The following is my
commentary on the Forty Principal Doctrines of Epicurus with the modern reader in mind:
1. A blessed and indestructible being
has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so
he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply
weakness.
A perfect being is too pure, too blissful to feel in a
limited human or earthly way. If you had the misfortune of being raised
in a religion where children are told to fear an angry, jealous God,
than this is something you must outgrow if you want to live at ease as
an Epicurean. Perhaps a good first step is to simply realize such a
religion is one of thousands of religions throughout human prehistory
and history, and many religions view God in ways other than fear.
Another suggestion would be to seek out like-minded friends where you
can talk through emotional issues caused by religious teachings. Since
emotions and memory are so much part of our physical body, start to
exercise in ways that you enjoy and find relaxing - yoga, dance, jogging
or walking. Appreciate the fact that you are a sensitive, aesthetic
embodied being. Live in joy, joy as an ongoing experience. There is
nothing more pleasurable than a life lived in joy.
2. Death is
nothing to us; for that which has been dissolved into its elements
experiences no sensations, and that which has no sensation is nothing to
us.
Do you get the willies when something reminds you of death?
When somebody talks about death, do you feel like jumping up and running
out of the room in a panic? If so, then you don't need a doctor, you
need an Epicurean philosopher. The first thing is to realize death is a
complete dissolution where you experience no sensation, not even the
tiniest pressure on your skin. According to Epicurus, death is a
complete blank - no forms, no awareness, no sensation. In a very real
sense, in a way we have this experience every night when we enter the
deep sleep state. Of course, we wake up from our night's sleep but, even
still, there is that 'blank' aspect of sleep. So, please see death as a
close cousin to sleep. You don't have anxiety or misgivings about
entering a deep, dreamless sleep, so you shouldn't be bothered by the
idea of death. To put not only your mind, but also your body in harmony
with this view of death, it would be wise to practice meditation or the
practice of sleep done by the yogis of India, which is called yoga nidra
-- very restful, very calming, giving you a deep acceptance of who you
are and your own mortality. With even a small amount of practice, you
will develop a deeper experience of tranquility and live with less
agitation and nervousness.
3. The magnitude of pleasure reaches
its limit in the removal of all pain. When such pleasure is present, so
long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind
or of both together.
The key is appreciating who we are and where
we are. Easy to say and not so easy to do, since as humans we tend to
be uncontrollable in our desires. Even when we are healthy and free of
both physical and mental pain, we tend to always want more. The sickness
of desire - more, more, more. Enough is never enough for the unwise man
or woman. If we are not experiencing physical pain or mental pain,
which is the vast majority of the time, we should enjoy and value the
pleasures life affords. If you cannot enjoy the simple pleasure of
taking a deep breath or the taste of your morning coffee or listening to
the birds sing or the sight of trees turning in fall, you are missing
the natural rhythms of being alive. In a very real sense, all we have is
the present moment - relax and enjoy; be thankful you don't have a
tooth ache or a pounding head ache or a sprained ankle or the memory of
being held captive in a prison camp. To bring yourself to a richer
appreciation of the moment, take up an enjoyable exercise, which can be
as simple as a morning walk. Clear your head of chatter, focus on your
kinesthetic sixth sense, that is, being mindful of your body moving in
space. If you need help with developing this awareness, try the
Alexander Technique or a comparable method. If you want a good practice
for the mind - start by committing to memory these forty Principal
Doctrines of Epicurus. There is so much pleasure available having our
five senses and our body. It is simply a matter of developing the habit
of wakefulness.
4. Continuous bodily pain does not last long;
instead, pain, if extreme, is present a very short time, and even that
degree of pain which slightly exceeds bodily pleasure does not last for
many days at once. Diseases of long duration allow an excess of bodily
pleasure over pain.
Unlike ancient times, our modern world has a
sophisticated medical industry with its thousand and one ways to perform
operations and provide treatments to keep people alive who otherwise
would be pushing up daisies. Thus, in a very real sense, we have more
possibilities for pain. However, our modern world has a sophisticated
pharmacological industry with its thousand and one ways to kill pain. It
is something of a trade-off, but on the whole, we deal with less pain
than people in ancient times. However, one thing remains the same: the
ancients feared pain, and we in the modern world fear pain. Pain has
been and will continue to be a very real part of life. But, does that
mean we have to live in fear of future physical pain? Epicurus says
`no', and for good reason. Our fear of what could happen takes us out of
the pleasures we can have right here and now. Nothing spoils our
tranquility more than being anxious, continually worrying, fretting and
fidgeting over the future. Do you have nervous habits - wringing of
hands, fidgeting with a pen, tapping your foot, pacing back and forth?
If so, time to take a deep breath and think things through with
Epicurus. You have dealt with pain up to this point in your life and you
can deal with any future pain even more effectively now that you are
committed and dedicated to philosophy. Ups and downs, pleasure and pain
are part of nature; fortunately for us, there is a lot more pleasure
than pain. Are you experiencing physical pain right now? Probably not.
Relax and sink deeper into the pleasure of what is happening in and
around you. The richness of physical pleasure through our senses and
mental pleasure by using our mind philosophically are very rich indeed,
an endless ocean of rich experience. All we need do is become more
attentive to the present and not allow ourselves to be pulled out of our
on-going pleasure by fear of future pain.
5. It is impossible to
live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly,
and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without
living pleasantly. Whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for
instance, the man is not able to live wisely, though he lives honorably
and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life.
