Is There a Difference Between the Stoics and Epicurus?

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Epicurean science was just centuries, thousands of years ahead of its time. For Epicurus, we live in a materialistic, physicalist world that's the motion of atoms and happenstance has led animals like us to be here. So if you focus on having these really great experiences and living your life then you reach a point Epicureus thinks where you prize each day. The person who least needs tomorrow goes happiest to meet it.

The Greek philosopher Epicurus made a rather bold claim over two thousand years ago. The key to life, he said, was simple: pursue pleasure and avoid pain. Around this maxim he developed a school of philosophy, Epicureanism, which promised its adherents that if they took care of their basic needs, surrounded themselves with trustworthy friends, and developed a basic understanding of science, they would be happy. But is it really that simple? Can the advice of someone born 2,363 years ago still hold true? To answer these questions, we turned to Emily Austin, professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University and author of the delightful new book "Living for Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life.”

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