Epicureanism summary

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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.

Robert Nanteuil: portrait of Pierre Gassendi

Pierre Gassendi Summary

Pierre Gassendi was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, who revived Epicureanism as a substitute for Aristotelianism, attempting in the process to reconcile mechanistic atomism with the Christian belief in an infinite God. Born into a family of commoners, Gassendi received his early

Epicurus Summary

Epicurus was a Greek philosopher, author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and retirement. He founded schools of philosophy that survived directly from the 4th century bc until the 4th century ad. Epicurus was born on the island of Samos of Athenian parents who had gone there

Lucretius Summary

Lucretius was a Latin poet and philosopher known for his single, long poem, De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things). The poem is the fullest extant statement of the physical theory of the Greek philosopher Epicurus. It also alludes to his ethical and logical doctrines. Apart from Lucretius’s poem