One Paradigm
 Naturalistic Philosophy (Pre-Socratics)
 Humanistic Period (From Socrates to death of
Alexander)
 Hellenistic (death of Aristotle to death of Augustine)
Hellenic vs. Hellenistic
 Hellenic – Greek thinkers
 Hellenistic – Growing synthesis of Greek & Roman
thought
Hellenistic Philosophy
 Stoicism
 Hedonism (Cyrenaicsism, Epicureanism)
 Cynicism
 Skepticism
 Neo-Platonism
Philosophical Origins
 Epicureanism grew out of Cyrenaicsism
 Stoicism grew out of Cynicism
Epicureanism
 The Cyrenaic School
 Pleasure is the highest good
 Aristippus – “Let us eat, drink, and be merry for
tomorrow we may die.”
 Get all the bodily pleasure you can now. Tomorrow
might not come.
 This crude, sensual hedonism was actually countered by
Epicurus
Epicurus (341-270 BC)
 Founds his own university in Athens – “The Garden”
 Pleasure is the highest good, but
 Pleasures differ in duration
 Pleasures differ in intensity
 Pleasures of the body and pleasures of the mind
 Pleasures of the body must be preceded by some form of
pain (hunger, thirst, desire, etc)
 Overindulgence always results in pain
Advocate of Common Sense
 If pleasure is the greatest good, then the greatest evil is
pain.
 Maximize pleasure AND minimize pain
 Imagine a partying student from Baylor
 100 units of pleasure, 200 units of pain
 Epicurus would dismiss him as a disgrace to Hedonism
A Good Hedonist Will
 Live a life of moderation and temperance
 Consider the future
Hedonism Countered
 Plato
 If there is such a thing as an evil pleasure then there
must be a higher standard than pleasure
 Aristotle
 Pleasure is just one element in a well-rounded life
 The paradox of hedonism


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The single-minded pursuit of pleasure is always self-defeating
The more you seek pleasure the less you will receive
The best way to get pleasure is to forget pleasure and focus
your attention on other things
Cynicism – Predecessors of Stoics
 Cynicism = dogism
 Live according to nature
 Contempt for the conventions of society
 Diogenes
 Lived in a bath tub
 Carried lantern into Athens in daylight
 Featherless Biped
 Alexander the Great
 Convicted of counterfeiting
Stoicism
 Early Stoicism – Zeno of Citium
 Middle Stoicism - Chrysippus
 Later Stoicism – Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Metaphysics
 Materialism – everything is matter in motion
 Pantheism – the matter is divine
 Heraclitianism – there is a cosmic fire behind it all
 Fatalism – not to be confused with Calvinism
 Christian determinist believe that ends and means
should not be separated
Epictetus
 "Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of one's
desires, but by the removal of desire." (iv.1.175)
 "Where is the good? In the will. Where is the evil? In
the will. Where is neither of them? In those things
which are independent of the will." (ii.16.1)
 "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he
takes of them." (Ench. 5)
“Be anxious for nothing”
 What is the difference between the quote of Epictetus
on page 366 and Philippians 4:5-8?
Cleanthes analogy of the dog tied behind a cart …
Epicureans vs. Stoics
 Epicureans = Polytheists , Stoics=Pantheists
 Epicureans=Hedonism ; Stoics=Live according to
nature
 Fate
 Epicureans=Indeterminists , Stoics=Determinists
 Cleanthes story of dog tied to cart
 Epicureans=Empiricists , Stoics=Empiricists
nd
2
Regarding the
Test,
what is within your control?
(pirates who don’t do anything)