gladiators killed each other? Didn't the pagans experience indescribable joy when the first Christians, wrapped in oiled cloth, were turned into flaming torches? Such examples suggest that human life has rarely been of particular value in history.

But another series of examples can be built. N. Kuzansky preached religious tolerance towards all people. Many philosophers have taught that love is the cornerstone of all creation. Ethicists gave preference to altruism - the ability to love another person and selflessly help people. Humanity condemns with contempt the butchery ideas and practice of exterminating people.

Today, another version of the origin of man is being discussed among philosophers. It turns out that Neanderthals are not at all the direct ancestors of humans. The evolutionary thread of the living and intelligent was interrupted many times. The path to a thinking person has more than once reached a dead end. Famous Russian psychologist B.f. Porshnev believed that man as a single species simply does not exist. Within the human assemblage, he believed, there are at least two completely different subspecies with opposite psychogenetic complexes: the vast majority are herds, and the rest are predators... According to this theory, the ancestral man was poorly rooted in nature, he was not a predator. However, some kind of catastrophe occurred within the prehuman race. We do not know its nature, but the result was that humanoid animals began to eat their own kind. A predatory species has formed - a superanimal. This species consisted of the ancestors of the first killers and cannibals. They were joined by aggressive opportunists. They began to imitate strong animals who know no remorse, no pity, no moral torment. Cruelty and cunning are their trump cards... Nietzsche discovered such shades in people back in the last century. He noted the herd behavior of most people and the conspicuous manifestations of rapacity among rulers. What is the meaning of this insight? It can be assumed that in modern humanity there are people with opposite psychophysiological genotypes. It is not for nothing that other philosophers argue that power is the manifestation of predatory behavior.

The appearance of such a depressing picture immediately evokes a natural desire to improve human nature. Maybe it would be easier to identify these non-humans before they commit a crime and shoot them? One of the researchers, B.A. Didenko suggests exactly this way. He even shows that individual peoples who have unconsciously gone through this path of “purification” are already close to prosperity...

It turns out that no matter what a person strives for, he still remains a killer in all his manifestations. But maybe we should look for other ways? For example, turn to morality - a rare phenomenon that shows how people should act. Maybe we will finally realize what a huge role morality plays in the fate of humanity. If it is trampled upon, people will turn into a herd. All shrines will be lost... Meanwhile, we live in a society where morality is increasingly becoming unnecessary.

When discussing the criminal acts of political figures, we talk about the appropriateness of these acts. While justifying market relations, we simultaneously instill predation. When analyzing social events, we readily distract ourselves from the moral assessments of the subjects participating in them. A purely demanding person who listens to the voice of conscience is considered an eccentric. Maybe we are becoming hostages of some superanimal non-humans? Those who have a conscience, i.e. moral feeling in general must finally realize their blood relationship. Without such unity, humanity may perish.

----Autarky[Greek Autarkeia] - literally translated - self-satisfaction. A term used in economics and philosophy. In the first case, there is a state policy focused on creating a closed-loop economy system that minimizes the influence of foreign economic and other factors on the internal life support system. In essence, it is a closed economy, in reality an economic and political utopia, since the globalization of the world economy of our days actually does not provide the opportunity for the development of such a political system. In philosophy, Autarky is complete physical and moral independence from the factors of the external world and society.

----Apathy(from the Greek apatheia - absence of suffering, dispassion) - a term of Stoicism, denoting the ability of a sage, guided by the Stoic moral ideal, not to experience joy from what causes pleasure in ordinary people, and not to suffer from what frightens an ordinary person. A sage who has achieved A. has no affects and passions; he is guided only by a reasonable moral law.

---Ataraxia is a definition of the behavioral qualities of a person, which is characterized by a complete absence of fear, worry and anxiety. In other words, a person who is in this mental state behaves extremely calmly, insensitively, impartially. Both negative and positive emotions are alien to him, therefore he completes any work, any task he has started, as if in one breath, without changing his mood, technically and impartially. It is worth noting here that only now this term is used exclusively by psychologists, characterizing the mental state of their clients. Previously, he was related exclusively to philosophical teachings, and therefore his history is extremely interesting.

7) Sensualism– this is one of the directions in the study of the theory of knowledge, which is based on the concept that reliable knowledge embedded in feelings.

Translated from Lat. sensus – sensation, feeling.

Sensualism is closely related to empiricism(studies the theory of knowledge and assumes that the content of knowledge is reduced to sensory experience) and evaluates the relationship between rational-discursive and sensory knowledge, while contradicts rationalism(a method of cognition based on the source of actions

There is a principle of sensationalism: “There is nothing in the mind that was not previously in the feeling.” He confirms that sensationalism is a form of knowledge through feelings, sensations, perceptions and ideas. This principle has remained since antiquity and is applied in philosophy today. It is opposed to the doctrine of a priori knowledge (knowledge before experience).

Among the representatives of this trend one can single out such philosophers and thinkers as J. Locke, Etienne Bonneau de Condillac, Epicurus, Protagoras, Gessendi, Berkeley, Hume, Hobbes, Diderot and others.

The term “sensualism” began to be used thanks to Cousin, it was he who introduced it into philosophy, but this term never took hold. Today, sensationalism is a direction in epistemology, which is opposed to intellectualism and rationalism.

