Epicureanism

Epicureanism is a Hellenistic philosophy founded by Epicurus that treats pleasure as the highest good, understood chiefly as freedom from bodily pain and mental disturbance.

Ataraxia: A state of mental freedom from disturbance or anxiety. Epicurus treats this tranquility as a central form of pleasure.
Atomism: The theory that matter consists of indivisible units moving through empty space. Epicurus adapts atomism to explain bodies, minds, and the cosmos.
Epicurus: An ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism and taught in Athens. His teachings define the school’s ethics, physics, and theory of knowledge.
Stoicism: A Hellenistic philosophy that makes virtue the sole good and emphasizes living according to reason and nature. Stoics reject pleasure as the highest good, directly opposing Epicurean ethics.
De rerum natura: A Latin philosophical poem by Lucretius explaining Epicurean physics and ethics. It became the most influential surviving literary presentation of Epicureanism.
Aponia: The absence of bodily pain. Epicurean ethics pairs freedom from bodily pain with mental tranquility.
Clinamen: The unpredictable swerve of atoms in Lucretius’s account of Epicurean physics. The swerve helps explain how atomic motion can allow voluntary action.
Metrodorus of Lampsacus: An early Epicurean philosopher and close associate of Epicurus. His writings and arguments helped shape the school during its founder’s lifetime.
Aristotelianism: The philosophical tradition based on Aristotle’s works, including an ethics centered on flourishing through virtue. Aristotle’s account of flourishing differs from Epicurus’s identification of the highest good with pleasure.
Epicureanism and Christianity: The historical relationship between Epicurean philosophy and Christian thought, marked by both criticism and appropriation. Christian writers often challenged Epicurean materialism and its denial of providence.

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