Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The Philosophy of Epicurus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
The Philosophy of Epicurus - Essay Example The essay "The Philosophy of Epicurus" discusses the Epicurus's thoughts regarding the capability of everyone for seeking wisdom, the happiness to be the ultimate objective of studying philosophy and concerning religion. At the beginning of the first paragraph of his ââ¬Å"â⬠Letter to Menoeceusâ⬠, Epicurus says that everyone either young or old should study philosophy because ââ¬Å"it is never too early nor too late to care for the well-being of the soulâ⬠. According to him, philosophy can bring happiness to the soul. One should study it for the happiness of mind. Again Epicurus says that the young people ââ¬Å"can retain the happiness of youth in his pleasant memories of the pastâ⬠when the old can enjoy the fearlessness of the youth even in their old age: ââ¬Å"although he is old he may at the same time be young by virtue of his fearlessness of the future.â⬠Again at the end of the paragraph, he comments that the ultimate objective of studying philosophy is ââ¬Å"securing happinessâ⬠, and therefore ââ¬Å"we do everything in order to gain itâ⬠. We can infer that Epicurus believed that happiness is the ultimate objective of studying philosophy. According to Epicurus, our ââ¬Å"common senseâ⬠or ââ¬Å"popular opinionâ⬠tells us that gods must be immortal and blessed. Indeed this ââ¬Å"common senseâ⬠is manââ¬â¢s capability of reasoning or proving something by something by logic. The commonality of manââ¬â¢s perception of himself or others lies at the heart of these ââ¬Å"reasonsâ⬠or ââ¬Å"common senseâ⬠.... Thus we can infer that Epicurus believed that happiness is the ultimate objective of studying philosophy. The Gods 3. Epicurus supposes that we know the gods to be immortal and blessed. Why does he suppose this? According to Epicurus, our ââ¬Å"common senseâ⬠or ââ¬Å"popular opinionâ⬠tells us that gods must be immortal and blessed. Indeed this ââ¬Å"common senseâ⬠is manââ¬â¢s capability of reasoning or proving something by something by logic. In the first place, we must accept that manââ¬â¢s capability of reasoning or devising logic is very subjective. That is, the commonality of manââ¬â¢s perception about himself or others lies at the heart of these ââ¬Å"reasonsâ⬠or ââ¬Å"common senseâ⬠. Man commonly perceives himself as a subject to ephemera and to death: ââ¬Å"while we exist death is not present and when death is present we no longer existâ⬠(Epicurus). Man reasons that gods exist even while ââ¬Å"we no longer existâ⬠. But si nce people popularly believe that gods send blessings and evils to men (though Epicurus assumes these popular beliefs, about gods to have concerns for men, as something wrong) ages after ages, man reasons that they must be immortal and blessed; otherwise, they would not be able to do so. Thus Epicurus supposes that ââ¬Å"commonsenseâ⬠provokes men to popularly accept that the gods are immortal and blessed. Again once Epicurus says that ââ¬Å"Most men do not retain the picture of the gods that they first receiveâ⬠(Epicurus 2). This sentence may refer to Epicurusââ¬â¢s belief that manââ¬â¢s knowledge about gods is inborn. This innate or inborn idea about godsââ¬â¢ immortality and blessedness provokes everyone to form a popular opinion that gods must be immortal and blessed. 4. Epicurus infers from the fact that the gods are the immortal and
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