Living
pleasantly for Epicurus is living without agitation, anxiety, and fear,
being comfortable and confident with who we are, far removed from even a
trace of being sexually twisted or repressed or violent or greedy for
such things as wealth, fame, status, and political advantage . Without
being burdened by these negativites and hankerings, we are free to think
in a calm and clear way. Rather than reacting in knee-jerk fashion, we
interact and respond sensitively to others and the world around us. What
is the natural result of living such a life of Epicurean philosophy? A
life lived wisely and honorably and justly, where we are seen by others
as we are in fact - kind, courteous, honest, considerate and full of
good will. A life lived wisely, honorably, justly, and pleasantly are of
one piece. Remove any one of these four qualities in us and our lives
can quickly spin into a nail-biting, tension-riddled mess. Much better
to stay with Epicurus in his garden and relax into the life we were
meant by nature to lead. And remember, always mean what you say and say
what you mean. A kind and gentle man or woman has no place for being
snide or sarcastic or lashing out with a sharp tongue. We degrade
ourselves when we are condescending, coarse, crude or mean-spirited.
6. In order to obtain protection from other men, any means for attaining this end is a natural good.
Have
you ever seen a rat running on a running wheel, the wheel spinning
around and the rat going absolutely nowhere fast? Well, that is standard
fare in our modern world for millions of people. Epicurus urges us to
recognize in the grinding, competitive world of business, commerce, and
politics, many other people will try to force us to run on their rat
wheel. Unless we really love the work we do and can do it with a measure
of tranquility, we must take steps to avoid being stuck in a bad work
situation, surrounded by small-minded, gossiping co-workers or
overbearing bosses, a rat wheel if there even was one. We would be well
to take any steps necessary to extract ourselves from such a suffocating
world of anxiety. Epicurus chose to live and teach and write in his
garden commune surrounded by friends. Although we might not live in a
commune, we do have an opportunity to deepen our relationship with
friends and family, and choose a lifestyle, including a work
environment,, having a central place for ataraxia, that is, freedom from
disturbance. No need to be a hermit in solitude; instead, seek out
people who are supportive of our Epicurean lifestyle. The immediate
benefit will be an improvement in both mental and physical health. This
is a modern application of Epicurus’s doctrine in obtaining protection
from others.
7. Some men want fame and status, thinking that they
would thus make themselves secure against other men. If the life of
such men really were secure, they have attained a natural good; if,
however, it is insecure, they have not attained the end which by
nature's own prompting they originally sought.
Do you want to
live a secure life? Do you think you can gain the security you desire by
putting yourself in the public limelight, becoming a glamor star, a
celebrity, having a face recognized in an instant by the masses? In a
word, do you want to be famous? If not famous, do you at least wish to
enjoy high status -- big house, fancy car, flashy cloths, enviable job?
Hankerings, cravings, endless desires, and dreams of being rich and
famous, and, all for what? Epicurus could see right through such
nonsense as so much smoke and mirrors. And, thanks to advertising and
mass media, today we live in a world of thick smoke and many mirrors. If
you would like to live with a degree of inner harmony, sensitivity and
elegance, then you will quickly recognize pursuing fame and status comes
at a price, a very big price: anaesthetizing your senses and becoming
coarse and dull. This is the reason Epicurus urged his followers to
memorize his sayings and put them into practice as much as possible. We
need the strength to fend off the onslaught of mass media with its
slick, shallow, silly values.
8. No pleasure is a bad thing in
itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail
disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.
So
there you are, faced with a decision of how to pursue your desires.
Certainly you can’t have everything, or even if you could have certain
things, do you really want them? Let’s take smoking cigarettes as an
example. Do you want to enjoy the pleasure of smoking with the prospect
that you are going to become a slave to an addiction that will cost you
loads of money and probably ruin your health? Not to mention other
drawbacks, like alienating people who don’t want to be around smokers
and inhale secondary smoke. Epicurus would ask you to consider if
cigarettes are really necessary to live a pleasurable life. Please weigh
the pros and cons of such a decision. Of course, many people do choose
to smoke. But you can ask: are these people using prudence? No matter
what their age, are they really mature? What exactly are they
considering in making their judgment? Are they understanding fully what
it is to be free of addiction? Or, the pleasure of living a healthy life
over many years? Let’s take Epicurus as our example of a life lived
wisely. His diet was simple and moderate – an occasional luxurious meal
but mainly vegetables, bread, and olives. We all have to eat, but do we
want to have food as our main focus in life, thinking the greater the
quantity and more lavish the better? If good food is present, fine, we
can partake in moderation; our goal isn’t to become ascetics (eating too
little isn’t a virtue nor is it good for our health); rather, our goal
is to live as simply as we must to be free. Again, it becomes a decision
of what we really want in our lives. Do we desire to be happy and free
of unnecessary cravings and compulsions? Then, choices leading to
addiction or gluttony would seem like exceedingly bad choices. Please
consider the motto: Mens sano in corpore sano, “A healthy mind in a
healthy body.”
9.
If every pleasure had been capable of accumulation, not only over time
but also over the entire body or at least over the principal parts of
our nature, then pleasures would never differ from one another.
Our encounter with the world is through our body and through our senses. And as we experience the world we have feelings about what we are experiencing; however, our experiences are fleeting; nothing lasts very long. So, the question arises: how to we come to live more fully? We want a variety of pleasures, but what kinds of pleasures will benefit us? Epicurus put mental pleasures and aesthetic pleasures ahead of strictly physical pleasures. For example, he loved music and he loved beauty. From my own experience there are few things more pleasurable than listening to or playing fine music or taking a walk outside in nature. Cultivate beauty in your own life – the beauty of colors, music, intimate touch, even the range of various tastes and smells. You will surprise yourself how much your senses will give you if you really open up to them. No need to chase after extravagance, the exotic or the rococo. There is a dignity and a freshness in our simple sense experience – very direct, very clear.
10. If the things that produce the pleasures of profligate men really freed them from fears of the mind concerning celestial and atmospheric phenomena, the fear of death, and the fear of pain; if, further, they taught them to limit their desires, we should never have any fault to find with such persons, for they would then be filled with pleasures from every source and would never have pain of body or mind, which is what is bad.
Ah, the profligate or, if you like, debauched men (and nowadays woman also get into the act). If you picture a group of guys and broads (their language) whooping it up, guzzling beer, wolfing down pizza, coarse language, loud voices, arrogant, self-centered behavior, you wouldn’t be far off the mark. This is the picture for college age but you would be just as accurate with minor variations in any phase of life. The age changes but the rushing after quick hits of pleasure remains painfully the same. Round and round the pleasure-seekers go, but does such a lifestyle recognize the natural rhythms and limits of desires? Look carefully at people to see how much grace and ease they have in their faces, their expressions, their gestures and movements. The more anxiety and fear, the more pain to be sure, exactly the opposite of the happy, fulfilled life according to Epicurus, who tells us to take our time and savor simple pleasures nature affords when we know the natural limit of our desires. We would be well to nurture a more refined, subtle experience of life by developing practical wisdom and a dedication to philosophy.
When we grow up, we are vulnerable to the opinions and notions, superstitions and beliefs of our society and culture, and the people around us. Also, there can be a large dose of mean-spiritedness, cruelty, and out-and-out manipulation mixed into our childhood stew. Is it any wonder most people, even well into their adult years, are miles away from even a scrap of peace of mind (ataraxia)? Recognizing this dismal fact, Epicurus tells us we should take full advantage of any opportunity to study philosophy and natural science as an appropriate antidote. The more we learn of the workings of nature through the direct observation of the sciences, the more we come to understand the world has a certain structure and pattern, so when we are on the receiving end of hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, sickness and disease, we need not look to the gods or a supernatural cause outside of nature, instead there are ample answers within nature herself. As we all recognize, much of our comfortable living in the 21st century is a direct result of what we now know of nature as discovered by natural science. On a personal note, I knew a antiscientific fundamentalist who tried to push his religious beliefs in my face. Ironically, he was one of the first ones to line up for his medications at his local pharmacy and crank up his air-conditioner in the summer.
12. It is impossible for someone to dispel his fears about the most important matters if he doesn't know the nature of the universe but still gives some credence to myths. So without the study of nature there is no enjoyment of pure pleasure.
When we read about the characters from those old Greek myths, for example Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the gates of the underworld and prevents those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping, or Lyssa, the goddess of fury, raging madness and frenzy, they have a certain charm, somewhat like the characters from fairy tales we read to children. Not so for ancient peoples. These myths with all their gods and goddesses, multi-headed dogs, sea monsters, vampire demons and ghosts threw them into the darkest of fears, causing them to live in a kind of emotional paralysis. Epicurus observed if they reduced the percentage of their belief in myths from one hundred percent down to five or ten percent, they still would not enjoy their birthright of living a pleasant and tranquil life. No, all the myths have to go, the table has to be wiped clean. Just look at the behavior of toddlers who are given a healthy, loving, supportive environment. You can sense their delight as they use all their senses -sight, touch, taste, hearing, smelling- to soak up their world. Ah, to live a life of pure pleasure! Of course, this pleasure precedes being force-fed their culture’s mythology. Once the mythology is injected (read here dogma and fundamentalism in our own day), bye, bye pure pleasure. Epicurus presented his philosophy as a remedy for the sickness of indoctrination in his own day and the sickness of indoctrination that has continued right up to our times.
13. There is no advantage to obtaining protection from other men so long as we are alarmed by events above or below the earth or in general by whatever happens in the boundless universe.
As humans we live among other people in society. We can be threatened, bullied, and demeaned by others and live in a continual state of fear and dread. However, even if we escape from all the horrors other people can inflict (and there are many societies and countries in the world that are one unending horror-show), this is only part of the story. We also have to deal with the natural world. We have to understand the workings of nature and our place as humans in the natural world to free ourselves from being alarmed when witnessing events like volcanic eruptions and thunderclouds, thinking such natural activities come from the wrath of an angry, vengeful supernatural agent. We need not be professional scientists; having a basic grasp of biology, physics, astronomy and geology will suffice. Epicurus understood the workings of nature and lived his life in tranquility with prudence and moderation. He invites us to do the same.
14. Protection from other men, secured to some extent by the power to expel and by material prosperity, in its purest form comes from a quiet life withdrawn from the multitude.
How much money do you have? In this age of contention, we all can agree without except on one thing – the more dollars the better. Are there any dangers lurking, say, from a hostile takeover of your company or a hurricane in your local forecast? No problem if you have a nice big pile of gold in the bank. You can catch a flight to Vegas and take in the sun at poolside. As you are sip your iced tea, you contemplate the prospects for the evening. What’s it going to be – enormous steak dinner, hard liquor, beautiful women? – what Epicurus saw as a common tendency we all have, desires leading to excess. And in Vegas, excess can take predictable forms – heaps of steak, vast quantities of hard liquor and oodles of exotic women. All this looks so good and problem-free in our imagination. The reality, however, is a different matter. These excesses can lead and usually do lead to problems aplenty. If we were to sit down and list on paper all the possible problems we might run out of room. If, on the contrary, we choose a moderate dinner and a relatively quiet evening separated from the crowds in the casinos and in the bars capped by a good night sleep we are following the wisdom of Epicurus. If not, all our money and power can’t save us from possible disaster; matter of fact, without sound judgment we could wind up with many more problems in Vegas than our less financially advantaged fellows left behind at home. Certainly, we can have good times, but unmindful excesses can easily tie us to others in unpleasant ways and might even land us in jail. Ultimately, a simple, reflective, moderate lifestyle is authentic security for our independence.
