Reading & the Good Life
Join the conversation! Every Friday at Noon EST, Perennial Meditations readers are welcome to gather for Reading & the Good Life (Register here), a casual space for connection, contemplation, and conversations on the art of living.
Who is Epicurus?
Epicurus's (341–270 B.C.E.) philosophy was a complete and interdependent system that involved a view of the goal of human life (happiness resulting from the absence of physical pain and mental disturbance). Epicurus believed that, based on a radical materialism that dispensed with transcendent entities such as the Platonic Ideas or Forms, he could disprove the possibility of the soul’s survival after death. He regarded the unacknowledged fear of death and punishment as the primary cause of anxiety among human beings and anxiety, in turn, as the source of extreme and irrational desires. The elimination of the fears and corresponding desires would free people to pursue the pleasures, both physical and mental, to which they are naturally drawn and to enjoy the peace of mind consequent upon their regularly expected and achieved satisfaction. […]
Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
How to Live (and Die) Like an Epicurean
This video provides a brief introduction to Epicureanism:
Dear Readers,
This Friday, we will conclude our reading of The Art of Happiness, a collection of writings by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. At our next meetup, we'll discuss the passages below (Register here). As you read these passages, consider reflecting on the following questions:
(1) How can you begin to embody these lessons in daily life?
(2) What might stand in the way of implementing these ideas?
(3) How can the following insights help you to live the “good” life?
No one should postpone the study of philosophy when he is young, nor should he be weary of it when he becomes mature because the search for mental health is never untimely or out of season. To say that the time to study philosophy has not yet arrived or is past is like saying that the time for happiness is not yet at hand or is no longer present. Thus, both the young and the mature should pursue philosophy, the latter in order to be rejuvenated as they age by the blessings that accrue from pleasurable past experiences, and the youthful in order to become mature immediately through having no fear of the future. Hence, we should make a practice of the things that make for happiness, for assuredly, when we have this we have everything, and we do everything we can to get it when we don’t have it. […]
— The Art of Happiness (Letter to Menoeceus)
