A Brief Summa of Hedonism

THIS JUST IN: GETTING YOUR FREAK ON IS GOOD FOR YOU!

It was Socrates, who had an unusual gift for brevity, who posed the question to his students: “What is the good?” It is widely believed that it was Aristyppus of Cyrene (c. 435-360 B.C.E. ) who concluded that good was simply pleasure. (hedone) This theory was later elaborated on by an Athenian named Epicurus (341-270), who taught from his tranquil garden that the point of all one’s actions should be to attain pleasure and that pleasure was the highest good. He believed that only by conquering one’s fears of the gods and of death could one find the true path to happiness. But Epicurus was not reckless or short-sighted in his teachings. He warned that a wise person will eschew those pleasures that may ultimately lead to pain. Balance was the key and the pursuit of pleasure brought with it an implied sense of responsibility.

By 146 B.C.E. the Romans had taken control of Greece, but Alexander the Great’s conquest of Persia had ensured that Greek ideas and the Greek way of life had spread throughout Egypt and the near East. Though the Romans had a culture distinct unto themselves, they had no problems with the Epicurean school of thought. In fact, they raised the cult of pleasure to new heights. At its peak in the C.E. 100’s the Roman Empire contained roughly half of Europe, a large part of the Middle East, and the coastal regions of Northern Africa. Rome was the capital, and with nearly a million inhabitants, it was the largest and most spectacular city in the world. And the Romans themselves were a randy band of raucous hedonists.

—from “The Hedonism Handbook” by Michael Flocker