The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

School

Epicureanism

from c. 306 BCE

School founded by Epicurus in Athens, teaching that tranquil pleasure is the goal of life and that the world consists of atoms moving in the void.

Epicurus founded his school in Athens around 306 BCE, and it was known simply as the Garden. Epicureans sought ataraxia, freedom from mental disturbance, through simple living, friendship, and an atomist understanding of nature that left no room for fear of the gods or of death. The Roman poet Lucretius set out its teachings in On the Nature of Things.

Tradition
Western

Philosophers

Sources

  1. David Konstan, Epicurus, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy