Stoic Beliefs On The Good Life
What is the good life? The Epicureans and the Stoics had rather differing philosophies on what the good life actually entailed. Epicurious, a Hedonist believe that pleasure was the ultimate good. That the elimination of pain was essential to pleasure and thus a good life.
Epicurus, believed that the best way to achieve happiness is to reduce one’s consumption of materialistic things to only the necessities. To elaborate, eat bland foods, wear bland clothing, Epicurious, for example, lived in isolation. In addition, anything that can cause anxiety should not be shunned away and this argument for the simple life and one were anxiety for example no longer exists because there is nothing to be anxious about leads to his argument for the …show more content…
The name Stoicism is derived from meeting in a large stoa (meeting hall with a covered colonnade) in Athens. Since we do not actually possess a single complete work from any of the original stoics (Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus) our knowledge of Stoicism is derived from followers in Roman Imperial times, one of which is Seneca the Younger.
While the Stoics and Epicureans both agree that happiness is important and the freedom of pain and anxiety is fundamental to that happiness. They differ in the manner to achieve it. I would like to point out that the Stoics believed “Divinity” was in all of us. In other words, we all contained divinity in all of us.
Epicurus believed that the events in the world were caused by chance, no deity is responsible for the events that take place in the world. The Stoics, on the other hand, believed that nature is responsible. In addition, because of their belief that there was divinity within nature, “nature” is reason and thus nature is responsible for the events that take place in our lives. I believe this is best summarized by the following quote from Seneca “A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own …show more content…
Their view of that there is no order in the world resembles something I read about the French philosopher Deleuze who claimed that we all have is difference/chaos. And thus, the Epicurean view would hold consistent to that. Furthermore, I believe the stoics belief that the good life arises from reason is superior to that of the Epicurean, in large part due to the possibility that certain pleasures may be
Epicurus, believed that the best way to achieve happiness is to reduce one’s consumption of materialistic things to only the necessities. To elaborate, eat bland foods, wear bland clothing, Epicurious, for example, lived in isolation. In addition, anything that can cause anxiety should not be shunned away and this argument for the simple life and one were anxiety for example no longer exists because there is nothing to be anxious about leads to his argument for the …show more content…
The name Stoicism is derived from meeting in a large stoa (meeting hall with a covered colonnade) in Athens. Since we do not actually possess a single complete work from any of the original stoics (Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus) our knowledge of Stoicism is derived from followers in Roman Imperial times, one of which is Seneca the Younger.
While the Stoics and Epicureans both agree that happiness is important and the freedom of pain and anxiety is fundamental to that happiness. They differ in the manner to achieve it. I would like to point out that the Stoics believed “Divinity” was in all of us. In other words, we all contained divinity in all of us.
Epicurus believed that the events in the world were caused by chance, no deity is responsible for the events that take place in the world. The Stoics, on the other hand, believed that nature is responsible. In addition, because of their belief that there was divinity within nature, “nature” is reason and thus nature is responsible for the events that take place in our lives. I believe this is best summarized by the following quote from Seneca “A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own …show more content…
Their view of that there is no order in the world resembles something I read about the French philosopher Deleuze who claimed that we all have is difference/chaos. And thus, the Epicurean view would hold consistent to that. Furthermore, I believe the stoics belief that the good life arises from reason is superior to that of the Epicurean, in large part due to the possibility that certain pleasures may be