15. The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.
When you get down to it, all we really need to live is nutritious food, a roof over our heads and a change of clothes. Epicurus called these natural and necessary needs. To live a happy life, we have two other natural and necessary needs: good friends and practical wisdom. However, being the craving creatures we are, it is natural for us to desire things like fancy food, fancy clothing, lots of money and having lots of sex, but all these things are not necessary. As it turns out, the more fancy this and luxurious that we have, the more we want. You might ask: when do we reach the limit of our desires once we are on the ‘I want the fancy stuff’ track? Answer: we never reach the end; our desires will always outpace what we have. That simply is the way our mind works. What we really need is wisdom of what brings us lasting pleasure and what types of pleasures require lots of sweat and toil and cause more unnecessary pain than they are worth. Of course, this is not easy, living as we do in modern society, where the ‘I want the fancy stuff’ track is lit up with flashing neon lights and lined with dancing girls and rock bands and tends to crowd out everything else. Not easy, but then again not impossible either With philosophy as our guide, we can enjoy the good things in life in moderation and thus remain free from the tyranny and errors of the crowd poured down on us by advertising and other such manipulative tricks. Epicurus shows us the way.
An acid test to gage how philosophically mature we are is to ask ourselves the question: how much responsibility do we take for our own lives? Do we see what happens to us as a consequence of outside forces like fate or chance? If we see ourselves as merely a pawn in a game conducted by lady chance or, perhaps worse, a helpless nothing in the hands of a god who has predestined every event there ever was or ever will be, then it will be easy to sidestep the efforts needed to transform our lives into tranquil Epicureans. On the other hand, if we act to the best of our abilities, taking philosophy as our polestar, and accept the praise and blame of our actions, we are on the fast track of becoming a wise person instead of a fool, breathing the clean air of freedom instead of the stench of fatalism. Furthermore, on the topic of foolishness, how can so many people spend their hard earned dollars on lottery tickets and games of chance? And picking numbers with the upmost seriousness! Are their own efforts so puny they must rest their hopes and dreams on the lottery? I have always taken a kind of pleasure in the fact I never had anything to do with lottery tickets or the like. I don’t claim to be a perfect philosopher, but then again, I refuse to be anybody’s fool.
17. The just man is most free from disturbance, while the unjust is full of the utmost disturbance.
Nobody enjoys being on the receiving end of a swindle or bamboozle, being duped or taken advantage of by con artists, sharks or cheaters. If you have ever been around people inclined to cheat others you know they are forever having to watch their backsides. I have been around such people. For a number of years I worked for an insurance company. I couldn’t believe the way some of the managers behaved. They were in constant fear and anxiety due to their cheating and swindling people. Not exactly the royal path to tranquility. Given even the slightest intension to dupe others will pull us into a whirlwind of bad feelings, the wise avoid anything smacking of injustice as if it were the plague, knowing justice and tranquility are two sides of the same philosophical coin. Who in their right mind would want to trade peace of mind for having their stomachs constantly churning, worrying about retribution or revenge? Maybe a nasty, mean-spirited insurance manager but certainly not an Epicurean!
18. Bodily pleasure does not increase when the pain of want has been removed; after that it only admits of variation. The limit of mental pleasure, however, is reached when we reflect on these bodily pleasures and their related emotions, which used to cause the mind the greatest alarms.
One of the biggest challenges in modern Western society is people dealing with boredom. Many people are easily bored, not satisfied with what life gives them once they are free from pain. The pleasure of resting in the beauty of the moment completely eludes them. You can almost hear them bellow, ‘What is so damn beautiful about the present moment?!’ Leisure time for them has become entertainment time. How many cable channels and computer games are available? How many conversations can we have on our cell phones? Once the constant stream of entertainment is no longer entertaining, then boredom quickly sets in. Do they think nature is playing tricks on them by not providing enough toys to keep them constantly entertained? To be an Epicurean philosopher is to become attuned to the harmonies of nature and the dynamics of pleasure (it isn’t infinite) and pain (fortunately, it isn’t infinite either). Any feelings of boredom become impossible. We can enjoy the pleasure of eating an orange then shift to the pleasure of walking in the sunshine then the pleasure of taking a warm shower then the pleasure of sitting in our favorite chair and listening to music or engaging in a conversation with a friend. If we remove the overlay of concepts and expectations of what we think we should or could be experiencing, and have the openness and simplicity of a child combined with a degree of wisdom, then we experience what Epicurus refers to as ‘pure pleasure.’ If we are wise, we experience the natural flow of life with joy; however, if we experience the natural flow of life with frustration and boredom, we are dullards. Time to take the philosophy of Epicurus more seriously.
19. Unlimited time and limited time afford an equal amount of pleasure, if we measure the limits of that pleasure by reason.
Have you seen how people refuse to accept the fact they are no longer young? The cosmetic industry is one of the largest on the globe. For my own taste, there are few things less appealing then seeing bald men wearing toupees and older women wearing blonde wigs. The list goes on forever: false eyelashes, lipstick, color highlighters, tanning creams, cosmetic surgery, girdles, tight fitting cloths. You would think people are on parade where prizes are given for being tawdry and garish. Epicurus urges us to accept the workings of nature – there are natural limits in our lives. Being part of nature’s cycle, we grow old and then we die. If we accept nature instead of fighting nature, our lives, and even our deaths, will have a dignity and a grace.