Innate ideas are denied. In other words, only the derivative meaning of reason is recognized, and not the primary one. Knowledge is reduced to sensation - knowledge is obtained from sensations, and sensations from experience.

Based on this, the surrounding world is both a source of knowledge and an aspect. This is where both the similarities and differences between the two directions lie: sensationalism and materialism, since representatives of these directions understand the world around them differently.

Are you familiar with the concept of an epicurean? This word has recently begun to sound more and more often. Moreover, it is not always mentioned appropriately. That is why it is appropriate to talk in more detail about the meaning and origin of this word.

Epicurus and the Epicureans

In the 3rd century. BC e. In Greece, in the city of Athens, there lived a man named Epicurus. He was an unusually versatile personality. From a young age he was fascinated by various philosophical teachings. Subsequently, however, he said that he was ignorant and self-taught, but this was not entirely true. According to contemporaries, Epicurus was an educated man, endowed with the highest moral qualities, had an even character and preferred the simplest lifestyle.

At the age of 32, he created his own philosophical doctrine, and subsequently founded a school, for which a large shady garden was purchased in Athens. This school was called the "Garden of Epicurus" and had many devoted students. Actually, an Epicurean is a student and follower of Epicurus. The teacher called all his followers who attended the school “philosophers from the garden.” It was a kind of community in which modesty, lack of frills and a friendly atmosphere reigned. In front of the entrance to the “Garden” there was a jug of water and a simple loaf of bread - symbols of the fact that a person needs very little in this life.

Epicureans, philosophy

The philosophy of Epicurus can be called materialistic: he did not recognize gods, denied the existence of predestination or fate, and recognized man's right to free will. The main ethical principle in the Garden of Epicurus was pleasure. But not at all in the vulgar and simplified form in which it was understood by the majority of Hellenes.

Epicurus preached that in order to receive true satisfaction from life, you need to limit your desires and needs, and this is precisely the wisdom and prudence of a happy life. An Epicurean is a person who understands that the main pleasure is life itself and the absence of suffering in it. The more immoderate and greedy people are, the more difficult it is for them to achieve happiness and the sooner they doom themselves to eternal discontent and fear.

Distortion of the teachings of Epicurus

Subsequently, the ideas of Epicurus were greatly distorted by Rome. "Epicureanism" in its main provisions began to diverge from the ideas of its founder and approached the so-called "hedonism." In such a distorted form, the teachings of Epicurus have survived to this day. Modern people are often convinced that an epicurean is one who considers his own pleasure to be the highest good of life and, in order to increase the latter, lives immoderately, allowing himself all sorts of excesses.

And since there are many such people around today, one might think that the current world is developing according to the ideas of Epicurus, although in fact hedonism rules the roost everywhere. In fact, in this respect modern society is close to Ancient Rome during its decline. It is well known from history that, in the end, the widespread debauchery and excesses of the Romans led the once great empire to complete decline and destruction.

Famous Followers of Epicurus

The ideas of Epicurus were very popular and found many supporters and followers. His school existed for almost 600 years. Among the famous supporters of Epicurus' ideas is Titus Lucretius Carus, who wrote the famous poem "On the Nature of Things", which played a large role in the popularization of Epicureanism.

Epicureanism became especially widespread during the Renaissance. The influence of Epicurus's teachings can be traced in the literary works of Rabelais, Lorenzo Valla, Raimondi and others. Subsequently, the philosopher's supporters were Gassendi, Fontenelle, Holbach, La Mettrie and other thinkers.

Epicurus was born in 341 BC. on the island of Samos. He began studying philosophy at the age of 14. In 311 BC. he moved to the island of Lesvos, and there he founded his first philosophical school. Another 5 years later, Epicurus moved to Athens, where he founded a school in the garden, where there was an inscription on the gate: “Guest, you will be happy here; here pleasure is the highest good.” This is where the very name of the school “Garden of Epicurus” and the nickname of the Epicureans—philosophers “from the gardens”—later arose. He led this school until his death in 271 BC. It is generally accepted that Epicurus considered bodily pleasure the only meaning of life. In reality, Epicurus' views on pleasure are not so simple. By pleasure he understood primarily the absence of displeasure, and emphasized the need to take into account the consequences of pleasure and pain:

“Since pleasure is the first and innate good for us, therefore we do not choose every pleasure, but sometimes we bypass many pleasures when they are followed by great trouble for us. We also consider many sufferings better than pleasure when greater pleasure comes for us, after how we endure suffering over a long period of time. Thus, all pleasure is good, but not all pleasure is to be chosen, just as all pain is evil, but not all pain is to be avoided."

Therefore, according to the teachings of Epicurus, bodily pleasures must be controlled by the mind: “It is impossible to live pleasantly without living wisely and justly, and it is also impossible to live wisely and justly without living pleasantly.” And living wisely, according to Epicurus, means not striving for wealth and power as an end in itself, being satisfied with the minimum necessary in order to be satisfied with life: “The voice of the flesh is not to starve, not to thirst, not to be cold. Whoever has this, and who hopes to have it in the future, can argue with Zeus himself about happiness... The wealth required by nature is limited and easily obtained, but the wealth required empty opinions, extends to infinity."

