Comparing Epictetus And Aristotle's Theories Of Philosophical Thinking
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Epicurus was born in 341 BC on the island of Samos. When he was eighteen, he moved to Athens for two years, He later spent 15 years travelling around the Mediterranean, teaching, and setting up philosophical circles. His range of philosophical concerns included physics, astronomy, ethics, psychology, language, and more (Ahl, 1988, p. 5) Some of his complete works have survived, including his letters to friends that summarize his major teachings. Some of his major teachings included his theory of physics and theory of knowledge. Epicurus started a movement which is now known as epicureanism , a philosophy that diagnoses problems with the human race and offers a cure as well (Ahl, 1988, p. 5).
Epictetus was born into slavery in 55 AD in Phrygia. He was an influential Greek stoic philosopher. His teachings have survived to the present day as a result of his pupil, Arian, who wrote and…show more content… 6). Epictetus believed that philosophy was more than an academic discipline but instead a way of life. These two philosophers seemingly lived very different lives however, they share some similarities in their philosophies that will be discussed in this essay. The differences in between their philosophical thinking will also be discussed.
Epicurus had two important assumptions. One of them holds the view that all human actions are motivated by pursuit of one's own pleasure and avoidance of one's own pain (Ahl, 1988, p. 51).1 This assumption explains how the mind functions and motivation for human action. Another one of his views holds that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and pain is the only intrinsic bad (Ahl, 1988, p. 5).2 This claim is that pleasure is worth seeking for it's own sake, anything else that is worth seeking is only worth seeking as a way to pleasure.