Epicurus
Ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism.
Epicurus was born in February 341 BC in the Athenian settlement on Samos.[1] Epicurus's ethical system identified pleasure as the sole good and pain as the sole evil.[1]
Quick Facts
- Region
- Western philosophy
- Born
- February 341 BC
- Birthplace
- Samos, Greece
- Died
- 270 BC (aged about 72)
- Place of death
- Athens, Greece
- Era
- Hellenistic philosophy
- School of thought
- Epicureanism
- Main interests
- Ethics
- epistemology
- physics
- theology
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Epicurus's parents, Neocles and Chaerestrate, were both Athenian-born.[1] Epicurus began teaching in Mytilene around 311 BC.[2] He was forced to leave Mytilene due to strife caused by his teachings.[3] The Garden welcomed many female students during Epicurus's tenure.[4]
Following Alexander the Great's death, Perdiccas forced the Athenian colonists on Samos to relocate to Colophon.[2] Nausiphanes, a follower of Democritus, became Epicurus's teacher.[2] According to Diogenes Laërtius, Epicurus passed away in 270 BC at age seventy-two due to a urinary tract blockage caused by a stone.[5]
What the cited sources add
Diogenes Laërtius states that Epicurus was an Athenian of the deme of Gargettus and the family of the Philaidae.[6] According to Diogenes Laërtius, Epicurus said he began studying philosophy at age fourteen.[6] Diogenes Laërtius reports that Epicurus bought his garden for eighty minae.[6] The will also directed that all his books be given to Hermarchus.[6]
Diogenes Laërtius records that Epicurus wrote more than three hundred volumes.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Epicurus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barnes 1986 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Epicurus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: DeWitt 1976 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Epicurus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barnes 1986; Konstan (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Epicurus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dorandi 2020, p. 19-21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Epicurus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gordon 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 10.22 (trans. C.D. Yonge).. facts only, no text reused. attalus.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Epicurus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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