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Life According to Epicurus

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Life According to Epicurus
What is considered a good life? One might argue that living peacefully is a good life with no evil or crime exist. Some might say that it is to have the wealth in life. But is wealth alone enough for living in a good life? Can a rich man who has an enormous amount of gold and silver find peace within? Certainly the good life does need things like wealth, but the good life also need something else to bring the happiness in life. Epicurus for once present the world his depiction of a good life in his “Letter to Menoecceus”. The ideas of a good life presented by Epicurus in “Letter to Menoeceus” have many aspects of a good life but all of his views have a common goals, which is to live in a pleasure life. According to Epicurus, a good life is to live in happiness. The happiness mentioned was not on the state of perfection and well-being, but rather focused on pleasure which is a state of body free from pain and mind free or worry/anxiety. Epicurus ideas of living in a good life has a connection with philosophy, gods, death, and avoiding pain to gain pleasure in life.
The first principle that he mentioned to live in a good life is to believe in gods. One must have respect for the divine being whether it is many gods or single gods. Epicurus state in “Letter to Menoeceus” and I quoted “First of all believe that god is a being immortal and blessed, even as the common idea of a god is engraved on men’s minds, and do not assign him anything alien to his immortality or ill-suited to his blessedness: but believe about him everything that can uphold his blessedness and immortality” (page 651). By believing in gods and worshipped them shows that people respecting the gods in order to live a good life because the gods can determine their fate. Epicurus also remind the world that god has a clear vision and by that, it means that god also is a being that knows everything including fate. Besides that, the nature of blessed and immortal being itself caused no trouble to others
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