Epicurus: Overcoming Sadness and Achieving Pleasure - Essay Sample

Introduction

Philosopher Epicurus spent most of his precious time focusing on the sad and unhappy times that he went through in his life. It considered that most of the sad and unhappy moments that Epicurus went through hindered him from achieving most of his objective and goals. Despite going through this tough sad and unhappy moments, Epicurus lived his life in pleasure. He was able to achieve this because he could restrict himself from the unnecessary desires so that he could attain the inner tranquillity as a result of being contented with the simple things and opting for the pleasure of philosophical conversation. Most of the sad and unhappy moment that Epicurus experienced usually occur in one way or the other in people's lives, however people depend on Epicurus lessons to guide them through the unhappy and sad moments that they may be going through. For example, Epicurus encourages people to obtain the vivid imaginations of previous moments when one was happy and use them to relive the sad and unhappy moments that one is going through (De Botton, 22). This study aims to focus on Epicurus views on the causes of sadness and unhappiness.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Causes of Sadness and Unhappiness According to Epicurus

The Belief That the Creator Will Punish Us for Our Bad Actions

These beliefs of being punished by God usually create sadness and unhappiness that is considered to be unnecessary since the belief is usually based on fiction. In most cases when people commit certain mistakes, they tend to feel guilty thus and sad or unhappy since they gain the perception that they will have to pay for the wrong action that they have committed through receiving various punishments such as earthquakes and storms. This makes people develop the need to mollify God with sacrifices as a way of seeking forgiveness and to end the sadness and unhappiness that they may be going through. According to Epicurus even if God exists as being perfect and external, he does not concern himself with the human affairs; therefore people do not need to be sad or fear that the will be punished by God (De Botton, 57). Epicurus prescription of living a better life that is free from sadness and unhappiness is that people should consider God as a happy and invulnerable living thing that is not worried or bothered by human affairs. Having such a belief will help people to free their thoughts and mind from sadness and unhappiness.

Death is Something to Be Feared

Epicurus indicates that once a person's sentient experiences come to an end, during death, people will not experience the sensation of pain. This, therefore, makes the fear of death to be groundless. Epicurus also claims that death tends to be meaningless to the living people since they are considered to be living; therefore people should not be overwhelmed by sadness and unhappiness when they think of death(De Botton, 82). Epicurus prescription of living a better life that is free from sadness is that we should not be worried that God will punish us after death. Death tends to be nothing to us since it cannot affect either the living or the dead. Death tends not to affect people when they are living since they are not dead while it does not affect you when you are dead since you do not exist. This proves that there is no need to be sad or unhappy about death since it usually does not affect us,

The Good Things in Life Are Hard to Acquire

Epicurus claims that when people consider the things they want or intend to achieve, they tend to be overwhelmed by fear, sadness, and unhappiness since they perceive that it will be hard for them to acquire or fulfill these things. Every moment that we yearn to achieve, the good things in life, we tend to deny ourselves happiness since we tend to worry more on the most effective way of achieving or fulfilling these needs. Epicurus prescription of living a good life is that we should always perceive that the things that we need are always limited; thus they tend to be readily available from nature while the things that are hard to achieve, we do not need them. For example, water is available to quench our thirst, and the air is available for use to breath. People should realize that they have enough resources to survive and minimize pain so that they can gain true relaxation and happiness.

The Terrible Things in Life Are Hard to Endure

In life, people tend to go through various terrible things and incidences that are usually hard to endure, and they usually ruin people's happiness. For example, During the end stages of Epicurus life, he was suffering from very painful kidney stones that significantly reduced his hipness. Epicurus prescription of living a good life that is free from unhappiness is that we should always have the perception that the terrible things in life are easy to achieve or endure for example the acute pain is usually short while the chronic pain is usually dull. People should also gain the appreciation and relive of how the limits of nature have benefited us so that we can minimize life sorrows, pain, and annoyances.

Conclusion

Philosopher Epicurus spent most of his precious time focusing on the sad and unhappy times that he went through in his life. However, despite going through this tough sad and unhappy moments, Epicurus lived his life in pleasure. Most of the sad and unhappy moments that Epicurus experienced usually occur in one way or the other in people's lives; therefore, people depend on his lessons and advises. Epicurus confirms the four main causes of sadness and happiness and also describes the best prescriptions of living a better life. The causes of unhappiness and sadness include, first, The terrible things in life are hard to endure. Secondly, good things in life are hard to acquire. Thirdly, Death is something to be feared. Fourth, developing the belief that the creator will punish us for our bad actions.

Reference

De Botton, Alain. The consolations of philosophy. Vintage, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Consolations-Philosophy-Vintage-International-ebook/dp/B00ATLA8RU.