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HippyxViking t1_j9g0vh0 wrote

Reply to comment by DrDigitalRectalExam in Often mischaracterized as a rather debaucherous, hedonistic philosophy, Epicureanism actually focuses on the removal of pain and anxiety from our lives, and champions a calm ‘philosophy as therapy’ approach in pursuit of life’s highest pleasure: mental tranquility. by philosophybreak

I don’t think they’re wrong in saying Epicureanism lacks selflessness, even if they’re behaving a bit disingenuously. Epicurus (and many of his contemporaries) seem to be concerned primarily with how the comfortable might best live and conduct themselves, without really concerning themselves greatly with the condition of those who might not be reading philosophical texts. Epicurus would counsel that it’s better to be a wise man who delights in simple pleasures than a rich one enjoying rich pleasures, because rich pleasures will not always be available and come with downsides like miserliness and jealousy - but that doesn’t really address the poor man who doesn’t have enough to live on, or is subject to the slings and arrows of a callous or even malicious society.

Maybe I haven’t read enough Epicurean philosophy, but it does seem to me that it’s got a kind of paternalistic naivety regarding poverty you see in a lot of works by rich people which counsel moderation - they’re just sort of assuming the idyllic simple life of the commoners and imagining it must be nice to not have so many demands on your time and resources, without really understanding the experience of poverty or deprivation.

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Emotional_Penalty t1_j9gvec7 wrote

>Maybe I haven’t read enough Epicurean philosophy, but it does seem to me that it’s got a kind of paternalistic naivety regarding poverty you see in a lot of works by rich people which counsel moderation - they’re just sort of assuming the idyllic simple life of the commoners and imagining it must be nice to not have so many demands on your time and resources, without really understanding the experience of poverty or deprivation.

This seems to be my main gripe with people trying to resurrect ancient schools of philosophy to help navigate modern life. They seem to imply that there is some trans-historical (transcendental even) nature of things, while forgetting that Epicurean philosophy was essentially created by someone of unimaginable privilege in the ancient world. As such, it reflects the character of the ancient world and society, and simply applying it 1:1 to modern solutions isn't a very viable solution to problems.

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precursormar t1_j9isjnk wrote

That's true of many of the philosophers whose influence has survived from the ancient period to modern day, but not all of them. A couple counterexamples off the top of my head: the Stoic philosopher Epictetus was born into slavery, and the Cynic philosopher Diogenes allegedly spent long stretches of his life variously homeless or enslaved.

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