Epicurus divided human needs into 3 classes: 1) natural and necessary - food, clothing, shelter; 2) natural, but not necessary - sexual satisfaction; 3) unnatural - power, wealth, entertainment, etc. The easiest way is to satisfy needs (1), somewhat more difficult - (2), and needs (3) cannot be completely satisfied, but, according to Epicurus, it is not necessary. Epicurus believed that “pleasure is achievable only when the fears of the mind are dispelled”, and expressed the main idea of his philosophy with the following phrase: “The gods inspire no fear, death inspires no fear, pleasure is easily attained, suffering is easily endured.” Contrary to the accusations leveled against him during his lifetime, Epicurus was not an atheist. He recognized the existence of the gods of the ancient Greek pantheon, but had his own opinion about them, which differed from the views that prevailed in the ancient Greek society of his time.

According to Epicurus, there are many inhabited planets similar to Earth. The gods live in the space between them, where they live their own lives and do not interfere in the lives of people. Epicurus proved this as follows: "Let us assume that the suffering of the world is of interest to the gods. The gods may or may not, want or do not want to destroy suffering in the world. If they cannot, then they are not gods. If they can, but do not want, then they are imperfect, which is also not befitting of gods And if they can and want to, then why haven’t they done it yet?”

But in Greek mythology, the gods are far from perfect: human character traits and human weaknesses are attributed to them. This is why Epicurus was opposed to traditional ancient Greek religion: “It is not the wicked who rejects the gods of the crowd, but the one who applies the ideas of the crowd to the gods.”

Epicurus denied any divine creation of the world. In his opinion, many worlds are constantly born as a result of the attraction of atoms to each other, and worlds that have existed for a certain period also disintegrate into atoms. This is quite consistent with ancient cosmogony, which asserts the origin of the world from Chaos. But, according to Epicurus, this process occurs spontaneously and without the intervention of any higher powers.

Epicurus developed the teachings of Democritus about the structure of the world from atoms, at the same time put forward assumptions that were confirmed by science only many centuries later. Thus, he stated that different atoms differ in mass, and, therefore, in properties. Unlike Democritus, who believed that atoms move along strictly defined trajectories, and therefore everything in the world is predetermined in advance, Epicurus believed that the movement of atoms is largely random, and, therefore, different scenarios are always possible. Based on the randomness of the movement of atoms, Epicurus rejected the idea of fate and predestination. “There is no purpose in what is happening, because a lot of things are not happening the way they should have happened.” But, if the gods are not interested in the affairs of people, and there is no predetermined fate, then, according to Epicurus, there is no need to be afraid of both. One who does not know fear cannot instill fear. The gods know no fear because they are perfect. Epicurus was the first in history to say that people's fear of the gods is caused by the fear of natural phenomena that are attributed to the gods. Therefore, he considered it important to study nature and find out the real causes of natural phenomena - in order to free man from the false fear of the gods. All this is consistent with the position about pleasure as the main thing in life: fear is suffering, pleasure is the absence of suffering, knowledge allows you to get rid of fear, therefore without knowledge there can be no pleasure- one of the key conclusions of the philosophy of Epicurus. During the time of Epicurus, one of the main topics for discussion among philosophers was death and the fate of the soul after death. Epicurus considered debates on this topic pointless: “Death has nothing to do with us, because while we exist, death is absent, but when death comes, we no longer exist.” According to Epicurus, people are afraid not so much of death itself as of the death throes: “We are afraid to suffer from illness, to be struck by a sword, torn by the teeth of animals, reduced to dust by fire - not because all this causes death, but because it brings suffering. Of all evils, the greatest is suffering, not death.” He believed that the human soul is material and dies with the body. Epicurus can be called the most consistent materialist of all philosophers. In his opinion, everything in the world is material, and spirit as some kind of entity separate from matter does not exist at all. Epicurus considers direct sensations, and not judgments of the mind, to be the basis of knowledge. In his opinion, everything we experience is true; sensations never deceive us. Misconceptions and errors arise only when we add something to our perceptions, i.e. the source of error is the mind. Perceptions arise as a result of the penetration of images of things into us. These images are separated from the surface of things and move with the speed of thought. If they enter the sense organs, they give real sensory perception, but if they penetrate the pores of the body, they give fantastic perception, including illusions and hallucinations. In general, Epicurus was against abstract theorizing that was not related to facts. In his opinion, philosophy should have a direct practical application - to help a person avoid suffering and life mistakes: “Just as medicine is of no use if it does not banish the suffering of the body, so philosophy is of no use if it does not banish the suffering of the soul.” The most important part of Epicurus' philosophy is his ethics. However, Epicurus’s teaching about the best way of life for a person can hardly be called ethics in the modern sense of the word. The question of adjusting the individual to social attitudes, as well as all other interests of society and the state, occupied Epicurus least of all. His philosophy is individualistic and aimed at enjoying life regardless of political and social conditions. Epicurus denied the existence of universal morality and universal concepts of goodness and justice, given to humanity from somewhere above. He taught that all these concepts are created by people themselves: “Justice is not something in itself, it is some agreement between people not to harm and not to suffer harm.”. Epicurus gave friendship a major role in relationships between people, contrasting it with political relations as something that brings pleasure in itself. Politics is the satisfaction of the need for power, which, according to Epicurus, can never be fully satisfied, and therefore cannot bring true pleasure. Epicurus argued with the followers of Plato, who put friendship at the service of politics, considering it as a means of building an ideal society. In general, Epicurus does not set any great goals or ideals for man. We can say that the goal of life, according to Epicurus, is life itself in all its manifestations, and knowledge and philosophy are the path to obtaining the greatest pleasure from life. Humanity has always been prone to extremes. While some people greedily strive for pleasure as an end in itself and cannot get enough of it all the time, others torment themselves with asceticism, hoping to gain some kind of mystical knowledge and enlightenment. Epicurus proved that both were wrong, that enjoying life and learning about life are interconnected.