20. The flesh receives as unlimited the limits of pleasure; and to provide it requires unlimited time. But the mind, intellectually grasping what the end and limit of the flesh is, and banishing the terrors of the future, procures a complete and perfect life, and we have no longer any need of unlimited time. Nevertheless the mind does not shun pleasure, and even when circumstances make death imminent, the mind does not lack enjoyment of the best life.
When it comes to facing death, our society has real issues. Of course, it doesn’t help our medical industry can keep us going and going. Once, when I was staying in a hospital, I saw a man lying on a bed, ready to be rolled into his room after surgery. He looked ancient, certainly over ninety. Anyway, he is lying there with tubes sticking out every which-way, his boney hands reaching up, clutching the bars on either side of his bed. Talk about hanging on for dear life! It was as if I was seeing our society in microcosm. Let’s step back and take a long, hard look. Is this what we really want, pulling out all the stops to keep ourselves alive? My view is: I have lived my life, and I have lived well, and when it comes time to die, I certainly hope I will be given the opportunity to die in peace - no extreme measures, tangle of tubes, intravenous feedings or open-heart surgery when I'm in my nineties, thank you. Epicurus encourages us to live the full life of a philosopher, gaining a measure of wisdom, loving our family and friends, enjoying multiple pleasures, and when it is our time to die, we can let go without regret or sadness.
As long as we are not taken out of our tranquility and live according to philosophical wisdom, Epicurus saw no problem with pursuing the finer material things of life and experiencing their pleasures. Perfectly fine to have a handsome house, car, and cloths; fine, that is, unless we become a harried workaholic struggling in pursuit of the handsome house, car, and cloths, and thereby loose our tranquility and abandon our philosophical wisdom. However, the wise Epicurean knows there is a type of possession even more valuable than possessing all the fine material goods, and that is possessing the ability to be in the world as a certain kind of artist. Not an artist whose artwork is a painted canvas or a marble sculpture, but instead an artist whose artwork is oneself, to transform our lives in a way that we see beauty wherever we look; we have a sensitivity to the texture of things; we bring an element of creativity and artistry to our being in the world. What we taste, hear, feel, see and smell takes on a richness as we deepen our love of life. And the amazing thing about this type of possession, as Epicurus well knew - it is absolutely free! - free and easy, not difficult to obtain in the least. All we need do is slow down and become more attuned to the present moment. The more measured our pace, the more attentive we become, the more beauty we will experience. Epicurus did not formulate a separate aesthetic theory of beauty for the simple reason the entire lifestyle he proposes is itself beautiful.
22. We must consider both the ultimate end and all clear sensory evidence, to which we refer our opinions; for otherwise everything will be full of uncertainty and confusion.
Woe to anybody who ignores the signals we receive through our senses. We can taste when food is rancid or rotten. We can smell smoke when there is a dangerous fire. We can hear the screams of a child who needs help. We can see the stone wall we should avoid running into head first. How should we live a happy life? Our direct sensory experience is our kind, ever-faithful guide. It is so easy to be caught in the trap of concepts or ideas, castles in the sky. Living in such castles, we can easily refuse to acknowledge the facts of embodied existence we receive directly and clearly through our senses. Question: Is the sun really a horse, chariot, and charioteer ? Answer: What do our senses tell us? Go outside on a cloudless day and have a look. Who would choose to live in a land where everybody maintains a firm belief the sun is a horse, chariot, and charioteer, but absolutely refuses to have a look on a cloudless day? Perhaps some kind of zealot, but certainly not an Epicurean. Indeed, Epicurus could not be clearer on this point: ignoring what nature provides through the evidence of our senses is a formula for disaster and confusion. Ironically, even the most ardent skeptic of the senses refuses to eat rancid food or run into walls.
23. If you fight against all your sensations, you will have no standard to which to refer, and thus no means of judging even those sensations which you claim are false.
Fortunately, in our own day, there are no philosopher-skeptics living in barrels, doubting the reliable of their own sensations, hunkering down in a ball of mental subjectivity, cutting themselves off from their own senses and feelings. Is this really true? How many times have I heard about people fighting through their pain. No pain, no gain, the saying goes. My reply is: No pain, no gain can easily turn into all pain without a shred of gain. A better, more enlightened guideline might be: when we experience pain, we should heed the signals our body gives us and take steps to eliminate the pain. This is direct and straight-forward. Of course, there are times when we are under the care of a professional, for example, the pain we undergo at the dentist. But we all know the drill is necessary for what will ultimately rid us of pain. This is the exception. Unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary, if we feel pain and refuse to stop our activity, we are fighting a losing battle. And what applies to feeling pain applies to our other senses. And even more generally, we need our senses and sensations to test our claims to truth, which is much better than the pitfalls of relying exclusively on abstractions or revelations, or so called special knowledge. Better to be sensitive and wise than stubborn and willful; better to be an Epicurean than pigheaded.
24. If you reject absolutely any single sensation without stopping to distinguish between opinion about things awaiting confirmation and that which is already confirmed to be present, whether in sensation or in feelings or in any application of intellect to the presentations, you will confuse the rest of your sensations by your groundless opinion and so you will reject every standard of truth. If in your ideas based upon opinion you hastily affirm as true all that awaits confirmation as well as that which does not, you will not avoid error, as you will be maintaining the entire basis for doubt in every judgment between correct and incorrect opinion.
