Why the philosophy Epicurus taught over 2000 years ago still frightens elites—religious, governmental, and economic alike
The beauty of philosophy lies in its ability to evolve. Students and followers of great minds have always tended to respond to old knowledge with even better and more interesting ideas—if circumstances allowed. Following the progression of thought from Socrates to Plato to Aristotle, we can observe how original ideas were refined. But refinement alone is not always exciting. Sometimes, a rebel must step onto the scene and declare—now, for something completely different!
When it comes to philosophical rebellion, it’s time to meet one of the greatest, the “fearsome” Epicurus! The label “fearsome” is fitting because, although he lived centuries before the Common Era (341–270 BCE), many still fear him today. The ruling elites, in particular, should fear him because his philosophy—though not confrontational—undermines all their power. (It’s enough to note that his ideas later inspired thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche and Karl Marx.)
But any individual seeking to understand themselves and discover happiness should absolutely not fear this man, who more than two millennia ago precisely, perhaps even perfectly, grasped what it means to be happy—and how we can attain happiness relatively easily by embracing “hedonism.”
Of course, the images that pop into your mind when you hear the word hedonism probably involve drunken orgies, debauchery, and a life devoted to such pleasures. Forget that. That is absolutely not the hedonism Epicurus promoted—in fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Epicurus warned that while indulging in certain things may bring short-term pleasure, what follows is the opposite—pain and suffering. If we keep chasing such pleasures, they soon stop providing even temporary joy and instead become sources of misery. Take alcohol, for example. One drunken night might be fun, but the next morning brings a hangover. If we continue to drink despite this, our lives become suffering. The same goes for all forms of “instant” gratification.
Epicurus dedicated his life to studying happiness and what he called “good hedonism”—pleasure without hangovers, sorrow, or emptiness. In this pursuit, he developed remarkably advanced views on human life, and his plan for achieving happiness and freedom from suffering remains revolutionary even today.
Let’s start by discarding the usual images associated with hedonism, particularly those tied to material desires. On that front, Epicurus lived very minimally. He reportedly owned just two robes, ate mostly bread and olives, and only occasionally treated himself to a piece of cheese. As for his love life, he famously said he was “married to philosophy.”
While other philosophers of his time focused on deep moral questions—what it means to be good, and how one becomes better—Epicurus wasn’t particularly fascinated by virtue debates. Though he lived during the height of Platonism, he turned his back on idealism and instead focused on something he considered more important: human happiness.
How can a person be happy? What does a person actually need to be happy? There are clues. It’s no secret that people enjoy comfort—just look at babies, whose main goal is to feel good. With that in mind, it’s unreasonable to expect adults to shun pleasure entirely. Yet many later schools of thought—especially religions—harshly judged people for seeking comfort.
Epicurus, however, was honest in his observations, free from false moralism or assigning humans lofty virtues they often didn’t live up to. He realized early on that people are often hypocritical or advocate things that don’t actually lead to happiness. For example, he observed that while most people promote marriage and access to love and sex, many don’t seem happy. Plenty are frustrated by their partners or end up cheating, which makes things even worse.
He also noticed that these same people often seemed far happier and more relaxed when around their friends. There’s no tension, jealousy, or the constant arguments that mark long-term relationships or marriages.
Clearly, there was something to this. Epicurus placed great importance on friendship. Even back then, some viewed this skeptically—even angrily. Was he attacking the very concept of family? But Epicurus didn’t tell anyone how to live. Quite the opposite—he simply shared his observations. If some found that uncomfortable, that was their problem.
He also observed that people are generally unhappy because of money—no matter how much they have. Those without it want it; those with it want more. Earning it is hard: long hours, sacrifice… and for what? In the end, we spend most of our lives chasing money, losing the one resource we’ll never get back—time.
Epicurus concluded that true happiness lies in doing work we love—ideally independently or with good company. It doesn’t have to be grand or world-changing. It can be simple, even humble—but the key is to enjoy it, to feel it contributes meaningfully to ourselves and those around us.
By now, you probably see why Epicurus frightened so many—especially the ruling elites. If he reappeared today, all pillars of power—state, church, market—would panic.
And we’re only getting started.
Epicurus identified two major beliefs that make us deeply unhappy and fill our lives with suffering. The first is the belief that the gods will punish us for our bad actions. Was Epicurus an atheist? Not necessarily. He didn’t deny the gods’ existence, but argued that if they do exist, they’re perfect and eternal—far too elevated to concern themselves with human behavior.
He claimed he and his followers knew the gods existed because “our knowledge of them is a matter of clear and distinct perception”—not that gods were visible beings, but that their presence could be sensed, like visions from distant realms of the cosmos. He considered them perfect, but static beings.
