rē`ənĭz'əm), philosophy that follows the teachings of Epicurus Epicurus , 341–270 B.C., Greek philosopher, b. Samos; son of an Athenian colonist. He claimed to be self-taught, although tradition states that he was schooled in the systems of Plato and Democritus by his father and various philosophers...... Click the link for more information. , who held that pleasure is the end of all morality and that real pleasure is attained through a life of prudence, honor, and justice. The philosophy was popular throughout the ancient world; it was spread by the successors of Epicurus, who included Polystratus, Zeno of Sidon, and Philodemus of Gadara. Only in later times did epicureanism come to mean devotion to extravagant pleasure.
Epicureanism
Metaphysical and ethical doctrines taught by Epicurus. In metaphysics, the basic concepts of Epicureanism were atomism; mechanical causality limited by the spontaneous “swerve” of atoms, which accounted for the freedom of motion in man and animals; the infinity of the universe; and the existence of gods as beatified and immortal natures completely extraneous to happenings in the world. In ethics, the basic concepts were the identification of the good with pleasure and of the supreme good with the absence of bodily and mental pain; the limitation of all desire and the practice of virtue; withdrawal from public life; and the cultivation of friendship. Because of its dogmatic character and its practical end, Epicureanism did not lend itself easily to development.
Epicureanism
Epicureanism
the philosophical teaching derived from the ideas of Epicurus.
The philosophical school (called the Garden) that Epicurus founded in Athens was one of the most influential intellectual currents of the Hellenic age along with Stoicism, its constant opponent in philosophical debate. The most famous members of the early Garden (fourth and third centuries B.C.) were Metrodorus, Polyaenus, Hermarchus, and Colotes; those of the middle period (second and first centuries B.C.) were Zeno of Sidon, Phaedrus, and Philodemus of Gadara. Phaedrus (who taught Cicero) and Philodemus (who may have been Lucretius’ teacher) brought Epicureanism to Rome. The outstanding achievement of Roman Epicureanism is Lucretius’ narrative poem On the Nature of Things (first century B.C.). The Epicurean school remained in existence until the middle of the fourth century.
A revival of Epicureanism (especially its ethics and its atomistic teachings) occurred during the Renaissance; its ideas continued to spread during the 17th and 18th centuries and were most consistently developed by P. Gassendi. Epicureanism was also frequently understood in the vulgar sense—that is, as the cult of sensory pleasures (for example, in ancient Rome, among the philosophers of the Renaissance, and during the Enlightenment in France).
REFERENCES
See references under .A. L. DOBROKHOTOV
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