Epicurean philosophy: Pleasure is the highest principle of human behavior.

Many philosophers believe that experiencing pleasure and happiness means indulging in carnal desires and excessive enjoyment. Epicurus, however, believed that happiness can be found in a simple life.

Epicurean lifestyle

To experience peace, Epicurus suggested that we first understand how the world arouses and restrains our desires. He believed that happiness can be obtained through the following means:

1. Knowledge
2. friendship
3. Community
4. Live a good life
5. Live a gentle life
6. Everything
7. Abstain from bodily desires

Although Epicurus acknowledged our motivation to seek pleasure, he held a distinctly different view on what daily life should be like. Epicurus's ideas are known as "tranquil hedonism."

From a philosophical perspective, the term "hedonism" refers to the idea that happiness is the most important pursuit of humankind and the source of all good.

Those considered hedonists are those who dedicate their lives to maximizing pleasure. Their decisions and actions are all driven by the desire for enjoyment. He also emphasizes that when considering whether an action is enjoyable, we must also consider its potential side effects. While pursuing fleeting pleasure, we must also consider whether it is possible to obtain greater, more lasting, and more intense happiness.

Epicurean beliefs

In his pursuit of happiness, Epicurus reflected on pleasure, desire, and lifestyle. He believed that happiness consisted of these three aspects.

1. peaceful
2. Free from fear (ataraxia)
3. No body pain (aponia)

These factors combined ultimately allow people to experience happiness at the highest level. However, we should also distinguish between different kinds of happiness. Relieving the fear of gods and death, tempering desires, distancing oneself from politics, and carefully weighing and choosing between things that bring pleasure and pain, in order to achieve physical health and mental peace—this is the purpose of life.

Happiness and pain

Epicurus believed that the ways in which people can be happy are dynamic and static, and that the two aspects that affect happiness and pain are physiological and psychological.

Dynamic happiness refers to being actively engaged in the process of satisfying desires. An example of this is eating when you feel hungry. In those moments, we are acting towards our anticipated pleasurable goal.

Static pleasure refers to the experience we have after our desires have been fulfilled. Taking the example of eating when hungry, once we've eaten, we experience static pleasure. The satisfaction of feeling full and no longer needing (hunger) is a form of static pleasure.

Epicurus believed that static pleasure was the preferred form of happiness. He also believed that physical pleasure and pain were related to the present, while mental pleasure and pain were related to the past and future.

This view holds that past pleasure is the determining factor in present behavior. Actions that immediately lead to pleasure leave a good impression and are repeated, while actions that immediately lead to pain leave a bad impression and are inhibited from recurring. Hedonism in the present moment argues that current pleasure is the highest principle of human behavior, and that the purpose of human action is to seek immediate pleasure or avoid present pain.

desire

Epicurus proposed three kinds of desire:

1. Natural and necessary desires: such as food and shelter. These things are easier to satisfy than difficult or impossible to eliminate from our lives.
2. Natural and unnecessary desires: This refers to gourmet food and luxuries. They represent things that are difficult to satisfy and can ultimately lead to suffering from unfulfilled desires. Epicurus suggested that it is best to minimize or eliminate such desires as much as possible in order to seek peace.
3. Vanity and empty desires: for example, power, status, wealth, or fame. These are things that are difficult to obtain or achieve, and unlikely to be satisfied. He believed that because these desires are limitless, they can never be fully satisfied or bring happiness. Therefore, we should not strive to achieve these desires in order to help ourselves attain greater happiness and joy.

friendship

Modern civilization tends to emphasize the concept of individualistic living, but Epicurus believed that friendship was one of the best ways to obtain happiness; contact with friends could provide a sense of security, while a lack of contact could lead to isolation, despair, and danger.

Epicurus also considered courage a highly respected virtue. Regarding friendship, he even suggested that one should bravely give one's life for one's friends.

The idea of ​​treating unhappiness

Epicurus created a four-part treatment for unhappiness. The term "tetrapharmakos" refers to the four-part treatment or four-part therapy. Originally, this term meant a medical antidote or therapeutic medicine that could be used to treat illness.