EPICUREANISM- one of the most influential schools of Hellenistic philosophy. The main ideological content and theoretical justification for the practiced way of life of the supporters of this school is the philosophical system of its founder Epicurus (c.

341–270 BC).

As a philosophical doctrine, Epicureanism is characterized by a mechanistic view of the world, materialistic atomism, denial of teleology and the immortality of the soul, ethical individualism and eudaimonism; has a pronounced practical orientation. According to the Epicureans, the mission of philosophy is akin to healing: its goal is to heal the soul from fears and suffering caused by false opinions and absurd desires, and to teach a person a blissful life, the beginning and end of which they consider pleasure.

In Athens, Epicureans gathered in a garden that belonged to Epicurus. This is where the second name of the school came from - “Garden”, or “Garden of Epicurus”, and its inhabitants were called philosophers “from the gardens”. The school was a community of like-minded friends living in accordance with the principles of the philosophical teachings of Epicurus. There was an inscription on the school gate: “Guest, you will feel good here; here pleasure is the highest good,” and at the entrance stood a jug of water and a loaf of bread. Women and slaves were allowed into the school, which was quite unusual at that time. Life within the Epicurean community was modest and unpretentious; Unlike the Pythagorean alliance, the Epicureans did not believe that property should be shared, since this could become a source of mistrust between them.

Shouldn't be afraid of the gods

should not be afraid of death,

good is easily achievable

evil is easily tolerated.

The personality of Epicurus played a primary role in the school, acting as the embodiment of wisdom and a role model. He himself established the principle for his students: “Do everything as if Epicurus was looking at you” (Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, XXV, 5). Apparently, this is why his images could be found everywhere at school: on clay and wooden tablets, and even on rings. Although, it is worth noting that, unlike Pythagoras, he was never deified by his followers.

The school of Epicurus existed for almost 600 years (until the beginning of the 4th century AD), without any discord and maintaining the continuity of students who, according to Diogenes Laertius, were chained to his teaching like the songs of the Sirens (Diogenes Laertius, X, 9 ). The most prominent of them was Metrodorus of Lampsacus, who died seven years before his teacher. In a polemically pointed form, he emphasized that the source of all benefits is sensual pleasures. In his will, Epicurus asks his schoolmates to gather every month in memory of him and Metrodorus, and also to take care of Metrodorus's children. Epicurus's successor in leadership of the school was Hermarch of Mytilene, and then Polystratus.

Epicureanism penetrated Roman soil quite early. In the 2nd century. BC. Gaius Anafinius expounds the teachings of Epicurus in Latin. And in the 1st century BC. In the vicinity of Naples, the Epicurean school of Siron and Philodemus arose, which became the main center of culture and education in Italy during the decline of the republican institutions of Rome. The elite of educated Roman society, including the famous Roman poets Virgil and Horace, gather at Philodemus's estate.

Epicureanism gained a lot of supporters and followers among the Romans. Among them, the most prominent and famous is Titus Lucretius Carus, whose poem About the nature of things played a huge role in the spread of Epicureanism. In conditions of civil wars and social upheavals, Lucretius Carus seeks in the philosophy of Epicurus a way to achieve serenity and equanimity of spirit. According to Lucretius, the main enemies of human happiness are fear of the underworld, fear of afterlife retribution and fear of the intervention of the gods in people's lives, generated by ignorance of the true nature of man and his place in the world. In overcoming them, Lucretius sees the main task of his poem, which has become a kind of encyclopedia of Epicureanism.

At the end of the 2nd century. AD By order of the Epicurean Diogenes, giant inscriptions were carved in the city of Enoanda in Asia Minor in order to familiarize fellow citizens with the teachings of Epicurus.

Epicureanism became widespread during the Renaissance. Its influence can be traced in the works of Lorenzo Valla, F. Rabelais, C. Raimondi and others. In modern times, teachings close to Epicureanism are put forward by such thinkers as F. Bacon, P. Gassendi, J. La Mettrie, P. Holbach, B. Fontenelle and others .

Polina Gadzhikurbanova

Literature:

Lucretius. About the nature of things, vol. 1–2. M. – L., 1947
Materialists of ancient Greece. Collection of texts by Heraclitus, Democritus and Epicurus. M., 1955
Losev A.F. History of ancient aesthetics. Early Hellenism. M., 1979

Check yourself!
Answer the Philosophy quiz questions

What tuition fees did Confucius charge his students?

Take the test

Introduction

Ancient philosophy is a consistently developing philosophical thought and covers a period of over a thousand years - from the end of the 7th century BC. up to the 6th century AD. Despite all the diversity of views of thinkers of this period, ancient philosophy is at the same time something unified, uniquely original and extremely instructive. It did not develop in isolation - it drew on the wisdom of the Ancient East, whose culture goes back to deeper antiquity, where the formation of civilization took place, writing was formed, the beginnings of the science of nature and philosophical views themselves developed.

