Epicurus: "philosophy from the garden"

Epicurus is the creator of influential Hellenistic teachings. He combined his own theory with the elements of the ethics of Aristippus and the teachings of Democritus about atoms and developed their ideas (although he himself disregarded his predecessors).

Athenian by birth, he grew up on the island of Samos. Since my youth I have been fond of philosophy, at 32 I created my own school of philosophy, first on the island of Lesbos in the town of Меthenее. From 306 BC. Epicurus moves to Athens, buys a garden and establishes a school there, so she is called the "Garden", and the disciples and followers of Epicurus are "philosophers from the garden." Epicurus and his school played an important role in the development of philosophy. Created as a community of like-minded schools during its existence, but it existed for about 600 years, did not know any quarrels and disagreements. The disciples were devoted to their teacher, who was for them an example of behavior, and observed the principle established by him: "Do as if Epicurus were looking at you." The philosophy of Epicurus is practical and materialistic. He denied fatalism (predestination, destiny), leaving a free will and a choice to the person, and did not recognize the gods. "The world of Democritus, where everything is predetermined, melancholy and joyless and generally worse than hell," Epicurus asserted. Quotations from the "fourfold medicine", the basis of the teachings of Epicurus:

- "Gods should not be afraid";

- "Death should not be frightened either, because" As long as we are, there is no death, and when it is, we are no longer there "";

- "It's easy to achieve good";

- "Evil is easy to endure."

Epicurus denies the immortality of the soul, but not the soul itself. In his opinion, the soul is a special structure of atoms, a subtle but absolutely real matter that permeates the material body. In his teaching, Epicurus does not set out to know the truth. His goal is to reconcile man with life, to rid himself of suffering and teach him to receive it with joy. "The role of the philosopher is close to the role of the doctor," said Epicurus. - "This philosophy should help a man get rid of unnecessary desires, causing suffering, from painful fears, to teach to enjoy the accessible, to live simply and serenely." The human desires are unlimited, the dissatisfaction of desires causes suffering. "If you limit your desires by showing wisdom and prudence, Suffering will be less. "

This is a marked similarity of the philosophy of Epicurus with Buddhism, with his idea of the median path (without seeking great joys, you do not get much suffering). For happiness man needs only the absence of physical suffering, peace of mind, warmth of friendly relations.

The inscription at the entrance to this school read; "Guest, you will be fine here. The highest good is pleasure here. " But not bodily, sensual pleasures are meant, they, on the contrary, are condemned, as for them always there is a payment. Exalted intellectual pleasures, peace of mind, harmony with oneself and with the world, the joy of communicating with friends, and most importantly pleasure is life itself. "Life is given in sensations, and they can not be mistaken," Epicurus thought. Philosophy, created by him, assigns secondary meaning to the mind after the senses. In relation to the state and society, the philosopher adhered to a neutral, detached attitude, believing that it was more appropriate for a person to live in seclusion. In his school he accepted women and even slaves. In other philosophical schools nothing like this has been practiced. New was the elevation of the value of human earthly life and the justification of the bodily needs of man (these ideas were later adopted by the humanist philosophers of the Renaissance epoch).

Before the entrance to the school stood a jug full of water, and a baked flat cake as a symbol of the fact that a person really needs very little. Members of the community lived modestly and without excess. They did not unite property, it could cause disagreement and distrust, as Epicurus suggested. The philosophy of Epicurus, adapted in Rome and France, was greatly distorted. Epicureanism differs markedly from the teachings of Epicurus and is closer in nature, rather, to hedonism.