Epicurus rejected the traditional Greek view of gods as anthropomorphic, interfering beings who walked the Earth, sired children with mortals, and engaged in petty disputes.
Accordingly, he firmly dismissed the idea that deities meddle in human affairs. The gods, he argued, are too perfect and distant to care about prayers or pleas—or to do anything besides contemplate their own perfection. In a surviving letter, he outright denied that the gods had any control over natural events, claiming that such involvement would tarnish their very perfection.
This was a bold view—especially in polytheistic ancient Greece—and it earned him many enemies, even as he gained followers.
The second great obstacle to happiness, according to Epicurus, is the fear of death. He believed the root of human anxiety is our denial of death and our assumption that dying will be painful and terrible. This, he said, causes unnecessary fear, selfish behavior, and hypocrisy. In Epicurus’s view, death is the end of both body and soul—so there’s nothing to fear.
He had many profound conversations with his followers about death, but two quotes became particularly famous:
“Death is nothing to us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it comes, we no longer exist.”
“Why should I fear death? If I exist, then death is not. If death is, then I am not. Why fear that which cannot exist while I do?”
But what about the religious claim (then and now) that people cannot be moral without receiving their sense of right and wrong from God?
Epicurus believed people should act ethically not because gods reward or punish them, but because immoral behavior leads to remorse and guilt—emotions that disturb the peace of mind necessary for happiness, or what he called ataraxia.
Ah yes—ataraxia, the concept most closely associated with Epicurus, but also valued by Stoics and other philosophical schools. It’s commonly translated as “tranquility” or “untroubledness,” a lucid state of calm, free from distress and worry.
Achieving ataraxia is a shared goal among Epicureanism, Stoicism, and Pyrrhonism (Greek skepticism), though each school had its own approach. Unsurprisingly, religious authorities didn’t always appreciate this goal. In Dante’s Inferno, followers of Epicurus are trapped in flaming tombs in the sixth circle of hell for their “heretical” belief that the soul is not immortal.
In traditional Jewish texts, the word for heretic is “Epikoros”!
Epicurus strongly valued friendship but did not believe in socializing for its own sake. He advised seeking companions with shared values—those also on a path to inner peace—people who enrich your life with thoughtful conversation.
Not all company is good company, he warned. Even in ancient Greece, “toxic” individuals abounded. For peace of mind and happiness, Epicurus suggested removing ourselves from ordinary society. Ideally, we should retreat with like-minded individuals and form a commune.
That was one of his ideals—and he practiced what he preached.
Picture such a life: you live in a large, peaceful house surrounded by nature and gardens. You meet thoughtful people from your community on walks. You talk about science, philosophy, the universe, and art.
You work together; your commune is self-sufficient. You have time for life’s joys. You make music, write poetry, build boats or tend gardens—surrounded by beauty and good company.
That’s what Epicurus’s school in Athens was like. It was called “The Garden,” and it resembled a commune more than the academic schools of earlier philosophers.
A striking fact: Epicurus accepted both women and slaves as full equals into his community—unheard of at the time.
Though he was often misunderstood as a champion of unrestrained pleasure (even in his time), Epicurus actually argued that happiness and freedom from suffering come only from living wisely, soberly, and morally. He condemned vulgar sensuality and warned that people must consider whether their actions will result in suffering. He wrote:
“A pleasant life is not produced by a string of drinking bouts and parties, nor by sexual indulgence, nor by enjoying fine foods, but by sober reasoning.”
He also said that a single good piece of cheese could be as enjoyable as a feast. He taught that:
“It is not possible to live pleasantly without living wisely, nobly, and justly,”
because those who commit injustice will suffer from guilt and fear of exposure. But those who are kind and just will have no fear—and will more easily reach ataraxia.
Did his ideas have an impact?
Oh yes—enormously. Epicureanism flourished for centuries. At its peak, around 400,000 people lived in Epicurean communities stretching from Spain to Palestine.
These communes lasted until the Christian Church forcibly shut them down in the 5th century. (Many were in such beautiful natural locations that monasteries were later built on the same spots.)
As much as his ideas were banned on one side and dismissed as utopian on the other, Epicurus found a new path to human happiness—here, now, in this life—and the “ingredients” for joy are already within our reach.
In today’s world, Epicurus teaches us that we don’t need much money or possessions to be happy. In fact, we may need far less than we think.
Epicurus believed the purpose of life is to achieve pleasure and avoid pain—but emphasized that true pleasure comes from intellectual satisfaction and the absence of pain, not from physical indulgence.
But in the end, doesn’t pain always catch up with us?
Not necessarily, Epicurus boldly claimed. Speaking of his own death, in what is believed to be his final letter, he wrote to a friend:
“I have written this letter to you on a happy day, which is also the last day of my life. For I have been attacked by painful urinary retention and dysentery so violent that nothing could be added to the intensity of my suffering. But the serenity of my mind, which comes from the memory of all my philosophical contemplation, balances all these afflictions.”
