Reading Epicurus’ letter to Menoeceus, my honest opinion of it and of his philosophy is that while it is reasonable, I do not find it to be very unique or relevant.
Perhaps it was considered both once upon a time, but I do not see it as so in today’s time. To be clear, this is neither to insult a picture assist work, nor those who find deep meaning in his work. I say this resolutely because the state of the world, as it is now, make the pursuit of pleasure that Epicurus describes as the key to happiness, obsolete and entirely unattainable.
Epicurus writes of the necessary desires to ‘rid the body of uneasiness’ that one, who is in the pursuit of happiness, will “direct every preference and aversion toward securing health of body and tranquility of mind” but how can one do so when the horrors are inescapable?
Flip the switch to the news and you’ll see: terrorism here! terrorism there! While never actually reporting the children being bombed to smithereens; And turning to the Internet and social media for reprieve is a pipe dream because you will only to be confronted with more of it!
That’s okay!
I will then turn off the television and shut off my phone. Instead, I will run some errands, grab some groceries…but why is a single carton of 2% milk $7? Why is a bag of four tomatoes $5? Why is the gas I put in my car $1.48 per litre? Maybe I won’t get that bottle of Advil for the ongoing headache that I have had for the last three days, after all, I need to be frugal so I can pay my $2000 rent for the box I live in. I also just got a single wisdom tooth out during reading week, I need all four out but can only afford one at a time because it’s $50 for a single tooth extraction, while awake with numbing only… and that’s with the health insurance I pay $60.00 a month for through my work.
Maybe if I get rid of the car, and take the train, my expenses will go down.
…except no it won’t. With $4 per ride each way with within the same city, what I do not pay in money, I will pay with time. My commute is now 2 hours instead of 30 minutes.
But oh! If I take the car, I am contributing to the climate crisis!
So, I will go ahead and agonize over that while another corporation dumps its waste directly into the ocean, and Israel continues to carpet bomb their ever-living fuck out of Gaza, releasing more carbon emissions in a single month than that entire city could have produced in a year.
When Epicurus says that pleasure is the end and aim, meaning the absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul, how does one then go about avoiding and banishing beliefs that take possessions of the soul?
Do you decide to live in deliberate ignorance?
Do you decide to pay the outrageous price for that bundle of bananas and delude yourself into thinking everything is fine?
Do you decide to ignore injustice in favour of an easier life?
My answer to all of these questions is no, and while I realize that this is a personal standard based on morality; I feel that this is a standard that I have had no choice but to take.
All I can do is say goodbye to the notion of happiness. It does not exist except for in the small moments of peace and joy in a turbulent world which seeks to crush you into a pulp for the financial gain of only a select few. While Epicurus’ philosophy sounds good on paper it is unrealistic in life.
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References
Letter to Menoeceus (R. D. Hicks, Trans.). (1994). The Internet Classics Archive. http://classics.mit.edu/Epicurus/menoec.html
Marble head of Epikouros. (n.d.). [Marble Sculpture]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, United States of America.
ma guarda quante stelle nel cielo 