Believing That Death Means Nothing to Us,

¶ … believing that death means nothing to us, since every good and every evil lies in sensation; but death is the privation of sensation. Hence a correct comprehension of the fact that death means nothing to us makes the mortal aspect of life pleasurable, not be conferring on us a boundless period of time but by removing the yearning for deathlessness. There is nothing fearful in living for the person who has really laid hold of the fact that there is nothing fearful in not living. So it is silly for a person to say that he dreads death -- not because it will be painful when it arrives but because it pains him now as a future certainty; for that which makes no trouble for us when it arrives is a meaningless pain when we await it. This, the most horrifying of evils, means nothing to us, then, because so long as we are existent death is not present and whenever it is present we are nonexistent. Thus it is of no concern either to the living or to those who have completed their lives. For the former it is nonexistent, and the latter are themselves nonexistent" (LD, p. 49-50)

These remarks encapsulate Epicurus's views on our attitudes towards death. What argument does he provide for why we should not fear death? What is the ethical purpose of this argument for how we should live our lives? Do you agree with Epicurus's views? Why or why not?

To Epicurus, "death should mean nothing to us" since it is a nonexistent entity in that, with cessation of life, our atoms disintegrate into nothing. As Epicurus more succinctly states (p.53: 1-5; 2): "Death means nothing to us because that which has been broken down into atoms has no sensation and that which has no sensation is no concern of ours." We become non-existent, our mortality subsides. Death, in its essence, is the opposite of life. There is no living, there is no fear, and there is no sensation. Since the essence of death is, therefore, a nothingness, we are rid of fear and all sensation and become a 'nothingness' too. And, consequently, argues Epicurean, we have nothing to fear since we will be reduced to'nothingness'. Epicurus, therefore, urges us to live the 'good life' up to the very end and not to heed the advice of others who counsel the 'good life' for youth whilst urging elderly people to end their life in 'good style.'

Some individuals, as mentioned in the introduction to the argument, erroneously consider Epicurus to be a hedonist. In fact, the colloquialism 'epicurean' is commonly associated with an inclination towards the niceties of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. When Epicurus talks about the 'good life' he refers to pursuit of wisdom that can help us select meaningful pleasure and substantial good. And when he talks about 'good style' he means addiction towards materialism and lavishness that he considers misleading and empty. A close reading of the text indicates that Epicurus inclines towards 'pleasure' but towards an idealistic and utilitarian sort of pleasure -- one that give ultimate meaning and that is guided by philosophy:

When I say that pleasure is the goal of living, I do not mean the pleasure of libertines or the pleasure… By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not an unbroken succession of drinking-bouts and of revelry, not sexual lust, not the enjoyment of the fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul. Of all this beginning and the greatest good is wisdom (p.51).

Epicurean pleasure, therefore, was pursuit of wisdom and careful selection of meaningful pleasure which may mean even preferring "barley bread and water" to that of a lavish meal since the former gives more substantial satisfaction and relish as well as providing us with greater amenities of dealing with life.

It is ironic, therefore, that Epicurus bides us not to contemplate death ("you should accustom yourself to believing that death means nothing to us" (p.49); "it is of no concern to the living" (p.50) since his writings indicate an urgency to life and this urgency can come about only through an awareness that life is not eternal.

Whilst Epicurus argued the eternity of the world, or history, as a whole, he was also aware of the fact that all existence -- of all things -- ceases. He himself was constantly suffering pain, and this too may have been an indication to him of his own mortality.

Epicurus exhorts us not to think of death but his message is more likely one of telling us not to obsess on it.

Then as now, people worried about how the gods would react and how life would be in an afterlife. The gods, people thought -- as they do now -- are demanding and vengeful. They would need to be placated and pleased in this life by our actions otherwise they would punish us both in this world and in the next. People prepared for the afterlife, and narratives were replete with vengeful gods.

To Epicurus, fear was one of life's worst toxins. It disturbs us from fully living. To him, too, there was no need for fear since all of life signifies a transition into nothingness. The gods too are empty. Epicurus believed that they existed and that they were imperishable, but that they were beyond human understanding and that they cared solely about themselves:

In short, Epicurus saw the deities as distant from human suffering and existence. In that case, we become responsible for ourselves and adrift in a life that is only real as we are passing through it. Life is transitory. We are real for the present moment, dead afterwords and how we make the most of this life is up to us.

This philosophy can be both optimistic and profoundly pessimistic. Many of the existentialists took it as the latter. To Epicurus, it was optimistic since it was liberating. Freedom of the need to worry about the aftermath of pain leaves us free to condense our attention on the present. We can choose goals that have meaningful contentment, can strive to block out pain, and can dismiss anxiety.

On the other hand, people can well choose to do the reverse and adopt a meaningless life where one simply "lies back in the sun," focuses entirely on materialistic goods, or -- lacking the money or resources for this -- kills himself as soon as he possibly can since, taking Epicurus' philosophy to its ultimate end, there is no continuance afterwards, life is meaningless, therefore all pursuit in this life is meaningless too.