Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

How to be an Epicurean? That's easy! Start by using his Tetrapharmakon (means the quadruple remedy) to live a happy life, which is the following:

Θεός Άφοβον - God is not to be feared

Θάνατος Αναίσθητον - You don't feel (sic or meet with) death

Τ'αγαθόν μεν εύκτητον - It is easy to acquire goods

Το δε δεινόν ευκαρτέρητον - So is easy to withstand rough times



Absolutely. Also, a point I found interesting is that we can classify desires in three categories:

- natural and necessary, e.g drink, eat

- natural but not necessary, e.g sex

- not natural and not necessary, e.g smartphones

Epicure advised to fulfill only the first type of desires, that is, drink water and eat bread, period.

As a sidenote, the goal of his philosophy was not to experience pleasures, but instead to avoid pain, which is quite different.


Well, in comparison with stoicism, epicureanism is more about experiencing pleasure than avoiding pain, given that the latter tries to avoid all feeling. But yeah, they're more fundamentally alike there.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: