Sublime

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

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.

Instead, the Epicurean ideal is to live quietly with one’s close friends and contemplate the random movements of the atomic universe.

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

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