Sublime

Epicurus was a materialist, but not a determinist. He followed Democritus in believing that the world consists of atoms and the void; but he did not believe, as Democritus did, that the atoms are at all times completely controlled by natural laws.

Articulating a form of happiness called ataraxia (loosely, “absence of trouble”), Epicurus found that the “trouble” of a troubled mind came from unnecessary mental baggage in the form of runaway desires, ambitions, ego, and fear. What he proposed in their absence was simple: relaxed contemplation in a community that was turned away from the city at

From his walled garden cut off from the city, Epicurus introduced us to the revelatory notion that to become happier, we need to reassess our attachments to things in the world. We need to feel differently about things that cause (or have the potential to cause) anxiety. We wish to live with as little pain and worry as possible. Epicurus has, in hi

Epicurus, the founder of the first school (which bears his name), was a very early atomist, with no time for mysticism. He controversially believed that everything was made up of tiny particles flying invisibly through space. Happiness, he said, was a question of tranquillity, and good and evil were no more than a matter of pleasure and pain; to li

To the Epicureans real pleasure was about freedom from pain and agitation.

According to Epicurus, we are happy when we feel pleasant sensations and are free from unpleasant ones. Jeremy Bentham similarly maintained that nature gave

qu’Épicure montre qu’il faut avoir une vie particulièrement austère, une vie où le plaisir n’est pas dans la chair, mais dans l’ataraxie. Le bonheur, la vie heureuse chez Épicure se caractérise par cette ataraxie qui signifie absence de troubles 2. Car pour lui le malheur des hommes provient du fait qu’ils craignent des choses qui ne sont pourtant