An excellent introduction to Epicurus's ideas and how they apply to the present may be found in On Why Death Should Not Concern Us, an informative book. However, there are some qualifications, as the monograph is more of an overarching guide than a detailed analysis of ancient writings. We associate morbid thoughts with feelings of dread. This dread stems from the widespread belief that the departed experience nothing but misery and pain in the afterlife.
This essay will analyze Epicurus's justifications for why we should not fear death. Death, he says, is not the end of anything. After death, a person ceases to exist. Many individuals mistakenly believe that death is the final chapter of their story. However, this is an incorrect assumption.
A person's death is not the end of their story; they will return to life at some point in the future, but not until they have experienced every pleasure they missed out on in this life. Books, photos, bedding, and so on will still be available to them, but they will be unable to enjoy the environment around them in any way other than through their things' descriptions.
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus advocated putting one's own happiness above that of others. In his view, the path to happiness lay in letting go of trivial wants and settling into a condition of calm.
He popularized atomism, a scientific perspective on materialism that holds that the fundamental building blocks of the universe are tiny, indestructible particles. Epicurus argued that space, like atoms, was either filled with a substance or was empty.
Epicurus made three significant changes to notions that the atomists had learned from Democritus. To start, he supplemented Democritus' materialist philosophy with an ethical dimension. Second, he added the intellect to Democritus' atomistic theory. At last, he worked justice into his moral code. In the end, this helped him develop a worldview that holds up well in the present world.
Epicurus believed that worry about the hereafter was at the root of people's fear of death. Thus he taught his followers that death is nothing to be feared. He thought that by doing this, we might stop worrying about the afterlife and the gods and focus instead on living in the moment.
As a philosopher, Epicurus created a full system that included a theory of knowledge (sensations and the perception of pleasure and pain are infallible criteria), an atomistic materialist description of nature, and a naturalistic account of evolution from the Big Bang to the rise of human societies. For decades after his death, these ideas were widely held among Epicurean communities.
Before settling in Athens, where he taught and developed his philosophy, the ancient Greek thinker Epicurus spent time teaching at Mytilene and Lampsacus. His disciples put into practice his teachings in the Garden (a school and philosophical community) he established in Athens.
The perception of sight, for instance, relies on the interaction of atoms with the receptors in the eye. Continually, objects shed layers of material one atom thick that fly towards and crash against the eye, illuminating the eye and exposing the object's properties through the light it reflects and scatters. Flavor and odor, he says, are byproducts of this interaction; for instance, the sweet taste we experience is due to the calming effects of smooth atoms on the tongue.
The existence of bodies and the fact that nothing can be derived from nonexistent objects are the two cornerstones around which Epicurus builds his theory of nature. He uses sensory evidence to support these postulates in his argument.
