I think if I was asked at a young age if I were an Epicurean or a Stoic, I would definitely say Epicurean. They live in the moment. Seize the day. As a young person that's exactly what you want to do. Spend nice summer days with your friends without any worry in the world. You enter the world and it's tough, but to overcome diversity is sweet. Live without any pain. No emotions. No attachments. It makes perfect sense. Without any pain or stress, you can only live with pleasure and happiness in the day, and can only hope to be just as happy the next. But wait. Kids form attachments to the smallest of things. Teddy bears, a blanket, their parents. To live without attaching yourself to anything would be like living as a Spartan boy. You grow up to only become a warrior. Your mother gives you up at an early age, and you are forced to fend for yourself. This is the only way people can't form attachments: by learning not to attach at an early age. Otherwise, you will have pain, suffering, and other things. More realistically people will have experienced heartbreak: maybe from a lover, or maybe from the loss of a loved one. A person, therefore, must accept that, and learn to avoid and/or fight these sorrows head one. You can be happy, but some things are just more important sometimes. I think that I am a epicurean because I form attachments and make plans to be happy in the future instead of not knowing day to day. I plan to go to college, and live my life, and get a good job, and make a good income for my family. Once I reach these goals I will be satisfied with my life.
P.S. to Mr. B,
I have not had internet access. Sorry for it being late. Will bring note to class.
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I think you meant to say that young people start off as Stoics...if you look at your first few sentences, you say Epicurean. I get your meaning at any rate.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is, I don't many people are Stoics, young or old. The pursuit of short-term happiness is typically associated with Hedonism, not Stoicism. Stoics do not concern themselves with immediate, personal happiness--merely longevity. They don't see winning the lottery as any better than a lightning storm wrecking their home.
Unlike Epicureans, Stoics don't calculate how to get the most pain free (or happiest) future--they simply believe that everything happens for a reason and try to live with it. Don't confuse the idea of living in the moment ("carpe diem") with the idea of short term pleasure. Carpe diem is a simple way of saying "No matter what life throws at me, I'm not going to let it bring me down. I’m going to survive.”
You're right that Epicureans look at the long term, but only in a narrow way. They look at how to minimize pain in their life. That is their only long term goal.
What I wanted to know is if Stoics have a point when they say that Epicureans make a mistake in trying to live a life free from as much pain as possible.