If you're an Epicurean, and even if you're not, you may find interesting the thoughts of the ancient Greek philosopher who lived back in the b.c.'s, about 340 - 271. Epicurus was kind of the early father of utilitarianism, which says that whatever brings the greatest good to the greatest amount of people is the thing to do. Epicurus's philosophy was: if it makes you happy, do it! But make no mistake - he did not lead a hedonistic life. He was of the mind that if you over-indulged in say, Pop Tarts, you could end up with a tummy-ache that would make you unhappy and therefore the whole philosophy was discarded.
But to me, the most interesting thing he said was that death is annihilation, the absolute end, and should mean nothing to us. He measured life by pleasure and pain and the absence of both; the fear of death, he thought, was something that should be wiped away, as it causes strife. He said, "If death is bad, for whom is it bad? Not for the living, since they're not dead, and not for the dead, since they don't exist." Hmmm.
But even more interesting than that, he brings up the point that since we are not bothered by the fact that we did not exist before we were born, why should we be bothered by post-mortem non-existence? Really, it's all the same.
Or is it?
But to me, the most interesting thing he said was that death is annihilation, the absolute end, and should mean nothing to us. He measured life by pleasure and pain and the absence of both; the fear of death, he thought, was something that should be wiped away, as it causes strife. He said, "If death is bad, for whom is it bad? Not for the living, since they're not dead, and not for the dead, since they don't exist." Hmmm.
But even more interesting than that, he brings up the point that since we are not bothered by the fact that we did not exist before we were born, why should we be bothered by post-mortem non-existence? Really, it's all the same.
Or is it?
1 comment:
I think it is!
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