The ethics of antiquity is addressed to man. The most important feature of the ethical position of the ancient sages was the understanding of morality, the virtue of behavior as reasonableness. Reason “rules the world” of ancient ethics; its paramount importance (in any specific moral choice and in choosing the right path in life) is not in doubt. Another characteristic of the ancient worldview is the desire for harmony (harmony within the human soul and its harmony with the world), which took various forms of embodiment depending on certain sociocultural circumstances.

Thus, Greek philosophy in the 7th-6th centuries BC. was the first attempt at rational comprehension of the surrounding world. The purpose of this work is to examine the main philosophical and ethical schools of Ancient Greece such as Epicureanism, hedonism, Stoicism and Cynicism.

In accordance with the goal, the following tasks can be distinguished:

identify common and special features of the schools of Epicurus and Aristippus;

compare the ideas and traditions of the Stoic and Cynic schools.

1.Basic ideas and principles of the schools of Epicureanism and hedonism

Hellenism, covering the period from the conquest of Alexander the Great to the fall of the Roman Empire, also determines the nature of the development of philosophical ethics in that period. Having preserved much of the ancient classics, Hellenism essentially completed it. The initial principles laid down by the great Greeks were systematized, certain aspects of the achievements of the previous period were developed, and attention was concentrated on the problem of man and society. Philosophy focused on the subjective world of man.

Those that emerged at the turn of the 4th and 3rd centuries enjoyed predominant success in the Hellenistic world. BC e. the teachings of the Stoics and Epicurus, which absorbed the main features of the worldview of the new era.

One of the most influential philosophical movements of the Hellenistic-Roman era was Epicureanism. Epicurus is characteristic of an era when philosophy begins to be interested not so much in the world as in the fate of man in it, not so much in the mysteries of the cosmos, but in an attempt to indicate how, in the contradictions and storms of life, a person can find the calm, serenity, and equanimity that he so needs and so desires. and fearlessness. To know not for the sake of knowledge itself, but exactly as much as is necessary to preserve the bright serenity of the spirit - this is the goal and task of philosophy, according to Epicurus.

Epicureanism is a type of atomistic philosophy, one of the most influential schools of Hellenistic philosophy. As a philosophical doctrine, Epicureanism is characterized by a mechanistic view of the world, materialistic atomism, denial of teleology and the immortality of the soul, ethical individualism and eudaimonism; has a pronounced practical orientation. According to the Epicureans, the mission of philosophy is akin to healing: its goal is to heal the soul from fears and suffering caused by false opinions and absurd desires, and to teach a person a blissful life, the beginning and end of which they consider pleasure.

The school of Epicureanism owes its name to its founder Epicurus, whose philosophical system underlies the ideological content and theoretical justification of the teaching. Epicurus (341–270 BC) was born on the island of Samos and was an Athenian by birth. In 306 BC. e. he came to Athens and founded a school called the “Garden of Epicurus,” hence the name of the Epicureans: “philosophers of the Garden.” The school was a community of like-minded friends living in accordance with the principles of the philosophical teachings of Epicurus. There was an inscription on the school gate: “Guest, you will feel good here; here pleasure is the highest good,” and at the entrance stood a jug of water and a loaf of bread.

Women and slaves were allowed into the school, which was quite unusual at that time. Epicurus was in poor health. He only verbally called for pleasure, but in reality he ate mainly bread and water, and considered cheese and wine to be a rarely accessible luxury. Epicurus urged a person to weigh the pleasure he receives against the possible consequences. “Death has nothing to do with us; when we are alive, death is not yet there; when it comes, we are no longer there,” the philosopher asserted. The philosopher died of a kidney stone. He died in the following way: he lay down in a copper bath with hot water, asked for undiluted wine, drank it, wished his friends not to forget his ideas, and then died.

He even managed to die blissfully in accordance with his principles.

The basis of the Epicurean Union was loyalty to the teachings of Epicurus and reverence for his personality. At school, a number of philosophical exercises were practiced, which were an integral part of the Epicurean way of life: conversations, analysis of one’s actions, reading treatises of Epicurus, memorizing the main provisions of the doctrine, for example, the “fourfold medicine”:

Shouldn't be afraid of the gods

should not be afraid of death,

good is easily achievable

evil is easily tolerated.

The personality of Epicurus played a primary role in the school, acting as the embodiment of wisdom and a role model. He himself established the principle for his students: “Do everything as if Epicurus was looking at you.” Apparently, this is why his images could be found everywhere at school: on clay and wooden tablets, and even on rings. Although, it is worth noting that unlike Pythagoras, he was never deified by his followers.

Epicurus divided philosophy into physics (the doctrine of nature), canon (the doctrine of knowledge, in which he adhered to sensationalism) and ethics . In physics he followed the atomism of Democritus; he managed to improve Democritus’s teaching about atoms, developing it in two directions. First of all, Epicurus discovered the following problem: according to Democritus, atoms, moving in emptiness and not experiencing any of its resistance, must move at the same speed. But Epicurus, in turn, notes that if the atoms were of equal speed, then they would fly down in a straight line and, therefore, could not collide with each other. Consequently, no bodies could be formed. According to Epicurus, it is necessary that the atoms in their fall can, at least slightly and from time to time, deviate from the straight line. Only then will atoms be able to interact with each other and, as a result, different bodies will be formed. In addition, according to Epicurus, this deviation must be arbitrary and unpredictable. If Democritus was a supporter of fatalism and associated the inevitability and necessity of everything that happens in the world with the unchanging laws of atomic movement, then Epicurus, based on the partially arbitrary movement of atoms, denied such predetermination. The absence of absolute predetermination is important for the justification of ethics, which was the goal of Epicurus. After all, if the whole world is strictly determined, then a person is actually deprived of free will and any choice. All human life appears in the form of the actions of some automaton, and human freedom, choice and moral responsibility can be nothing more than illusions. With his teaching on the arbitrary deviation of atoms, Epicurus not only anticipated the probabilistic picture of the world of modern science, but also outlined the possibilities of combining natural determinism with human freedom.