Four ways to treat unhappiness:

• God is fearless
• There's no need to worry about death.
• It is easy to obtain the good things in life.
• It is easy to tolerate terrible things

Epicurus did not believe that pain was entirely avoidable. However, he did suggest that pain is tolerable, and that we can even strive to experience pleasure amidst emotional or physical pain.

Epicurus said, “Meditating on these days and nights, and on those who are connected with them, whether alone or with someone like yourself, will not cause you serious disturbance, whether you are awake or dreaming.”

He emphasized focusing on these statements to challenge fears, rethink thoughts, and gain new perspectives to continue the pursuit of happiness and peace. Epicurus also stated that this meditation should be done with like-minded individuals.

Application in modern life

Life is uncertain, and we can never completely avoid pain or misfortune. In experiencing life, actively seeking peace, happiness, and tranquility is also a driving force; to live more actively, we can integrate Epicurean beliefs into our lifestyle and personal decisions.

A common process in the ideas described and outlined by Epicurus is personal choice. We cannot avoid feelings of pain and fear, but we can choose not to experience them.

This means that we organize the environment in which our possessions exist, free ourselves from expectations of others, stop placing our happiness in status, wealth, or fame, and rebuild our beliefs.

1. Minimalism

Some argue that a tranquil and peaceful lifestyle is more readily perceived as minimalism in contemporary society. Minimalism refers to the idea that by reducing the number of things around us, we can experience greater peace and freedom. Eliminating unnecessary possessions can reduce fear, worry, frustration, regret, and expectations.

Minimalism is a tool for escaping the excesses of life, allowing you to focus on what truly matters—you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom. As Epicurus suggested, one element of happiness is "atheism," meaning freedom from fear or worry. He advised that to be happy, we must distance ourselves from external things.

Minimalist living provides a typical example of a modern Epicurean lifestyle.

2. Reshaping Mindset

When people ask us, "What is happiness?", we might easily think of financial freedom, appearance, specific things (such as a car or a house), vacations, time spent with friends or family, a stable job, and so on.

In the course of our lives, we learn about the world around us by observing and assigning meaning to what we observe. Happiness is partly related to objects, people, and the environment—external things are constantly changing, causing us pain or making us crave more.

In order to follow the Epicurean way of life, we need not only to organize our physical space, but also to change our existing concepts of happiness, the meaning of pleasure, and how to obtain pleasure through our decisions and actions.

3. Find and focus on your positivity.

There are many ways to practice optimism and hope, and when you consider your sources of happiness, your values, and your strengths that help you fulfill your desires and needs, you may find unique ways to express positivity in your life.

• Finding positivity in negative situations
• Get rid of the sources of negativity in your life.
• Practice gratitude
• Cultivating a positive environment
• Have a positive attitude
• Positive self-affirmation
• Practice mindfulness and meditation
• Slow down the pace of life
• Facing negative thoughts correctly
• Learn to handle criticism
• Keep an active journal

Maintaining a balanced perspective

When taking stock of personal and Epicurean views on happiness, it might be more interesting to reflect on some of Epicurean thoughts and quotes. You may have heard or read these before, but they can certainly inspire personal reflection on a balanced life:

• "Don't destroy what you have because you desire what you don't have; what you have now was once one of the things you wished for."
• "A person who is dissatisfied with even the slightest thing will never be satisfied with anything."
• "Of all the ways to ensure happiness in life, the most important is to have friends."
• “You can’t develop courage in friendly relationships. You need to go through difficult and adversity to develop it.”
• Therefore, "we must pursue things that bring happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we will do everything we can to have happiness."
• "To savor the richness and joy of life, one must remain gentle."

Summarize:

Given that life constantly presents us with challenges and adventures, the concept of perpetual happiness may seem somewhat unrealistic. However, we can find joy and comfort in the face of challenges.

Find information and sources of inspiration that resonate with you, your beliefs, desires, and purposes. Give yourself the opportunity to discover what happiness is and how we can achieve it in our lives.

Take some time to examine the different things you can do in your daily life; this can lead to greater joy and freedom. Find what works for you, whether you're using Epicurean ideas or other different strategies to find happiness.