That defiance of pain and suffering is truly admirable. Many will therefore find Epicurus’ teachings reminiscent of Stoicism. Indeed, Epicureanism and Stoicism share many similarities, but they also differ significantly in certain respects, so it’s no surprise that these two philosophical schools were not particularly fond of each other. Both schools strongly reject suffering and pain, and claim that happiness is both attainable and possible. However, while the Stoics encourage individuals to prove themselves through character, to be exceptional people who strengthen their virtues and elevated morality, to be true and just leaders of their people, followers of Epicurus do not place much emphasis on that. On the contrary, Epicureans preferred to detach from society, live for themselves in harmony and peace, without worrying too much about whether they had achieved great virtues in life or not.
Epicurus’ teaching in a way “liberates” us from all that anxiety, from expectations—whether from ourselves or others in our society (parents, partners)—from feelings of great responsibility, or from fears of gods and death. Epicurus brings us back to the basics, inviting us to find our foundation there and to grow from that point.
To enjoy life, but also to learn how to enjoy it. Not to neglect the joys of living, but to understand that happiness will not be found in excess. He invites us to be educated and interesting, and to surround ourselves with such people.
Epicurus distinguished between two types of desires: natural and necessary desires (such as food and shelter), and unnatural, unnecessary desires (such as wealth and fame). He taught that we should focus on fulfilling the first type and reject the latter.
He was also an important philosopher in other areas. For example, Epicurus adopted and expanded Democritus’ atomic theory, believing that the universe is composed of small, indestructible particles (atoms) that move through the void. This materialistic view rejected the existence of an afterlife, which perfectly complemented his primary teachings.
Although he loved long and deep conversations, he was aware that some important things needed to be explained to people in a very simple and clear way. On that note, he defined just four points for a happy life:
- Do not fear the gods
- Do not worry about death
- What is good is easy to obtain
- What is terrible is easy to endure
The brilliance of this thought lies in how effortlessly it connects something simple with something unbreakable. A follower of Epicurus is a calm hedonist who neither enjoys too much nor too little, but loves to enjoy life and holds no grudge against others—yet is fearless even in the face of the greatest hardships. Neither gods, nor illness, nor even death itself can wipe the smile off his face if that is the way he has chosen to live.
As we mentioned, Epicurus will always be feared—by both religious and worldly elites. His teaching is capable of stripping them of the lever of fear by which people are still held in mental slavery, whether spiritual or material.
But Epicurus always returns. His core idea was too powerful to be lost throughout human history. It is no surprise that Friedrich Nietzsche exclaimed, “God is dead!” at the very time when Europe began to revisit Epicurus. (Nietzsche greatly admired Epicurus’ resistance to pain and death, although he later disagreed with the idea that a peaceful life and modest pleasures are the formula for happiness—Nietzsche, of course, preferred something more grandiose, but that’s a topic we’ll cover in one of our upcoming reflections.)
It’s also worth noting that Karl Marx chose Epicurus as the subject of his doctoral dissertation. It’s no wonder—Epicurus, back in ancient Greece, advocated for a communal way of life as an ideal, with shared work focused on sustainability. These ideas certainly inspired Marx, whose own theories would go on to shape the era we ourselves live in, particularly the 20th century.
Traces of Epicurean thought can be found everywhere, such as in the hippie movement that emerged in America in the mid-20th century. Of course, many communities throughout history that attempted to live communally may not have necessarily followed his philosophy of moderation (which is quite similar to the Buddhist teaching of the “middle way”), and instead fell into a form of hedonism closer to how we define the term today—unlike Epicurus’ actual principles.
Epicurus was a philosopher who dared to challenge the entrenched fears and beliefs of his time (and of any time!) like no one before. His teachings invite us to reflect on the true meaning of happiness, emphasizing that it lies not in material wealth, power, or fame, but in simple pleasures, friendship, and peace of mind. The fear of death, which often paralyzes people, Epicurus boldly rejected as meaningless, because death, as the end of consciousness, brings no pain. His message of living in accordance with nature and reason, while avoiding unnecessary desires and fears, remains relevant even today. In fact, today it could serve as an “antidote” to so many accumulated anxieties and frustrations.
Like other great thinkers, Epicurus teaches us that true freedom comes from within—through understanding and acceptance of what we can and cannot control. His philosophy, though simple in its essence, carries a powerful message: happiness is attainable for everyone, regardless of circumstances, if we focus on what truly matters in life.
In a world full of worry and anxiety, Epicurus’ call for calm and balance offers a beacon of hope and wisdom, reminding us that true joy is often closer than we think!
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