Living for Pleasure
An Epicurean Guide to Life
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
If we all want happiness and pleasure so much, then why are we so bad at getting it?
Pleasure feels amazing! Anxiety, however, does not. The Ancient Greek Philosopher Epicurus rolled these two strikingly intuitive claims into a simple formula for happiness and well-being--pursue pleasure without causing yourself anxiety. But wait, is that even possible? Can humans achieve lasting pleasure without suffering anxiety about failure and loss? Epicurus thinks we can, at least once we learn to pursue pleasure thoughtfully.
In Living for Pleasure, philosopher Emily Austin offers a lively, jargon-free tour of Epicurean strategies for diminishing anxiety, achieving satisfaction, and relishing joys. Epicurean science was famously far ahead of its time, and Austin shows that so was its ethics and psychology. Epicureanism can help us make and keep good friends, prepare for suffering, combat imposter syndrome, build trust, recognize personal limitations, value truth, cultivate healthy attitudes towards money and success, manage political anxiety, develop gratitude, savor food, and face death.
Readers will walk away knowing more about an important school of philosophy, but moreover understanding how to get what they want in life--happiness--without the anxiety of striving for it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This discerning debut from Austin, a philosophy professor at Wake Forest University, defends the ancient Greek ethical philosophy of Epicureanism. "Pleasures both large and small give shape and color to our lives," suggests Austin, examining the insights of fourth-century BCE philosopher Epicurus on how to eliminate anxiety and enjoy life. Austin outlines Epicurus's biography and focuses on his founding of the Garden, a "philosophical community" near Athens characterized by frequent socializing and celebrations. The author explores Epicurus's belief that the "rational capacities" of humans produce unique desires—including the need for close friends and a "commitment to virtues"—that must be met to achieve happiness. Science plays a vital role in the philosopher's conception of the good life, Austin contends, because he believed that it vanquished superstitions, though she notes his contention that science helps inhibit fear of death is difficult to support given the complex interplay between knowledge and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. Austin provides an accessible and intellectually rigorous overview of Epicureanism that remains refreshingly forthright about the limits of Epicurus's advice and keeps an appropriately light tone (Epicurus was not the "ringleader of life-long frat boys in period-appropriate togas," she writes). The result is an excellent primer on Epicureanism.
