What is Epicureanism? (Philosophical Position)

An explanation of Epicurus's position and school of thought. This includes his metaphysics, atomism, philosophy of mind, epistemology, philosophy of religion, ethics, and arguments against the fear of death. Thanks to Prince Otchere for his generous donation that made this video possible!

Sponsors: Prince Otchere, Daniel Helland, Dennis Sexton, Will Roberts and √2. Thanks for your support!

Information for this video gathered from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy and more!

Information for this video gathered from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy and more!

[nerowolfe]

His second argument against the fear of death puts me in mind of Mark Twain's crack that "I was dead for billions of years before I was born, and suffered not the slightest inconvenience from the fact."

[kayallen]

Epicurus also stated kind of a "social contract" in that one should "make him your friend; if you can't do that, don't make him your enemy; if you can't do even that, then just stay away from him."  He thought people joined together for mutual aid and protection - each agreeing to not harm each other.  It must also be noted that Epicurus was completely radical, for the time,  when it came to running his school: his was out in a private garden (think a commune) instead of in a forum or temple; he taught women and slaves; and he permitted his students to publish their own thoughts.

[the]

Wow, Epicurus wasn't far of from modern science, he really was ahead of his time.

[Acechao]

I agree with the second argument against the fear of death in this video. Although I think that the thing people are generally afraid of is what you will miss out on after you die.

[kayallen]

Also, re: pleasure and pain. One endures pain if the reward for doing so outweighs the pain. As in, for example, pregnancy and childbirth for the pleasure of having children or we endure the pain of working for the reward of receiving a paycheck.  Then, one would avoid certain pleasures if the stress and troubles that come from that pleasure outweigh its rewards as in skip the orgies if you are going to be slapped with multiple paternity suits or various diseases or all the women had jealous husbands who would seek your death.    Good video, Carneades.

[georgewahington]

I dare say, Epicurus is a stranded time traveller from the modern era who cannot return back to his time.

[leratoradebe]

I agree with Epricurus somewhat, but disagree with death being something not be feared. His philosophy places pleasure as the number one goal, and that means anything that leads to its end is a threat. Death, I propose is that threat - our subconsciouses know that, and our biology knows that.

[utah]

I'm an Epicure. It emphasizes pleasure as a goal, but unlike Hedonism, considers the benefit of such an aim in regard to causing no harm to people. Am I right? Note that pleasure can be derived from helping others.... And yes, any gods that may exist appear not much interested in us. The universe proceeds exactly as it would with no gods.

[orionstar]

I don't think we are afraid of death for death's sake.... i think we are afraid of not been alive, as been alive is the only state of awareness we know of.... thus we want to keep the status quo. We fear the loss of the pleasures of life more than we fear death itself...since we do not know what happens after death for sure.

[JoeTonan]

Nice overview of a wonderful thinker. Thanks.

[robertwilsoniii]

Death is not painless. It is reasonable to strive to make health as great as possible in order to minimize that.

[daddyleon]

Every ime I heard you say "Epicurean" my mind kept thinking: "interesting Epi-Korean, is that like Epigenetics for Koreans? Like how we say Christian Science?"
I had to listen to this 3x.

[Doyourememberlove]

hmm, how about what causes fear of death is actually the anxiety created by the idea of ceasing to exist. how would Epicurus cope with this?

[therabbithat]

He'd be so excited to see those photos we have of atoms now. Did you know we have photos of atoms? They do look like solid balls, but of course they aren't, which would annoy him

[antwan]

Why don't I ever hear anyone ever say he's a epicurean instead of a sceptic?

[legerarts]

Pleasure is the only good and we should not be afraid of death. If you think something else, good luck :)

[forsakenacolyte]

No of course we shouldnt fear death. Epicurus formulated his argument against the fear of death very well but i was suprised to not hear him say that we shouldnt fear an uncontrollable inevitability of being a living things.
All things will come to an end.
Although I understand where Epicurus was coming from when is says happiness is the ultimate good, but let us not place our own individual happiness before others, and neither others' before ours.
Reaching a balance is key, attempting to please everyone is also a futile goal.

[CosmicFaust]

Wow, two videos in one day! How you spoil us, Carneades. 😂

[Nylfmedli]

Well done Carneades! The video on faith was very insightful also.

[spark]

well i fear death bcoz we will bee nowhere