Author Archives: Hiram

About Hiram

Hiram is an author from the north side of Chicago who has written for The Humanist, Infidels, Occupy, and many other publications. He blogs at The Autarkist and is the author of Tending the Epicurean Garden (Humanist Press, 2014), How to Live a Good Life (Penguin Random House, 2020) and Epicurus of Samos – His Philosophy and Life: All the principal Classical texts Compiled and Introduced by Hiram Crespo (Ukemi Audiobooks, 2020). He earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from NEIU.

Mission of the Society of Friends of Epicurus

There was a school of philosophy in antiquity, the Skeptics, that postulated that nothing was knowable and that the senses were unreliable.  Its teachings, in view of our modern system of checks and balances and the rigorous empirical and experimental, scientific methods that we apply today in our pursuit of knowledge, seem radical.

While surrounded by people who sought diviners, feared wrathful gods and a hellish afterlife, engaged in animal sacrifice and participated in mystery rites, Epicurus, instead, taught that there are legitimate means of acquiring knowledge. In fact, he considered science as one of the most important endeavors for human civilization and progress.

It is impossible for someone who is completely ignorant about nature to wash away his fears about the most important matters if he retains some suspicions about the myths. So it is impossible to experience undiluted enjoyment without studying what is natural. – 12th Principal Doctrine

Epicurus’ epistemology proposes that Truth is knowable, and that therefore there is such a thing as The Truth, as well as false opinions.  Epicurus also teaches that certainty is desirable and that knowledge of the nature of things can liberate us from wrong views that sometimes generate unnecessary pain, confusion, and anxiety.

In this sense, the Epicurean system is a dogmatic secular philosophy that points the way to the Truth, with a capital T, and that seeks to be a civilizing force that liberates mortals from the shackles of superstition, ignorance, and suffering. It is dogmatic in the philosophical sense: it rejects as false the opinion that truths are unattainable. True ataraxia is impossible without the freedom from superstition that science and philosophy bring.

Epicurean Gardens had teaching missions: scribes there were in constant correspondence with people from all over the Mediterranean and were constantly replicating scrolls and producing educational materials. Epicureanism, with its good news about the science and art of living a pleasant life, is the first and only missionary humanist philosophy that classical Greece gave humanity. According to Norman DeWitt in his Epicurus and his Philosophy, early Epicureans had an “each one teach one” system.

Epicureans are the only humanists who ever sent missionaries to save Middle Easterners from the evils of religion and superstition. Even in the II Century of Common Era, Diogenes of Oenoanda built a wall and wrote an Epicurean Inscription on it so that his entire town would benefit from learning philosophy. In the opening of the inscription, he explains his mission:

… [observing that most people suffer from false notions about things and do not listen to the body] when it brings important and just [accusations] against the soul, alleging that it is unwarrantably mauled and maltreated by the soul and dragged to things which are not necessary (in fact, the wants of the body are small and easy to obtain — and the soul too can live well by sharing in their enjoyment — while those of the soul are both great and difficult to obtain and, besides being of no benefit to our nature, actually involve dangers). So (to reiterate what I was saying) observing that these people are in this predicament, I bewailed their behaviour and wept over the wasting of their lives, and I considered it the responsibility of a good man to give [benevolent] assistance, to the utmost of one’s ability, to those of them who are well-constituted. [This] is the first reason [for the inscription]…

[And I wanted to refute those who accuse natural science of being unable to be of any benefit to us.] In this way, [citizens], even though I am not engaging in public affairs, I say these things through the inscription just as if I were taking action, and in an endeavour to prove that what benefits our nature, namely freedom from disturbance, is identical for one and all.

And so, having described the second reason for the inscription, I now go on to mention my mission and to explain its character and nature.

Having already reached the sunset of my life (being almost on the verge of departure from the world on account of old age), I wanted, before being overtaken by death, to compose a [fine] anthem [to celebrate the] fullness [of pleasure] and so to help now those who are well-constituted. Now, if only one person or two or three or four or five or six or any larger number you choose, sir, provided that it is not very large, were in a bad predicament, I should address them individually and do all in my power to give them the best advice. But, as I have said before, the majority of people suffer from a common disease, as in a plague, with their false notions about things, and their number is increasing (for in mutual emulation they catch the disease from one another, like sheep) moreover, [it is] right to help [also] generations to come (for they too belong to us, though they are still unborn) and, besides, love of humanity prompts us to aid also the foreigners who come here. Now, since the remedies of the inscription reach a larger number of people, I wished to use this stoa to advertise publicly the [medicines] that bring salvation. These medicines we have put [fully] to the test; for we have dispelled the fears [that grip] us without justification, and, as for pains, those that are groundless we have completely excised, while those that are natural we have reduced to an absolute minimum, making their magnitude minute.

… [One thing] only I ask of you: do not, even if [you should be] somewhat indifferent and listless, be [like] passers-by [in your approach] to the writings, [consulting] each [of them] in a patchy fashion and [omitting to read everything] …

Epicurus taught that philosophy that does not heal the soul is no better than medicine that cannot cure the body. Giving people teachings about human happiness and avoidance of suffering is seen as philanthropy. Our teaching mission contends with the accusation, repeated often throughout history, that Epicureanism is a purely self-indulgent philosophy of selfish hedonism. A proper introduction to how Epicureans deal with desires will lay that stereotype to rest. There is a strong element of philanthropy in the Epicurean tradition: we aim to impart Epicurus’ teachings as medicine for the soul.

