SOURCE: W. T. Stace, "The Epicureans, Physics, Ethics," in A Critical History of Greek Philosophy, Macmillan & Co., Limited, 1960, pp. 354-60.

The excerpt below, originally delivered as a lecture in 1919, encapsulates the Epicurean system, which Stace finds "amiable and shallow," and also ascribes to the general view that Epicurus was a kind of ancient decadent. Stace concludes that Epicureans are "gentle and lovable," but "lacking the stern stuff of heroes."

Epicurus was born at Samos in 342 B.C. He founded his school a year or two before Zeno founded the Stoa, so that the two schools from the first ran parallel in time. The school of Epicurus lasted over six centuries. Epicurus early became acquainted with the atomism of Democritus, but his learning in earlier systems of philosophy does not appear to have been extensive. He was a man of estimable life and character. He founded his school in...