Epicurus

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Biography

341 BCE - 270 BCE
Samos, Greece
Epistemologist
Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who is known for his teachings on the pursuit of pleasure and the concept of atomic theory. He was born on the island of Samos, Greece in 341 BCE and later founded his own philosophical school, known as the Epicurean school, in Athens. Epicurus believed that pleasure, specifically the absence of physical pain and mental disturbance, was the highest good and that individuals should aim to maximize their own pleasure and minimize their suffering. He is also known for his atomic theory, which proposed that the universe was composed of indivisible particles, or atoms, that moved through empty space.

Epicurus is known for his teachings on the pursuit of pleasure and the concept of atomic theory.

Lucretius - Roman poet and philosopher who was heavily influenced by the ideas of Epicurus and wrote a poem, On the Nature of Things, that expounds on Epicurean philosophy.
Democritus - Greek philosopher who developed the concept of atomic theory, which was further elaborated upon by Epicurus.

Hedonism - The belief that pleasure is the highest good and that individuals should aim to maximize their own pleasure and minimize their suffering. Epicurus is considered a key figure in the development of this philosophy.
Atomic theory - The belief that the universe is composed of indivisible particles, or atoms, that move through empty space. Epicurus further developed the concept of atomic theory, which was originally proposed by Democritus.

Epicurus, The Essential Epicurus: Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments (New York: Prometheus Books, 1993).
Brad Inwood, Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985).