Epicurean Paradoxes

The Stoic Paradoxes of Cicero was an attempt to reconcile Stoic principles such as virtue is the only
good and only the wise person is rich with common sense. Epicurus’ Puzzles are lost. The paradoxes
here, however, are treated as apparent logical contradictions that can be resolved within the Epicurean
system.1 The four paradoxes concern Epicururean empiricism, theology, living unnoticed and friendship.

First, reality is known through the senses and logical inference. When there is confirming testimony
and no disconfirming testimony, the claim to knowledge is strengthened. For the Epicurean, only atoms
and the void exist, and atoms cannot be seen. So, how do we know they exist? The answer is through
logical inference from the divisibility of objects into smaller and smaller bits of matter or energy. If there
were no end to the division of material objects, something would have been made out of nothing, which
is a physical impossibility. Matter cannot be infinitely divisible, and thus a metaphysica minima exists.
This is repeated in the sensory realm as a sensorium minimum. Thus, the apparent contradiction is
resolved by logical inference from the finite divisibility of matter.

Second, God or gods exist, as evidenced by dreams and visions. These images of God or the gods are
ultra refined compounds of atoms in our minds. Yet no compound object is indestructible. So, how can
God or the gods be immortal? The answer is through logical inference from the original idea of the
divine being (the idea’s prolepsis ) as “…enjoying immortal youth with supreme peace…”. 2 This concept
implies a state of being that is indestructible and capable of enjoying peace. Since a perpetual existence
and a peaceful experience are logically necessary attributes in any divine nature, the divine nature must
not be compounded of different atoms; its existence must be identical to its nature. The being and
attributes of the divine are indivisible in the divine nature, and as such, if you will, constitute a sui
generis divine atom of perpetual peace (not the God Particle or Higgs Boson). If God lives in perpetual
peace, God is not directly active on Earth. As a model way of life, this image of God can be useful in
finding peace through religious devotion.

Third, the motto of Lethe Bios (living unnoticed) seems to contradict the founding of Epicureanism
and the early celebrations of the founders. According to Diogenes Laertius, along with the publication,
memorization, and dissemination of Epicurus’ writings and the erection of statues of his wise visage, he
gave directions in his will for the celebration of his birthday on the 10 th of Gamelion and his celebrations
on the 20th of every month. (Lives of Eminent Philosophers, “Epicurus,” ( X. 18-22), Loeb, Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2005.) How can one live hidden this way? The answer is that the publicity from
statues, celebrations, and published writings would draw and inform people of the teachings of
atomism, naturalism, and hedonism. (See Bernard Frischer’s The Sculpted Word: Epicureanism and

1
Epicurus refers to his thought in the beginning of his Letter to Herodotus as a system composed of principles and
maxims designed to make one blessed, but he did not worry about logical consistency as much as blessedness as in
the Vatican Sayings, #54.
2
“…immortali aevo summa cum pace fruator…” This translation of mine is based on the revised Loeb Classic of
1992 on Lucretius, I.45.
Philosophical Recruitment in Ancient Greece, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982 for
confirmation of this answer. The philosophy of Epicureanism taught its followers to live apart from the
conflicts at the center of the city for power, and pursue tranquility in a simple life of reflection on the
nature of things. Living unnoticed keeps one safe from others, and it gives one a sense of what perpetual
oblivion will be like after death for the individual. All the publicity is for the purpose of recruitment and
training in the Epicurean way of life.

Fourth, the final paradox concerns friendship. How can one be a hedonist and have friends, since
hedonism is the pursuit of one’s own pleasure, while friendship requires some pursuit of the other’s
pleasure. In other words, does an Epicurean just use his friends, or can he ever do anything for a friend
without expecting anything in return? It seems one can’t, but how, then, can friendship be such a
central value in the Epicurean way of life? Vatican Saying #15 describes the resolution to this tension of
treating friends as a means to one’s own ends or as ends in themselves. “Every friendship is worth
choosing as an excellence for its own sake, though it takes its origin from the benefits [it confers on us].”
That is, it is the benefits people confer on each other that draw people together as friends, and which
over time transform the friendship into an intrinsic value in and for itself. So, doing things out of interest
for oneself may be the dominant motive in human life, but it can lead to a few friendships and the
selfless action that characterize deep and long lasting ones. Obeying the social contract not to harm and
not to be harmed insures that people can live in peace, even if they aren’t close friends. 3

3
The Vatican Sayings (pp.36-40) can be found in The Epicurus Reader, translated. by Brad Inwood and L. P. Gerson
(Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994).