Epicurus

c. 341-270 B.C.

Greek Philosopher

Epicurus founded the Epicurean school of philosophy, which sought attainment of happiness through simple living. His importance to science lies in modifying and promulgating Democritean atomism.

Epicurus was born at the Athenian colony of Samos around 341 B.C. His father, Neocles, was a schoolmaster who had emigrated from Athens. Epicurus traveled to Athens in 323 B.C. to complete his mandatory military service. He later rejoined his family at Colophon, on the coast of Asia Minor. There he studied philosophy with Nausiphanes, a former student of Democritus (c. 460-c. 370 B.C.) . He established a school at Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, and another at Lampsacus, on the Hellespont. In 307 or 306 B.C. he returned to Athens and established an Epicurean community known as the Garden, which admitted men, women, and slaves alike. This remained the center of his activities until his death in 270 B.C.

As Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) swept away the last vestiges of Greek democracy and substituted for it monarchical authoritarianism, there developed in the Hellenistic consciousness a growing sense of the impotence of the individual. Gone also was the sense of community and civic duty so characteristic of the Greek city-state. This gave rise to a new philosophical attitude. Philosophy was no longer primarily thought of as an intellectual activity to be pursued in its own right. Rather, it was viewed as a potential refuge from the despair and vicissitudes of life. Epicurus developed his philosophy in this atmosphere. His primary goal was to teach men how to cultivate an attitude toward life that guaranteed happiness. The result was a moderate hedonism.

Central to Epicurean teaching was the emphasis on peace of mind as of way attaining happiness. Epicurus believed this was threatened by ignorance of the natural world that generated widespread belief in supernatural powers and doubts about potential rewards or punishments in the afterlife. He found the atomism of Leucippus (fl. c. 450-420 B.C.) and Democritus congenial to his needs and adapted it accordingly.

In De natura, he developed a mechanistic explanation of the world grounded in Democritean atomic theory. He accepted that all natural phenomena are generated by atoms and the void. The atoms are imperceptibly small, of different shapes and sizes but composed of the same substance, infinite in number, and free to move through the void. Sensory qualities of physical bodies, such as taste, color, and weight, vary according to the number of component atoms, their arrangement, and the presence of empty space. This picture left no room for supernatural forces.

The Epicurean atom was physically indivisible just as was the Democritean atom. However, unlike Democritus, Epicurus claimed the atom was composed of minimal parts that could be conceptually divided. Democritean atomism also seemed to make no allowance for human volition since the motions of the atoms composing the mind were completely determined by theirprevious motions and interactions with environment. To avoid the undesirable consequence of pure determinism, Epicurus introduced his famous atomic "swerve," which was a spontaneous deviation from natural atomic motions.

These occasional deviations served another purpose. In Democritean atomism, the natural motion of atoms was left as an undefined axiom of the theory. Epicurus found this unsatisfactory and argued that they have a natural tendency to fall "downwards" due to their weight. But, he realized atoms would merely fall through the void without ever interacting unless there existed some mechanism to alter these motions. The atomic "swerve" explained how atomic paths crossed.

The Epicurean "canonic," or theory of knowledge, held that all knowledge comes from the senses. Furthermore, anything not in conflict with experience could be regarded as true.

This is the complete article, containing 604 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).