How To Be an Epicurean

Epicureanism is today associated with the enjoyment of food and drink.  But the philosophy of Epicurus, originating in the 3rd century BCE, was, in fact, a comprehensive system of cosmology, physics, biology, and ethics that remains interesting and relevant to contemporary life. Unlike their philosophical rivals, the Stoics, the Epicureans believed that the world had originated by chance, that human beings possessed free will, that the soul was material and mortal, and that death was nevertheless not to be feared. This lecture will explore their most famous—and controversial—views and explain why they are worth taking seriously today.