Recognizing the atomistic theory of the plurality of worlds, Epicurus actually abandoned the idea of gods as the ancestors of the universe. In his opinion, the gods live in interworldly space, without in any way influencing the destinies of people. The main place in the teachings of Epicurus was occupied by ethical teaching. Affirming the material principle in the essence of the human personality, Epicurus created a unique the doctrine of pleasure as the goal of life. Enjoyment consists of maintaining peace of mind, satisfying natural and necessary needs and leads first to the achievement of peace of mind (“ataraxia”), and then to happiness (“eudaimonia”). True pleasure, according to Epicurus, is “the absence of bodily pain.” Epicurus insisted on satisfying natural and precisely necessary needs, that is, those associated with the preservation of life.

A person who has comprehended the truth learns to separate necessary needs from unnecessary ones and voluntarily abandon them. A person’s ability to achieve complete happiness is hampered by the fears that dominate him and which must be overcome. Epicurus identified three types of fear:

- Fear of celestial phenomena. This fear is overcome by the knowledge of atomic physics, cosmology and astronomy, which provide a completely logical explanation for all natural phenomena.

- Fear of the gods. Overcoming this fear consisted of recognizing the fact that the gods themselves are in constant bliss and do not intend to interfere in any way in the lives of people.

- Fear of death. Being a supporter of materialistic philosophy, Epicurus argued the meaninglessness of this fear, because there is no afterlife, the human soul itself, being material, is mortal just like the body, which means there is no point in tormenting oneself with thoughts of what will happen after death.

A sage should have a friendly but reserved attitude towards the state and religion. Epicurus highly valued the joys of private life and friendship; he called for a conscious renunciation of public life. The motto of the Epicureans became the words: “Live unnoticed!”

After the closure of the Garden of Epicurus in the 1st century BC. in Athens, Epicurean circles continued to exist in Italy.

Epicureanism penetrated Roman soil quite early. In the 2nd century BC. Gaius Anafinius expounds the teachings of Epicurus in Latin. And in the 1st century BC. In the vicinity of Naples, the Epicurean school of Siron and Philodemus arose, which became the main center of culture and education in Italy during the decline of the republican institutions of Rome. The elite of educated Roman society, including the famous Roman poets Virgil and Horace, gather at Philodemus's estate.

Epicureanism gained a lot of supporters and followers among the Romans. Among them, the most prominent and famous is Titus Lucretius Carus, whose poem “On the Nature of Things” played a huge role in the spread of Epicureanism. In conditions of civil wars and social upheavals, Lucretius Carus seeks in the philosophy of Epicurus a way to achieve serenity and equanimity of spirit. According to Lucretius, the main enemies of human happiness are fear of the underworld, fear of afterlife retribution and fear of the intervention of the gods in people's lives, generated by ignorance of the true nature of man and his place in the world. In overcoming them, Lucretius sees the main task of his poem, which has become a kind of encyclopedia of Epicureanism.

At the end of the 2nd century AD. By order of the Epicurean Diogenes, giant inscriptions were carved in the city of Enoanda in Asia Minor in order to familiarize fellow citizens with the teachings of Epicurus.

At the same time, in imperial Rome, Epicureanism quickly degenerated into primitive hedonism, justifying and praising the pursuit of any sensual pleasures.

HedonAndzm(from the Greek hedone - pleasure), an ethical position that affirms pleasure as the highest good and criterion of human behavior and reduces the whole variety of moral requirements to it. The desire for pleasure in hedonism is considered as the main driving force of a person, inherent in him by nature and predetermining all his actions. In Ancient Greece, one of the first representatives of hedonism in ethics was the founder of the Cyrene school, Aristippus, who saw the highest good in achieving sensual pleasure. Aristippus (435-355 BC) was from the city of Cyrene, a Greek city on the African coast in Libya. He knew how to adapt to any person, playing his role in accordance with the situation. Aristippus considered sensual pleasure the goal of life and sought all the pleasures available to him. Although a reservation was made that pleasures should be reasonable and that one should not be a slave to pleasure, the Cyrenaics were still both slaves of pleasure and slaves of those on whom these pleasures depended.

Philosophy of Epicurus

The main question for them is what constitutes human bliss? The hedonism they preach deciphers the concept of good, the content of which is pleasure, regardless of the occasion. Aristippus identifies virtue with the ability to enjoy. The value of science lies in preparing a person for true pleasure.

Ultimate happiness is achieved only through judicious self-control. The Cyrenaics sought to isolate the individual from the general dynamics of the world and sought this isolation in domination over pleasure.

Everything that gives pleasure is good, but everything that deprives it, and even more so brings suffering, is bad. Hedonism is vulnerable in the sense that it easily turns from preaching the joy of life into preaching death.