The mission of the Society of Friends of Epicurus is to be true to the philanthropic spirit of the ancient Gardens: to spread a message that ultimately helps to liberate humanity from ignorance and unnecessary suffering, and to do so by forging with each other friendships that are intellectually vibrant.

We aspire to fully revitalize the Epicurean teaching mission both online and offline, establishing Gardens in every city where there are Epicureans willing to organize; We aspire to embody the ideals of friendship, autarchy, prudence, suavity, and all the other virtues that the ancient Epicureans exemplified, and as other communal needs emerge, we will seek to meet those needs.

In the process of helping pupils to discern between true Epicureanism and the alleged teachings that are attributed by indirect and sometimes hostile sources, we have established a lineage of established teachers, personalities, and thinkers within our tradition. We don’t always agree with all of them, but they are like the constellations that guide our heaven and help us find our way.

    • The pre-Epicurean atomists: Leucippus, who taught Democritus, who taught Nausiphanes
    • The Cyrenaics: Aristippus and Anniceris
    • Epicurus of Samos, who taught Metrodorus, Hermarchus, and Polyaenus: the four founders of our tradition, collectively known as the Men
    • After Hermarchus (the second Hegemon), the Scholarchs were Polystratus, Dionysius, Basileides, Apollodorus
    • Philonides of Laodicea, an Epicurean missionary to Asia
    • Zeno of Sidon and his most renouned student Philodemus of Gadara
    • Titus Lucretius Carus, author of On the Nature of Things
    • Titus Pomponius Atticus was an avowed Epicurean who in the middle of the civil wars was friendly to everyone and was a great example of how to live
    • Lucian of Samosata, a satirist
    • Diogenes of Oenoanda, who erected a wall with inscriptions of our teachings
    • Pierre Gassendi, who attempted to Epicureanize Christianity
    • Frances Wright, author, and her mentor Thomas Jefferson, American founding father
    • Norman Dewitt, author
    • Michel Onfray, French hedonist author, founder of Université de Caen

See also the Honor Roll of Epicureans. Please learn more about Epicurus and his philosophy! Whether you consider yourself an Epicurean or not, you will undoubtedly benefit from his wholesome association through his teaching.

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The Four Remedies

It’s generally believed that it was the Epicurean philosopher from Syria Philodemus of Gadara who organized the core of the teachings into the Four Remedies, the Tetrapharmakon in Greek.

There are, to be fair, many more than four remedies in Epicureanism.  However, the Four Remedies are known to be the core of the doctrine:

Do not fear the gods
Do not fear death
What is pleasant is easy to attain
What is painful is easy to endure

In his Principal Doctrines 11-12, Epicurus –who 2,300 years ago was among the first to propose the idea of the atom– argued for the study of science as a way to emancipate ourselves from irrational fears.  For naturalists who don’t believe in gods or spirits, the first two negative statements may be translated as “Do not fear chance or blind luck, for it is pointless to battle that which we have no control over. It generates unnecessary suffering”.

The second remedy is elaborated in a series of teachings and aphorisms which serve as a form of cognitive therapy to deal with the trauma of death.  Among them, the most memorable is the following:

“Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not”

The latter two positive statements lead to Epicurean teachings on how we should evaluate our desires and discern which ones are unnecessary versus which ones are necessary, which ones carry pain when satisfied or ignored versus which ones don’t. By this process of an analysed life, one learns to be content with the simple pleasures in life, those easiest to attain. The best things in life are free.

“The wealth required by nature is limited and easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity; Do not spoil that which you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus

One of the first tasks of every convert to Epicureanism is to become mindful of her desires and whatever pain or anxiety they may be generating.  Another task is to learn to relish and appreciate the simple things when they’re in front of us.  The good friends, the good foods and the refreshing beverages, the family, the good music, our proximity to nature, even our view of the sky.  There are so many things we take for granted in our hectic lives, particularly when we live in the city.

As to the Fourth Remedy, Epicurus reminded us of the temporal nature of bodily pain.  We may get a fever, or a stomach ache, but within days our immune system fights it.  In the case of more chronic pains, one gets used to them after some time.  In nature, no condition lasts forever.  The impermanence of all conditions is a consolation when we consider whatever pain they generate.

Then there are mental pains and anxiety.  These are systematically worked through via the cognitive therapy of working with our desires and mindfulness.  The resolution to follow Epicurus is a resolution to protect one’s mind.  It’s impossible to be happy if we can’t control our anger and other strong emotions: we will go from one perturbed state to the next and never taste imperturbability, ataraxia.

One technique to try out is to stop and start again.  If we catch our minds degenerating into negative thought streams, we can try the mantra “Live as if Epicurus was Watching“.  It really does work, if used with intent.  One becomes mindful.  A chilly, snowy winter no longer feels like slush beneath our feet.  Instead we may notice the snowflakes in the distance and the beautiful colors of winter.  Sometimes at my mindful recollection of this mantra, what used to bother me no longer really matters.

A dismissive attitude towards pain takes discipline but it can be cultivated if we are mindful and develop a resolve to protect our minds.

External Links:

Read Death and the Skeptic, an article written by yours truly for The Humanist, a publication of the American Humanist Association, on Epicurean and Buddhist teachings for coping with death