Wednesday Wisdom

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded the philosophical school of Epicureanism in Athens in the 4th century BCE. Born on the island of Samos in 341 BCE, he studied philosophy under various teachers before founding his own school and community.

Previous schools of philosophy sought to answer who we are and what makes people good. Epicurus sought to answer a different question, what makes people happy? He believed that the purpose of philosophy was to achieve a happy, tranquil and fulfilling life, and he emphasized the importance of pleasure and the avoidance of pain as the means to achieve this goal. He also placed a great emphasis on the pursuit of knowledge and the practice of ethics. Epicurus wrote several works, but only a few fragments of his writings survive today His best insights into his thoughts and philosophy are in his letters to friends and followers. Much like the polymaths of ancient Greece, Epicurus sought knowledge of the world to better define humanity’s place within it and the path toward a fulfilled life. His vast correspondence with friends and pupils reveals a mind that refused to be confined by discipline, relentlessly pursuing truth across the entire spectrum of human inquiry. While his work was fragmented, over the centuries philosophers and historians have reconstructed ways to be happy from several of his writings. The list was generated from his letter "The Principal Doctrines", "Letter from Menoeus" and the "Vatican Sayings" which were discovered in the Vatican Library in 1888. This fourteenth-century manuscript was a collection of maxims and was also known as “The Sayings of Epicurus” or alternatively, “The Voice of Epicurus”. This collection of Vatican manuscripts also contained Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Epictetus’ Manual, and similar works and its source still remains a mysterious but vital link to ancient thought.

Epicurus's 8 steps to happiness are:

1. Don't fear God: Epicurus believed that the gods are distant and uninvolved in human affairs, so there's no need to fear them.

2. Don't worry about death: Death is nothing to us, according to Epicurus, because when we die, we no longer exist. So there's no reason to fear it.

3. Good is easy to get: Epicurus believed that the things that make us happy are simple and easy to obtain, such as food, shelter, and friends.

4. Pain is easy to endure: Pain is temporary and can be endured, according to Epicurus. It's not worth worrying about it.

5. Happiness comes from within: Epicurus believed that happiness is a state of mind that comes from within us, rather than from external sources.

6. Live modestly: Epicurus believed that excessive wealth and luxury can lead to unhappiness and that a simple and modest lifestyle is preferable.

7. Cultivate friendships: Friends are important for our happiness, according to Epicurus. We should cultivate deep and meaningful friendships.

8. Be self-sufficient: Epicurus believed that we should be self-sufficient and not rely too much on others for our happiness.

The term "epicurean" is often used to refer to someone who enjoys good food and drink, but this is a popular misconception of this school of philosophy. It is often also confused with hedonism which in modern form hints at excess in fulfilling desire. In ancient Greece, hedonism was a philosophical concept that emphasized the pursuit of pleasure and happiness as the ultimate goal of life. The word "hedonism" comes from the Greek word "hedone," which means pleasure. Epicurus sought to bring logical proof of how to live a happy life by combining metaphysics with aesthetics. He believed that simple pleasures brought happiness, good company, good conversation, and good food as essentials to a well-lived life. To be concise, simple over complex and quality over quantity was the ethos of Epicurus.

When Epicurius settled in Athens, he found a fine home with a encircling wall that had lush gardens. he believed this a place to start a community of learning and a school which became known as Kepos or garden. Why a garden?

What does a garden and philosophy have in common? 17th century English writer John Evelyn wrote “the air and genius of gardens lend themselves to philosophical enthusiasms, gardens like your thoughts need tending and nurture.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s (1646-1716) philosophy is centered on the Monadology, the idea that the universe is composed of infinite, indivisible spiritual units called "monads" that do not interact but exist in a pre-established harmony orchestrated by God. He famously argued for Optimism, the belief that because God is omniscient and perfectly good, he must have chosen to create the "best of all possible worlds" where the maximum amount of variety is achieved with the simplest laws. Guiding his system is the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which asserts that nothing happens without a specific explanation or cause, ensuring that the universe is entirely rational and intelligible.

François-Marie Arouet was born on November 21, 1694, in Paris, France He adopted the pen name "Voltaire" in 1718, following a stint in the Bastille prison. His seminal novel Candide is a satirical refute to the optimistic philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz who famously argued that we live in "the best of all possible worlds". Candide, the main character, is guided by his tutor Pangloss who believes in total optimism even as he experiences one horrifying disaster, war, betrayal, and injustice after another. After years of pointless wandering and suffering, Candide and his companions settle on a small farm near Constantinople. They are poor, tired, and profoundly disillusioned with grand theories. In the end, they encounter an old Turkish farmer who lives a simple, peaceful life. When asked about the latest news from Constantinople, the farmer says he only cares about his land and his family, finding his work keeps him free from the three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty.

Voltaire believed that open debate and the freedom to criticize authority, religion, and government were essential to reason, progress, and justice. In works like Candide and his Philosophical Dictionary, he attacked censorship, intolerance, and dogma. In the novel Candide, Voltaire warns against both naive optimism and despair, showing instead the value of practical action. The famous and poignant concluding line of the 1759 philosophical novel is (“Cela est bien dit, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin") “That is well said, but we must cultivate our garden”. It remains one of the most significant and debated lines in Western philosophy and literature. The phrase rejects Candide’s tutor Pangloss and his constant and abstract attempts to rationalize evil ("This is all for the best..."). It implies that speculating about why God or fate allows suffering is futile and a waste of time. Voltaire instead advocates for pragmatism and hard work. Instead of seeking theoretical answers to the problem of evil, one should focus on the concrete, achievable tasks in one's immediate control. He suggests happiness and contentment are found in small, meaningful, productive work creating beauty and order in one's immediate environment, rather than trying to fix the entire, chaotic world. Like Epicurus, Voltaire advocates for self-sufficiency for happiness, friendship and modesty.

Gardens, like our thoughts need to be tended to and nurtured. In Eric Weiner’s book The Socrates Express, while recalling Epicurus love of gardens, he characterizes the similarity between gardening and philosophy in that they both require an adult disciplined commitment with a child’s joy of wonder. In his chapter How to Enjoy like Epicurus, Weiner argues we don’t need more philosophers, we need more philosophy enthusiasts.

What can we learn from Epicurus and Voltaire, rather than trying to change the world, one could improve the world in small and simple but compounding ways of action: “By cultivating one's own garden”.

A special acknowledgment goes to Western Civ extraordinaire John, who serves as a living reminder of Voltaire’s sage advice to everyone who enters his office.

And now you know...

Thank you, Dad, for the gift of curiosity

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.