“Empty is the argument of that philosopher who does not allow to cure any human suffering. For in the same way that a medical art is useless that does not eradicate the disease of the bodies, there is no use in philosophy if it does not eradicate the suffering of the soul”.
Epicurus of Samos was a Greek philosopher born in 341 BC. He became known as the father of rational hedonism or his so-called "philosophy of happiness."
For Epicurus, philosophy meant the pursuit of happiness. However, he preached a measured happiness exercised through prudence in acting. Moving away from the concept of hedonism that is used nowadays, in which human beings focus on the search for pleasure to the detriment of their own physical or mental health. He observed that excess pleasure leads to illness and pain, so the recipe for lasting happiness, as well as peace of mind, was to lead a life free of complications and excess.
These are some of his tips to lead a balanced life:
- Enjoy the little pleasures: Having shelter, enough food and some good friends is a source of happiness in itself. To exemplify this his diet consisted of bread, olives, and occasionally some cheese and wine.
- Don´t be afraid of pain: Epicurus recommended that we shouldn´t let pain take away our happiness. Pain is a natural part of life and if it´s intense it will be short. On the contrary, if it´s long, it will be moderate.
- Look for real and lasting friendships: According to the philosopher, love brought unnecessary pain because the feelings became so intense, that they caused evils such as jealousy and possessiveness to take over our wellbeing. On the other hand, friendships fill us with happiness because they last longer and respect our freedom.
- Don´t increase your wealth, limit your desires: Wealth is not synonymous with happiness, so it is wrong to think that we are not happy because we have not accumulated enough yet. Instead, we should focus on needing less to be content, because true happiness is within us.
The philosophy of Epicurus became so popular in his time that he established his own school of thought, called "Garden", different from Plato's "Academy" or Aristotle's "Lyceum". Some of the thinkers influenced by the teachings of Epicurus were the Roman philosophers Diogenes of Enoando and Zeno of Sidon or the poets Horace, Virgil and Lucretius.
The teachings that rational hedonism has left for humanity help us to lead a balanced life, preserve our physical health and, above all, to strengthen our character and be able to overcome the appearances of what our environment currently tries to push us to pursue; pleasure without measure, wealth and social status. Aspects that not only seem not to have as great a weight in our happiness as it is thought, but that can, quite on the contrary, lead us to lose it.
Comments