Philosphy on Epicurean Ethics

                                Epicurean Ethics

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines pleasure as a feeling of happiness, enjoyment or satisfaction, a pleasing feeling. As with most living organism, we have an engrained sense to fulfill our basic needs, hunger, thirst, rest, etc. However, as humans, we attempt to achieve more than that, we long to feel happy, to feel love, we have goals and dreams that we grasp to accomplish. Humans want pleasure, a feeling that many struggle to obtain by avoiding pain and chasing after desires, often called the pursuit of happiness. Epicurus had a strategy to achieve such a life, one which some would find odd, a pleasure gained through tranquility, but not one that is based on hedonism, but through minimalistic desires.

        In theory, most have a gauge of pleasure and pain, with pain being the negative and pleasure being the positive, with a central point of zero. In life, most travel along this scale with various levels of pain or pleasure or a combination of the two. One would say that the abundance of pleasure and comfort is the driving force, with pain being a refuting factor. However, pain is unavoidable in life, and perseverance is built through the struggle. Epicurus had a different scale for such measurements, one with no positive end for pleasure. Pleasure was the “zero point” on the scale and any less than pleasure was pain. In his famous writing, Letter to Menoeceus, he wrote that “Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is the starting point of every choice and every aversion, and to it we always come back, inasmuch as we make feeling the rule by which to judge every good thing.”  He clearly defines here that pleasure is in and of itself an intrinsic value. All other virtues, such as justice and courage are only vital for the sake of one’s happiness. Every choice is made in the desire for pleasure. However, the pleasure that is pursued leads to the path of the intrinsic good. The quest of wisdom is the path to a healthy mind. Reasoning with the mind and making cognitive decisions are essential to a content life. Insight makes for a clear and certain direction to tranquility in life. Much like the Buddhism philosophy, tranquility comes from internal quietness and far from the external. With this, the argument for happiness through wisdom is agreeable.  Nevertheless, based on the scale that Epicurus uses to gauge pleasure, the abundance of pleasure does not add to the value of pleasure, because the zero point is pleasure and the lack thereof is pain. Thus abundance of pleasure can never be achieved, as it does not have a more “positive” spectrum. But if there is not a positive end to pleasure, only a zero value, then the avoidance of pain is the end objective. What is such a life that the only goal is negating a negative to achieve a positive? The theory may work in mathematical calculations, but applied to life, it creates a void existence, where avoidance is the key to happiness. In evading pain, the risks and mystery of disappear and the colors that make life beautiful become grey, and existence becomes depressing.

Epicurus makes a clear distinction of the desires that ought to be pursued in the quest for intrinsic pleasure.   There are necessary and unnecessary pleasures in life, with the search of inner tranquility being the most valued. He describes this inner state as ataraxia, which is freedom from all worry. This state is attained through reason and philosophical contemplation, as they lead to an internal wellbeing, subsequently intrinsic values. Prodigal desires, such as the abundance of alcohol, food and sensuality cannot add to pleasure, as he states that these external pleasures can only lead to pain. He claims that putting high value on such externals leads to a dependence on them for happiness. Once the pleasures are no longer available, the absence leads to the negative end of the scale, pain. While fulfilling the basic necessary natural desires, such as hunger, is vital for happiness, the excess of such externals is not answer to pleasure. Rudimentary necessities, such as eating food satisfies the sense, and only after the desire is gratified does the feeling of pleasure come. But the dependence of extravagance leads to discomfort. The avoidance of such luxuries, such as fine food and drink leads to more pleasure, in a way training your mind to not need externals to be content. This model, may lead to a minimalistic life so the basic desires can be easily met. Avoidance of recreation with luxury does not allow for gluttony, but can also limit the enjoyment in life. The positive end of the spectrum for pleasure is missing in such a theory and while dependence on luxury can lead to pain, the enjoyment of luxury without dependence is possible. A fine dining experience with a loved one can add delight to a romantic evening, the memories created in such an environment are lasting and do not need to lead to dependence. The avoidance of abundance of pleasure to avoid pain limit the beauty of life.