What kind of pleasure did Epicurus mean?
For Epicurus, pleasure was the good—but pleasure meant the absence of pain: freedom from physical pain (aponia) and from mental turmoil (ataraxia). He sorted desires into natural and necessary (food, friendship), natural but unnecessary (fancy food), and empty (fame, power), and urged satisfying only the first. His community, the Garden, lived largely on bread and water.
Why shouldn't we fear death?
"Where death is, I am not; where I am, death is not." Since death is the end of sensation, it can't be bad for the one who dies. Removing fear of the gods and of death was, for Epicurus, the whole point of philosophy. His pleasure-based ethics later influenced utilitarianism.
FAQ
- Doesn't "epicurean" mean foodie?
- The word drifted that way, but Epicurus himself preached moderation and simple living.
- How is it different from Stoicism?
- Both seek peace of mind, but Stoics prize virtue as the highest good, while Epicureans prize painless pleasure.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-25
References
- Epicurus. Letter to Menoeceus. In Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, X.
- Long, A. A., & Sedley, D. N. (1987). The Hellenistic Philosophers, Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.