The Fourfold Remedy: Epicurus and the Art of Happiness by John Sellars

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ISBN: 9780141991658 Category: Tags: ,

Description

What do we really need in order to live a happy life? Over two thousand years ago the Greek philosopher Epicurus offered a seemingly simple answer: pleasure. All we really want is pleasure. Today we tend to associate the word ‘Epicurean’ with the enjoyment of fine food and wine and decadent self-indulgence. But, as philosopher John Sellars shows, these things are a world away from the vision of a pleasant life developed by Epicurus and his followers, who were more concerned with mental pleasures and avoiding pain. Their goal, in short, was a life of tranquillity. In vivid, elegant prose, Sellars walks us through the history of Epicureanism from a private garden on the edge of ancient Athens to the streets of ancient Rome, to explore a completely different way of thinking about the pleasures of friendship, our place in the world and the meaning of death.