17 Facts About Epicureanism

Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus.

Epicureanism's materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention.

Epicureanism flourished in the Late Hellenistic era and during the Roman era, and many Epicurean communities were established, such as those in Antiochia, Alexandria, Rhodes, and Herculaneum.

Interest in Epicureanism was resurrected in the Age of Enlightenment and continues in the modern era.

Epicureanism divided pleasure into two broad categories: pleasures of the body and pleasures of the mind.

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Epicureanism defined justice as an agreement made by people not to harm each other.

Epicureanism gave his own unique version of the ethic of reciprocity, which differs from other formulations by emphasizing minimizing harm and maximizing happiness for oneself and others:.

Epicureanism incorporated a relatively full account of the social contract theory, and in part attempts to address issues with the society described in Plato's Republic.

However, Epicureanism is adaptable to circumstance as is the Epicurean approach to politics.

Some scholars say that Epicureanism believes that the gods exist outside the mind as material objects, while others assert that the gods only exist in our minds as ideals (the idealist position).

Epicureanism offered arguments against the existence of the gods in the manner proposed by other belief systems.

Epicureanism resembles Buddhism in its temperateness, including the belief that great excess leads to great dissatisfaction.

Some modern Epicureans have argued that Epicureanism is a type of religious identity, arguing that it fulfils Ninian Smart's "seven dimensions of religion", and that the Epicurean practices of feasting on the twentieth and declaring an oath to follow Epicurus, insistence on doctrinal adherence, and the sacredness of Epicurean friendship, make Epicureanism more similar to some non-theistic religions than to other philosophies.

Julius Caesar leaned considerably toward Epicureanism, which led to his plea against the death sentence during the trial against Catiline, during the Catiline conspiracy where he spoke out against the Stoic Cato.

Epicureanism's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, was an adept of the school.

In modern popular usage, an Epicurean is a connoisseur of the arts of life and the refinements of sensual pleasures; Epicureanism implies a love or knowledgeable enjoyment especially of good food and drink.

Epicureanism considered prudence an important virtue and perceived excess and overindulgence to be contrary to the attainment of ataraxia and aponia.