EPICUREANS

EPICUREANS
   a sect of philosophers who derived their name from Epicurus, and who divided the empire of philosophy with the STOICS (q.v.), at the birth of Christ; they held that the chief end of man was happiness, that the business of philosophy was to guide him in the pursuit of it, and that it was only by experience that one could learn what would lead to it and what would not; they scouted the idea of reason as regulative of thought, and conscience as regulative of conduct, and maintained that our senses were our only guides in both; in a word, they denied that God had implanted in man an absolute rational and moral principle, and maintained that he had no other clue to the goal of his being but his experience in life, while the distinction of right and wrong was only a distinction of what was found conducive to happiness and what was not; they had no faith in or fear of a divine Being above man any more than of a divine principle within man, and they scorned the idea of another world with its awards, and concerned themselves only with this, which, however, in their hands was no longer a cosmos but a chaos, out of which the quickening and ordinative spirit had fled.

The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. . 1907.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Epicureans — A philosophical school founded by Epicurus (342–270 BCE), who taught in a garden at Athens. He propounded an atomic theory of the universe; the atoms which comprise human beings are scattered at death, so there is no existence after death, and… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • Epicureans — Epicureanism …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Epicureans —    Followers of Epicurus (who died at Athens B.C. 270), or adherents of the Epicurean philosophy (Acts 17:18). This philosophy was a system of atheism, and taught men to seek as their highest aim a pleasant and smooth life. They have been called… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • Epicureanism — is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus ( c . 341 ndash; c . 270 BC), founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on… …   Wikipedia

  • Epicureanism — Stephen Everson It is tempting to portray Epicureanism as the most straightforward, perhaps even simplistic, of the major dogmatic philosophical schools of the Hellenistic age. Starting from an atomic physics, according to which ‘the totality of… …   History of philosophy

  • Only Connect 2010 (September) — Series 4 of Only Connect began on 6 September 2010[1] and ended on 27 December 2010. Below is a list of the matches played with their scores and outcomes. Contents 1 Schedule 2 Teams 3 Results …   Wikipedia

  • Sceptics (The) — The sceptics Michael Frede INTRODUCTION When we speak of ‘scepticism’ and of ‘sceptics’, we primarily think of a philosophical position according to which nothing is known for certain, or even nothing can be known for certain. There are certain… …   History of philosophy

  • ethics — /eth iks/, n.pl. 1. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture. 2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics;… …   Universalium

  • Logic — • A historical survey from Indian and Pre Aristotelian philosophy to the Logic of John Stuart Mill Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Logic     Logic      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Philosophy — • Detailed article on the history of the love of wisdom Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Philosophy     Philosophy     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”