Epicurian Pleasure

In modern parlance Epicurian pleasure is understood to mean the exaggerated excess in all things.
A contemporary of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson depicts what for many centuries Epicurean pleasure was understood to mean, I'll have all my beds blown up not stuffed, goose down is too hard. Jonson's pleasure seeker is called Sir Epicure Mammon.

However hundreds of scrolls unearthed in the Library for the Villa dei Papyri in Herculaneum which belonged to Lucius Calpurnius Piso gives the true ancient meaning to Epicureanism and it is vastly different than what we thought it actually meant. This is due to the fact that after his death the enemies of Epicurus ridiculed his writings and twisted the meaning of what his philosophy meant. Then after the Fourth Century we lost his writings which were only rediscovered in a Monastery in Fulda in 1407.

School of Athens (Philosophy) (1510) by Raphael in the Stanza della Segnatura, Apostolic Palace, Vatican. Epicurus appears in the left corner dressed in blue and crowned with vines leafs.

Philodemus who lived around (110-60 BC) was a true follower of Epicurus (341-270 BC), wrote ''Men suffer the worst of evils for the sake of the most alien desires.  They neglect the most necessary of appetites as if they were the most alien to Nature''. What are these necessary appetites that lead to pleasure? ''It is impossible to live pleasurably without living prudently and honourably and justly, and also without living courageously and temperately and magnanimously, and without making friends and without being philanthropic''.

This if the true definition of Epicureanism.

The problem comes in the 4th Century when ''Pagan'' philosophies are rejected by the Jews and Christians who now wish to establish firmly their beliefs on good and evil in the Roman World. Pleasure as the highest good? Even if described in restrained terms it was a source of scandal for both Judeo-Christians belief sets. Even 2000 years later the fear that to maximize pleasure and to avoid pain are in fact appealing goals and might serve as the rational organizing principles of human life. If these goals succeeded then a whole set of time honoured principles, like sacrifice, ambition, social status, discipline and piety would be challenged with the institutions attached to them. This is why Epicureanism is presented in a grotesque and extravagant manner to this day.

We will have to wait the Renaissance (1297-1580) to see a rediscovery of Antiquity and its philosophies, in 1430 invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg which will put books at the disposal of far more people and then 1492 when Admiral Christopher Columbus lands in America. Two events which will transform world view.

Thinking of today, reading this definition of true Epicureanism, I wonder how could it apply to our post-modern world and age of technology. Is it even possible in a world like ours where Education is ridiculed and where politicians make constant cuts to the entire educational system. Where Culture is seen as worthless or is constantly assimilated to some multi-million dollar sporting event. Where the masses are easily amused by shopping mall openings as we have seen in Ottawa in the last month, or by news of professional athletes or where a dead Coach is elevated to the rank of demi-god and athletes make ridiculous tributes claiming that their lives would have been worthless otherwise.

However Philosophy was never meant for everyone's study but for those who were interested to follow one school or another. Or the art of discussion on various topics was an exchange of ideas and wit was a quality.

I suppose that if you wish to follow that path today you would have to separate or segregate yourself from the commercial world with its values based on money and power.

François Marie Arouet dit Voltaire 1694-1778

Well you probably heard of Voltaire the author of Candide which was made into a musical by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. He wrote many works in his lifetime and his writings challenged the establishment in France and elsewhere in Europe.
Unfortunately like many famous historical figures he has become a bit of a caricature. Popular culture sort of reduces everything to a cliché. So in Montreal I went into one of my favorite bookstore on Green Ave in Westmount, Nicholas Hoare, westmount@nicholashoare.ca , they always have the nicest collection of books. I saw this book, a biography of Voltaire by Ian Davidson, published by Pegasus Books. Davidson took over 1860 letters written by Voltaire during his life to friends, acquaintances, Kings and government officials. It's Voltaire speaking and talking about himself, his life, a very personal, intimate portrait of the man. He suffered from depression, he wanted to be recognized and loved, he was a syncophant, he suffered from erectile disfunction at 50, he had an incestuous affair with his niece Madame Denis who was 20 years younger than he was. He also lacked judgement sometimes and fancied himself a great spy, he was simply an amateur in diplomacy, especially when he wanted to reconcile France and Prussia. He spoke English well and also wrote in English. He became very rich early on in life, he had a very difficult relationship with his father and his brother Armand.

                                              François Marie Arouet, Voltaire
                                                         (1694-1778)


He became the epitome of the age of French Enlightenment, a new man who challenged by his writings the Ancien Regime and was hated by the Roman Catholic Church for exposing its hypocrisy and corruption.   He never sought to become the leading figure of the Enlightenment movement nor the leader of anything for that matter, but in his life time he was famous and controversial all over Europe. He feared rivals or persecution by the authorities, he was intensely ambitious for literary success, his career was marked by feuds and crises. It certainly gives me a better appreciation for the man who in Canada is remembered for saying that '' Canada was nothing more than a few hectares of snow''. In his life time France lost North America to England to the regret of every French government since.  This biography shows the man in his greatness but also as a human being, capable of folly and pettiness, who in the latter part of his life realized that he was part of a greater movement heralding a totally new age.