Epicurus (341—271 BCE) Epicurus is one of the major philosophers in the Hellenistic period‚ the three centuries following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE (and of Aristotle in 322 BCE). Epicurus developed an unsparingly materialistic metaphysics‚ empiricist epistemology‚ and hedonistic ethics. Epicurus taught that the basic constituents of the world are atoms‚ uncut table bits of matter‚ flying through empty space‚ and he tried to explain all natural phenomena in atomic terms. Epicurus
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Aristotle states that “the function of man is an activity of soul [based upon] a rational principle” seeming to say that reason is the most fundamental being of a person. We use reason to dictate every single thing we do. Why did someone eat a banana for a snack? Simply because they were hungry and needed to fill that hunger. Why did someone name a state Georgia? King George was the king of England at the time and the wanted to pay him tribute. There is reason behind everything we do whether the
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Socrates and Plato used critical and analytical thinking patterns in their philosophical quest for knowledge. The questioning of why and how or critical and analytical thinking are the foundations of their beliefs. Plato was the student and Socrates the teacher. Socrates believed that reasoning could give meaning to the what‚ how and why of moral judgment and Plato believed this type of reasoning would give understanding to “the perfect Goodness” (pg. 17). Plato believed that this kind of thinking
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The Ethos of Happiness? Ethical theory revolves around the notion of the most final good. This concept originates with Aristotle who argues that if our pursuit of ‘good’ is to make sense‚ there must be a most final good. A good is most final if it is chosen for its own sake and not for the sake of anything beyond itself. Two other constraints that Aristotle puts on the highest good is that it is to be self-sufficient and most desirable. The Hellenistic philosophers add another constraint
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Classical Philosophy after Aristotle After Aristotle had completed his great speculative system‚ philosophy moves toward a new emphasis. Four groups of philosophers helped to shape this new direction‚ namely‚ the Epicureans‚ the Stoics‚ the Skeptics‚ and the Neoplatonist. They were‚ of course‚ greatly influenced by their predecessors‚ so we find that Epicurus relied upon Democritus for his atomic theory of nature‚ the Stoics made use of Heraclitus’ notion of a fiery substance permeating all things
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Skepticism flourished. The first philosopher I read about was Epicurus‚ who is considered to be the founder of Epicureanism which is the hedonistic theory that life’s highest aim is happiness that is attained through moderate pleasures and the avoidance of mental disturbances. Epicurus also found Hedonism which is the doctrine that pleasure is the supreme good. However Epicurus hedonism is a somewhat misunderstood. One interesting thing about Epicurus’ is that he believed that the true life of pleasure consists
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Chapter 1 The Philosophy of Happiness Aristotle on Happiness Since the earliest days of Western thought philosophers have concerned themselves with the nature of happiness. One of the earliest to ask the question ‘what is happiness?’ was Aristotle‚ who‚ in a manner typical of philosophers‚ before providing an answer insisted on making a distinction between two different questions. His first question was what was meant by the word ‘happiness’—or rather‚ its ancient Greek equivalent eudaimonia. His
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and “You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born‚ but what they grow to be” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Aristotle believed that it is the habitual choices that a person makes that compose their character. He states‚ “Where doing or making is dependent on knowing how‚ we acquire the know-how by actually doing” (Melchert‚ 190). Aristotle goes on to continue to say that builders are builders because they build things. Lyre players are people who actually play the lyre. These
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Cynicism Cynicism is one of the most striking of all the Hellenistic philosophies. It offered people the possibility of happiness and freedom from suffering in an age of uncertainty. Although there was never an official Cynic doctrine‚ the fundamental principles of Cynicism can be summarised as follows: 1. The goal of life is happiness which is to live in agreement with Nature. 2. Happiness depends on being self-sufficient‚ and a master of mental attitude. 3. Self-sufficiency is achieved
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Ethics‚ also known as moral philosophy‚ is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing‚ defending‚ and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.[1] The term comes from the Greek word ethos‚ which means "character". Ethics is a complement to Aesthetics in the philosophy field of Axiology. In philosophy‚ ethics studies the moral behavior in humans‚ and how one should act. Ethics may be divided into four major areas of study:[1] Meta-ethics‚ about the theoretical meaning and reference
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