Our mind can play such incredible tricks on us. I’ve always have been fascinated with optical illusions. We all know how we can draw a box made up of two joining squares. Which square is in front? It depends how you look at it – could be the square on bottom or the square on top. With a little practice, we can have the front of the box shift from the one square to the other, a game we play with our vision, picking and choosing how we look at the box. Such examples of our mind playing tricks range from simple to much more complex – psychologists, chemists, physicists and other scientists continually have to remind themselves not to jump to hasty conclusions. Did they weight all the evidence? Is there anything they left out? Can they widen their perspective? Are they considering multiple approaches, or are they stuck in one predetermined idea? Epicurus warns us not to be trapped in our own preconceived concepts. This advice can help us as we read his Principal Doctrines. We in the West tend to filter Epicurus through the lens of our philosophical and religious tradition which is heavily Platonic and Aristotelian, as well as Judeo-Christian. Plato, Aristotle, and Christianity were all the enemies of Epicureanism. If we are to appreciate and a deepen our understanding of Epicurus, we must endeavor to remove the overlay of over two thousand years of prejudice.
25. If you do not on every occasion refer each of your actions to the ultimate end prescribed by nature, but instead of this in the act of choice or avoidance turn to some other end, your actions will not be consistent with your theories.
We humans have been creating stories and myths about the universe ever since we developed the power of speech. Stories and myths can be amazing and give us certain insights into our lives and the world around us. I myself have enjoyed reading hundreds of myths, short stories and novels. This is the world of fiction. Problems arise, however, when we attempt to take the world of fiction, which is the work of imagination and fancy, and claim it is on a par with the fixed laws of nature and the world we inhabit with our senses. We do not have wings to fly; we do not live in ancient Rome; we are not giant cockroaches. If we really think we can fly off a roof, or encounter Julius Cesar on the street, or crawl up a wall as a cockroach, we will drive ourselves crazy. We can create worlds in our imagination, fantastic heavens and hell realms, monsters, demons, dragons, unicorns, but there are real dangers if we press our beliefs in these worlds on others and insist they also holds such beliefs. In 1534 thousands of one particular religious faith forcefully took over Munster, Germany. They all thought the end of the world near and they were called to Munster, Germany to witness the event. Was there any evidence given by nature the end of the world was near? No, not even the barest crumb of evidence. Their belief caused tremendous havoc throughout Germany and beyond. The German authorities amassed an army and attacked the city. Within hours, thousands of men, women and children lost their lives. Such suffering, and all for what? If we really want to live a happy, fulfilled life, Epicurus urges us to make a clear distinction between what we can and what we cannot verify directly through our senses and powers of observation, to make a distinction between non-fiction and fiction.
Making a commitment and sticking with it isn’t easy but if we want to taste the juice of what is offered in any particular field we must put forth the effort over many years. If we want to be Olympic athletes or biochemists or concert musicians we must subject ourselves to a specific regimen appropriate to the goal. The same is true if we strive to become Epicurean philosophers. We must internalize these forty doctrines and train ourselves in their truths over the course of an entire lifetime. Since our minds tend to be fickle and easily distracted, daily practice is required to grow our self-sufficiency and invulnerability to life’s enticements taking us in directions counter to philosophy. The ancient Epicureans, following this path to wisdom and anaraxia, would wear Epicurus finger-rings or own statues of Epicurus as constant reminders of their commitment to a life consistent with his principles. An example of what can be done was given by Diogenes of Oenoanda. He inscribed a summary of the philosophy of Epicurus on the stone walls surrounding the market place of his city to remind people what values and actions would truly make them happy. We shouldn’t hold our breath for history to repeat itself in our lifetime. Odds are we will not see walls inscribed with the saying of Epicurus. All the more reason we should take steps individually to keep ourselves on the path of what nature has provided, and Epicurus has articulated, in order to live a happy life.
27. Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is friendship.
I am a sick man . . . I am a spiteful man. So says Dostoyevsky’s underground man as he begins his tale. Unfortunately, this attitude is common in our times. Alienation, estrangement, isolation, despair, anguish can haunt not only men of the underground, but even those claiming riches or fame or high public status, especially if there is a lack of one critical component – friendship. Having friends (which can include our spouse/significant other/family members) helps us manage the most trying of times and Epicurus knew this well. Even in our modern world, having friends is pivotal for a happy, complete life. Who of sound mind doesn’t treasure spending time with a good friend? To live as an Epicurean is to cultivate the full range of the pleasures of friendship – not only enjoyment when we are actually with our friends, but also experiencing pleasure when we recount times spent with friends, and experiencing pleasure when anticipating future times with friends. No better example of these pleasures is Epicurus himself, who remembered enjoyable time spent with a friend as he was in physical pain the last days of his life.
28. The same conviction which inspires confidence that nothing we have to fear is eternal or even of long duration, also enables us to see that in the limited evils of this life nothing enhances our security so much as friendship.
Even if you are experiencing some type of pain as you read this, you are finding ways to deal with your pain. Where the real problem comes is projecting possible future experiences of pain. Then our imagination starts playing tricks. In our mind’s eye we see ourselves subjected to unending agony. There we are, in our bed, incapable of movement, one continuous throb of excruciating pain with no relief or cure in sight. Let’s look at this philosophically. What are the odds we will have never-ending pain without even the slightest relief? How many pain pills are currently on the market? Let’s be more realistic. Chances are pain of this intensity and duration will not happen. Or, perhaps are you thinking of future financial disaster? There we are, penniless and homeless, without a jacket in the biting cold. Possible, well yes; but is this probable? The answer, you must admit, is ‘no’. However, whatever resources we have available, internal or external, the imagination projecting future disaster trumps any resource. As philosophers we simply have to recognize this dynamic of our imagination. As Epicureans, a better use of our mind is to develop confidence that we will be able to deal with whatever challenges develop. And let’s face it – when they pop up, they will not last forever. With this in mind, Epicurus tells us we really need friends. Of course, in ancient times, friends acted as a kind of insurance policy, but even today, with all our insurance policies and health care plans, when we are in need, friends are vital for giving us, if not financial support, then most certainly, emotional support.
29. Of the desires some are natural and necessary, some are natural but not necessary; and some are neither natural nor necessary, but owe their existence to vain imagination.
I appreciate the education I received as a boy, being taught how to read and write and the basics of mathematics and science, but beyond this, the emphasis on conformity and regimentation I found appalling. And this suffocating conformity continued right through high school. You would think the teachers and coaches were running a school of pain. How many students did I see humiliated? How many sadistic pranks, racial slurs, sickening remarks? What occurred at school was reinforced by a stream of television shows and radio programs featuring legions of clowns, buffoons and glory hounds. We can become infected so easily by a thick paste of stupidity and brutishness other people offer us. What might start as innocent silliness can lead us into the habits of a dunce. Wearing our dunce cap, we could crave every shiny new toy or gadget or doodad, or, on another level, every promise of glory, symbols of status, or image of success set before our eyes. All this rubbish has to be thrown out. Epicurus was emphatic on this point: we need to understand clearly what desires are natural and necessary if we are to take philosophy as a way of life.
30. Those natural desires which entail no pain when unsatisfied, though pursued with an intense effort, are also due to groundless opinion; and it is not because of their own nature they are not got rid of but because of man's groundless opinions.
There is an auto dealership down the street from where I live specializing in imported Italian sports cars. There they are on display -- sleek, shiny red or yellow or silver super-expensive trophies for anybody willing to pay the big bucks needed for purchase. How many men of any age have salivated as they looking in the display window, picturing themselves behind the wheel of one of those magnificent honeys? Having a car in our society is in many ways necessary, and, of course, this dealership plays on the desires and emotions of the public. Let’s suppose I am experiencing pangs of psychological pain because I will never drive such a car. How to cure? One quick method is to realize I would have to work thousands of extra hours to deal with the car payments, extra hours of grinding and slogging, sweating and laboring. No, thank you! The shiny sports car can remain on display. I will enjoy my tranquility with Epicurus.
I spent many years traveling back and forth to work on city subways. Not once in all those years did I witness any act of violence. Why not? Because police were on the scene? No; in point of fact, there were no police on the scene. The reason is simple: as humans we all have an innate sense of right and wrong, that we should not inflict pain on others. Of course, the newspapers play up acts of random violence. However, these are relatively rare and even the most hardened criminals know full well they are going against what is natural. After all, even these criminals recognize when they are mistreated in jail. Evolutionary psychologists and biologists have identified acts of empathy and sympathy among primates like chimpanzees and bonobos and have concluded primates, including humans, are genetically programed by nature to provide mutual support. Epicurus would not be surprises at all by these findings; rather, the finding underscore the truth of his principal.
32. For those living things that are unable to enter into a covenant to refrain from harming one another, nothing is just or unjust, and this applies also to those who are either unwilling or unable to enter into such a covenant.
Nearly all of us have encountered the schoolyard bully. There are few things nastier than being battered and punched and picked on. We instinctively know this is very wrong. Fortunately, schools now have clearly delineated policies about bullying. If the bully continues to batter and punch as an adult then the law calls this ‘assault’ and the bully goes to jail. If the bully continues to harm others then this could mean more years in jail. I recall hearing one criminal, who learned his lesson, trying to persuade a group of young men from becoming criminals by saying: ‘if a dog does nothing but attack and bite, the dog gets caged up; the same thing will happen to you if you attack and bite.’ How true. Nothing will spoil the reflections and conversations of a group of Epicurean in their garden more than a barking, biting attack dog, even if the attack dog has two legs and not four. Rather than being free to linger in the garden, the dog will have to be put in a cage until the dog is willing to refrain from attacking and biting. Epicureans would like to treat all as friends but when people are vicious or sadistic they unfortunately disqualify themselves from being treated as friends. Barking, attacking and biting . . . how un-Epicurean!
33. There never was such a thing as absolute justice, but only agreements made in mutual dealings among men in whatever places at various times providing against the infliction or suffering of harm.
Using geometry as a model, Plato attempts to define the concept of ‘justice’ as an absolute, as if this concept were an equilateral triangle existing in a realm beyond the world of nature. Epicurus sharply and completely rejects this Platonic approach, recognizing nature herself provides the only standard of truth – if our dealing with others are ‘true to nature’ then we experience pleasure and live a happy life; if we experience pain and live a miserable life, then our standard is against nature and therefore ‘false’. For example, many years ago I had the misfortune of witnessing a mother harshly slapping her two year old in a parking lot. A crowd quickly gathered and insisted the mother stop. Did these people have to appeal to some supernatural deity or the world of Platonic forms to know the mother should not beat her child? No! We know such abuse is contrary to the laws of nature.
34. Injustice is not an evil in itself, but only in consequence of the fear which is associated with the apprehension of being discovered by those appointed to punish such actions.
The vision of Epicurus is that everyone can develop wisdom and have a flowering of equanimity in their life. Emotional upheaval, nervousness, worry, and fear all begin to lose their grip on us and then dissolve the more we grow as philosophers and follow these Principal Doctrines. If, however, we commit crimes against others, all of this becomes nearly impossible. We spin in a downward spiral of anxiety and dread, constantly apprehensive about being found out. A profound vision of the mind’s sickly and painful gyrations after committing a murder was penned by Dostoyevsky in Crime and Punishment. An Epicurean will keep himself or herself miles away from even the slightest possibility of this type of warped mentality.