Thus, the philosophy of Epicurus can be considered ascetic, because he insisted on the maximum limitation of the list of necessary needs, the satisfaction of which allows one to achieve bliss, while in hedonism the desire for pleasure is considered as the main driving principle of a person, inherent in him by nature and predetermining all of his actions.

Pages: next →

12See all

The first natural philosophers schoolsancientGreece (2)

Abstract >> Philosophy

...society in time. The very first philosophicalschoolAncientGreece It is considered to be Miletskut. In... not physical, but legal and ethical composition. The relationship between the things of the world... "receives retribution" is taken from ethically-legal practice of the tribal society. ...
The first natural philosophers schoolsAncientGreece (1)

Abstract >> Philosophy

... the first natural philosophers schoolsAncientGreece was represented mainly by Miletus school and philosopher...work. 1. Philosophy of Thales Founder philosophicalschools Thales is considered to be in Miletus. ... physical, but legal and ethical composition. The relationship between things...
Ancient philosophy. PhilosophicalschoolsAncientGreece

Test >> Philosophy

... - Thales, originally from Miletus. PhilosophicalschoolsAncientGreece Miletskaya school Thales (640-560 BC) - initially... strive for sensual pleasures. Dispassion is here ethical the ideal of the Stoics. Complete refusal...
The beginning of philosophy in AncientGreece

Abstract >> Philosophy

... The humanistic orientation of the philosophy of the Sophists. Anthropocentrism and ethical rationalism of Socrates. 1. The origins of ancient Greek philosophy... (diagram 15). Miletskaya school(Miletus Philosophy) First philosophicalschoolAncientGreece became Miletus school(Table 19...
Philosophy AncientGreece and Rome

Abstract >> Philosophy

... about the possibilities of human knowledge, etc. Miletskaya school. The very first philosophicalschoolAncientGreece It is considered to be Miletus. In which... like the philosophy of Hellenism, was worn primarily ethical character and directly influenced the political...

I want more similar works...

Outstanding representatives of Epicureanism are Epicurus (341-270 BC) and Lucretius Carus (c. 99-55 BC). This philosophical direction belongs to the border between the old and new eras. The Epicureans were interested in questions of structure and personal comfort in the complex historical context of that time.

Epicurus developed ideas of atomism. According to Epicurus, only bodies located in space exist in the Universe. They are directly perceived by the senses, and the presence of empty space between bodies follows from the fact that otherwise movement would be impossible. Epicurus put forward an idea that differed sharply from Democritus's interpretation of atoms. This is the idea of the “bending” of atoms, where the atoms move in a “coherent flow.” According to Democritus, the world is formed as a result of the mutual “impact” and “rebounding” of atoms. But the sheer weight of atoms contradicts the concept of Epicurus and does not allow us to explain the independence of each atom: in this case, according to Lucretius, the atoms would fall, like raindrops, into an empty abyss. If we follow Democritus, the undivided dominance of necessity in the world of atoms, being consistently extended to the atoms of the soul, will make it impossible to admit human free will. Epicurus solves the question this way: he endows atoms with the ability of spontaneous deflection, which he considers by analogy with the internal volitional act of man. It turns out that atoms are characterized by “free will,” which determines “inevitable deviation.” Therefore, atoms are able to describe different curves, begin to touch and touch each other, intertwine and unravel, as a result of which the world arises. This idea made it possible for Epicurus to avoid the idea of fatalism. Cicero is right in asserting that Epicurus could not have avoided Fate any other way than with the help of the theory of atomic spontaneity. Plutarch notes that the spontaneity of atomic deflection is what happens. From this Epicurus draws the following conclusion: “There is no need for necessity!” Thus, Epicurus, for the first time in the history of philosophical thought, put forward the idea of the objectivity of chance.

According to Epicurus, life and death are equally not terrible for the sage: “As long as we exist, there is no death; when death is there, we are no more.” Life is the greatest pleasure. Such as it is, with a beginning and an end.

Knowledge, according to Epicurus, begins with sensory experience, but the science of knowledge begins primarily with the analysis of words and the establishment of precise terminology, i.e. The sensory experience acquired by a person must be comprehended and processed in the form of certain terminologically fixed semantic structures. In itself, a sensory sensation, not raised to the level of thought, is not yet genuine knowledge. Without this, only sensory impressions will flash before us in a continuous stream, and this is simply continuous fluidity.

Main principle of ethics Epicureans is pleasure - the principle of hedonism. At the same time, the pleasures preached by the Epicurean are characterized by an extremely noble, calm, balanced and often contemplative character. The pursuit of pleasure is the original principle of choice or avoidance. According to Epicurus, if a person’s feelings are taken away, there will be nothing left.

The philosophy of Epicurus - briefly.

Unlike those who preached the principle of “enjoying the moment”, and “what will be, will be!”, Epicurus wants constant, even and undecaying bliss. The sage’s pleasure “splashes in his soul like a calm sea on the solid shores” of reliability. The limit of pleasure and bliss is to get rid of suffering! According to Epicurus, one cannot live pleasantly without living rationally, morally and justly, and, conversely, one cannot live rationally, morally and fairly without living pleasantly!

Epicurus preached piety and worship of God: “a wise man must kneel before the gods.” He wrote: “God is an immortal and blissful being, as the general idea of God was outlined (in the mind of man), and does not ascribe to him anything alien to his immortality or inconsistent with his bliss; but imagines everything about God that can preserve his bliss, combined with immortality. Yes, gods exist: knowing them is an obvious fact. But they are not what the crowd imagines them to be, because the crowd does not always retain its idea of them.”

