Ethics of Epicurus and its Relation to Contemporary Doctrines

Jean-Marie Guyau (1854 –1888) was a French philosopher and poet. His central works include Esquisse d’une morale sans obligation ni sanction (A Sketch of Morality Independent of Obligation or Sanction) and L’Irréligion de l’avenir (The Non-Religion of the Future). His works met an enthusiastic reception by important thinkers of his time, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Pierre Kropotkin and Henri Bergson.Federico Testa is an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study of the University of Warwick, UK. His current research focuses on Michel Foucault’s politics of life, French contemporary philosophy and the revival of Hellenistic tradition within Modern and Contemporary philosophy.Keith Ansell Pearson holds a Personal Chair in Philosophy at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the author of acclaimed monographs on Nietzsche and Bergson and has published a number of essays on Guyau’s ethics.

This is a fascinating study of Epicurus, also containing a valuable account of Epicureanism in the early modern period, and it is an important document in the history of Epicureanism in its own right. Guyau is himself an unjustly neglected philosopher, making this volume doubly welcome.

• Note on the TranslationEditors’ Introduction: Jean-Marie Guyau on Epicurus and the Art of Living: A Novel Approach to the History of PhilosophyForeword: On the Method Used for the Exposition of SystemsIntroduction: Epicureanism in Antiquity and ModernityBook One: The Pleasures of the FleshChapter 1: Pleasure: The End of Life and the Principle of All EthicsChapter 2: Fundamental Pleasure: The StomachChapter 3: The Rule of Pleasure: Utility. – Happiness, The Sovereign Good Chapter 4: Desire. – The Ultimate End of Desire: Rest, Enjoyment of SelfBook Two: The Pleasures of the SoulChapter 1: Intellectual and Moral Serenity – Science, Opposed by Epicurus to the Idea of MiracleChapter 2: Freedom - Contingency in Nature, the Condition of Human FreedomChapter 3: Tranquillity in the Face of Death. – Epicurean Theory of Death, and its Relation to Contemporary TheoriesBook Three: Private and Public VirtuesChapter 1: Courage and Temperance. Love and Friendship. The Genesis of Friendship. The Conduct of the Sage in Human Society.Chapter 2: Justice and the Social ContractChapter 3: Progress in HumanityChapter 4: Epicurean Piety. The Struggle against Divinity understood as Efficient CauseConclusion: Epicureanism and its Analogies with Modern Positivism. The Success of Epicureanism in AntiquityBook Four: The Modern Successors of EpicurusChapter 1: The Epoch of Transition Between Ancient Epicureanism and Modern Epicureanism – Gassendi and HobbesChapter 2: La Rochefoucauld – The Psychology of EpicureanismChapter 3: Spinoza – Synthesis of Epicureanism and StoicismChapter 4: HelvétiusChapter 5: The Spirit of Epicureanism in Eighteenth-Century FranceConclusion: Contemporary EpicureanismBibliographyIndex