35. It is impossible for a man who secretly violates the terms of the agreement not to harm or be harmed to feel confident that he will remain undiscovered, even if he has already escaped ten thousand times; for until his death he is never sure that he will not be detected.
I read a novel set in an American suburb some years ago. A retired American husband befriends an older man from Argentina who moves in next door. The man from Argentina is continually agitated and skittish. The American wonders why it is impossible for him to relax. He has his answer the day the police arrest his new friend for atrocious political crimes committed back in Argentina when he was a young man. How would you like to wake up asking yourself these questions: What if they find me? What if they catch up to me? What if my actions are discovered? For a follower of Epicurus, there is absolutely no place for heinous actions against others leading anyone to ask these types of questions. If we are gentle and kind to those around us at all times, we will have nothing to fear or hide from them.
Anthropologists report among the Fulbe people of Northern Cameroon men may have more than one wife, but all the wives have to be cared for in good fashion, which includes providing each wife with annual gifts of cloth. This is how Fulbe society applies their idea of justice. In American society men may have only one wife with no stipulation about annual gifts of cloth. Which society has the right view of marriage and justice? Epicurus tells us each society develops rules and codes of conduct that vary from one society to another, but generally, we humans will develop these rules and codes for the harmony and happiness of all members of the society, or, in other words, for the mutual benefit of all. If the members of a particular society are stripped of living a harmonious, happy life of pleasure by a megalomaniac tyrant or dictator, we instinctively know this is very wrong and must be corrected. Epicurus wrote this principal in a time of political turmoil over two thousand years ago. His clear insight here holds as true today as it did in his lifetime.
37. Among the things held to be just by law, whatever is proved to be of advantage in men's dealings has the stamp of justice, whether or not it be the same for all; but if a man makes a law and it does not prove to be mutually advantageous, then this is no longer just. And if what is mutually advantageous varies and only for a time corresponds to our concept of justice, nevertheless for that time it is just for those who do not trouble themselves about empty words, but look simply at the facts.
The United States Immigration Act of 1917 bans all Asian immigration and bans “Psychopaths, Inferiors, and ‘people with abnormal sexual instincts.” Under this law lesbian and gay immigrants were officially excluded from coming to the United States until 1990. There are fewer political hot potatoes than laws regarding how peoples of different races, nationalities and sexual orientations are to be treated. How might an Epicurean act in 1917 if involved in the public sphere? Taking this principal as a guide, such a person might respect the existing law (after all, lawmakers deemed this law of some mutual benefit) by not assisting Asians or gays or lesbians to immigrate, but perhaps work to change the law if the Epicurean deemed immigration should be open to people irrespective of race or sexual orientation. In this principal Epicurus displays his sensitivity of how we should weigh all factors unique to a society at any particular time.
38. Where without any change in circumstances the things held to be just by law are seen not to correspond with the concept of justice in actual practice, such laws are not really just; but wherever the laws have ceased to be advantageous because of a change in circumstances, in that case the laws were for that time just when they were advantageous for the mutual dealings of the citizens, and subsequently ceased to be just when they were no longer advantageous.
If there was an actual nuclear attack when I was a boy, everybody in our town would have been required by law to go to the nearest fallout shelter. When scientists and government officials recognized more powerful nuclear bombs were being manufactured and fallout shelters would no longer help, then the law was revised. This is a simple example of how a law is seen to be of mutual benefit to people at one time and ceases to be of benefit to those same people at another time. Epicurus understood laws are not fixed absolute truths; rather, laws are tools to be used and enacted to accord with practical everyday needs. When the needs and circumstances change, as they usually do, wise lawmakers will modify and change the laws accordingly. With this line of thinking, we can see how Epicurus was in complete disagreement with Plato and his followers who strove to delineate unchanging absolutes as part of an ideal republic run by an elite.
39. The man who best knows how to meet external threats makes into one family all the creatures he can; and those he cannot, he at any rate does not treat as aliens; and where he finds even this impossible, he avoids all dealings, and, so far as is advantageous, excludes them from his life.
Unlike other philosophers in Athens who restricted their schools to men of the aristocratic class, Epicurus opened his garden to women and even slaves. At the time this was seen as scandalous. In spite of these criticisms, Epicurus knew what we in our humanist modern times take for granted: all peoples, irrespective of gender or social standing, are part of one human family. Epicurus took this attitude a step further and said every member of our human family could benefit from learning the principals of his philosophy. Will everybody take advantage of this kind offer? No, there will always be some who will not. Should we therefore treat these individuals as enemies? To do so, Epicurus advises, would be most unwise. A better tact would be to still consider them as friends and regard them with decency and kindness, but if they show signs of hostility toward our good will, Epicurus urges us to take steps to keep these people at a distance.
40. Those who possess the power to defend themselves against threats by their neighbors, being thus in possession of the surest guarantee of security, live the most pleasant life with one another; and their enjoyment of the fullest intimacy is such that if one of them dies prematurely, the others do not lament his death as though it called for pity.
Epicurus lived during a time of enormous political upheaval. Fear of attack was always in the air – not only attack from a foreign army but also attack by the people in Greece stirred by civil strife or an uprising. From experience he knew if we are living in peace with no prospect of violence or war we have the opportunity to live a most enjoyable and pleasurable life. Also, in terms of facing the death of our friends, Epicurus realized the cycle of life will have some of our friends die before we ourselves die. When this happens, we are well to be thankful life gave us their friendship; we can use our friend’s death as an occasion to reflect on life philosophically rather than moan and whale and sob without end, carrying on as if the reality of death was something completely foreign to us.
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