Lucretius Carus, the Roman poet, philosopher and educator, one of the outstanding Epicureans, like Epicurus, does not deny the existence of gods consisting of the finest atoms and residing in the interworld spaces in blissful peace. In his poem “On the Nature of Things,” Lucretius elegantly, in poetic form, depicts a light and subtle, always moving picture of the influence that atoms have on our consciousness through the outflow of special “eidoles,” as a result of which sensations and all states of consciousness arise. It is very interesting that atoms in Lucretius are not exactly the same as in Epicurus: they are not the limit of divisibility, but a kind of creative principles from which a specific thing is created with its entire structure, i.e. atoms are the material for nature, which presupposes some kind of creative principle located outside them. There are no hints of spontaneous activity of matter in the poem. Lucretius sees this creative principle either in the progenitor Venus, or in the skilled Earth, or in the creative nature - nature. A.F. Losev writes: “If we are talking about the natural philosophical mythology of Lucretius and call it a kind of religion, then let the reader not be confused here in three pines: the natural philosophical mythology of Lucretius ... has absolutely nothing in common with the traditional mythology that Lucretius refutes.”

According to Losev, the independence of Lucretius as a philosopher is deeply revealed in an episode of the history of human culture, which constitutes the main content of the 5th book of the poem. Taking from the Epicurean tradition a negative assessment of those improvements in the material environment of life, which, without ultimately increasing the amount of pleasure people receive, serve as a new object of acquisition, Lucretius ends the 5th book not with the Epicurean morality of self-restraint, but with praise to the human mind, mastering the heights of knowledge and art .

In conclusion, it should be said that we are accustomed to interpret Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius and others only as materialists and atheists. Following the brilliant expert on ancient philosophy and my close friend A.F. Losev, I adhere to the point of view according to which ancient philosophy did not know materialism in the European sense of the word at all. It is enough to point out that both Epicurus and Lucretius most unequivocally recognize the existence of gods.

⇐ Previous100101102103104105106107108109Next ⇒

Popular in the category:

Abstract: Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite and his Corpus Areopagitikum...

read

Epicurean philosophy. Biography of Epicurus. Ancient philosophy....

read

This is a son of a bitch, but this is our son of a bitch Losing allies and gaining strength...

read

"Civil War II" - Marvel's new global event

read

Roman emperors Augustus Tiberius Claudius

read

Princes Yusupov. The history of the Yusupov family....

read

How to tell fortunes on gypsy cards and designation

read

Layouts on tarot cards for personality

read

A combination of runes to protect a pregnant woman and...

read

Alignment for unclear situations

read

presentation for a lesson on the topic

read

Vandalism: causes and consequences

read

Epicurean philosophy. Biography of Epicurus

The teachings of Epicurus

Death

The Philosopher's Legacy

1. General characteristics of judgment

1.
General characteristics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

1. General characteristics of the era

§1.
General characteristics of positivism

1.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NAME

1. General characteristics of the concept

1.1 General characteristics of the concept

1.
General characteristics of medieval patristics

§ 3.1: Existentialism: general characteristics and problems

3. Characteristics of the views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

3. FOLLOWERS OF EPICURUS' VIEWS

1. General characteristics of the Renaissance

1.
General characteristics of Hegel's philosophy

3. NEO-FREUDISM. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Epicurus and the Epicureans

Epicureans, philosophy

Distortion of the teachings of Epicurus

Famous Followers of Epicurus

Introduction

1.Basic ideas and principles of the schools of Epicureanism and hedonism

Philosophy of Epicurus

The first natural philosophers schoolsancientGreece (2)

The first natural philosophers schoolsAncientGreece (1)

Ancient philosophy. PhilosophicalschoolsAncientGreece

The beginning of philosophy in AncientGreece

Philosophy AncientGreece and Rome

The philosophy of Epicurus - briefly.

Epicurean philosophy. Biography of Epicurus

The teachings of Epicurus

Death

The Philosopher's Legacy

1. General characteristics of judgment

1. General characteristics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

1. General characteristics of the era

§1. General characteristics of positivism

1. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NAME

1. General characteristics of the concept

1.1 General characteristics of the concept

1. General characteristics of medieval patristics

§ 3.1: Existentialism: general characteristics and problems

3. Characteristics of the views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

3. FOLLOWERS OF EPICURUS' VIEWS

1. General characteristics of the Renaissance

1. General characteristics of Hegel's philosophy

3. NEO-FREUDISM. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Epicurus and the Epicureans

Epicureans, philosophy

Distortion of the teachings of Epicurus

Famous Followers of Epicurus

Introduction

1.Basic ideas and principles of the schools of Epicureanism and hedonism

Philosophy of Epicurus

The first natural philosophers schoolsancientGreece (2)

The first natural philosophers schoolsAncientGreece (1)

Ancient philosophy. PhilosophicalschoolsAncientGreece

The beginning of philosophy in AncientGreece

Philosophy AncientGreece and Rome

The philosophy of Epicurus - briefly.

1.
General characteristics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

§1.
General characteristics of positivism

1.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NAME

1.
General characteristics of medieval patristics

1.
General characteristics of Hegel's philosophy