School
Epicureanism
from c. 306 BCE
School founded by Epicurus in Athens, teaching that tranquil pleasure is the goal of life and that the world consists of atoms moving in the void.
Epicurus founded his school in Athens around 306 BCE, and it was known simply as the Garden. Epicureans sought ataraxia, freedom from mental disturbance, through simple living, friendship, and an atomist understanding of nature that left no room for fear of the gods or of death. The Roman poet Lucretius set out its teachings in On the Nature of Things.
- Tradition
- Western
Philosophers
- Epicurus341–270 BCE
- Lucretiusc. 95 – c. 55 BCE
- Ninon de Lenclos1620–1705
Terms on this page
- ataraxia
- Freedom from mental disturbance, or tranquillity: the Epicurean goal of life, together with the absence of bodily pain, and for Pyrrhonian sceptics the reward of suspending judgement.
Sources
- David Konstan, Epicurus, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy