A morte, o nada e a cura do medo: um estudo sobre o fenômeno da morte e a vida feliz em Epicuro

Abstract

This work is an investigation on the possibility of reaching a happy life, according to Epicurus’ philosophy (4th–3rd centuries BCE), through a process of eradicating the fear of death, providing a journey toward ataraxia (imperturbability of the mind) which combined with aponia (absence of pain) catalyzes the perfect eudaimonia (happiness). Epicurus' arguments on the problem of death exposes the theoretical intersections of a philosophical system whose ultimate goal is the human happiness, as an object of Ethics, while establishing a Science of Nature, Physics or Physiologia, in order to elucidate the terminal phenomenon of the life based on a methodology which rigorously defines the criteria of knowledge. At the core of of the atomistic conception that Epicurus inherited from the pre-Socratics Leucippus and Democritus (5th–4th centuries BCE) and reformulated in his own terms, the postulate that “death is nothing” stands out, since from atoms one returns to atoms, and nothing else exists in reality, other than atoms and emptiness. This scientific knowledge at once underlies, supports and is supported by ethical principles, among which the tetrapharmakon ("four-part remedy") is to be noted, by prescribing the dissolution of the tyranny of the fears, and philosophically establishing the possibility of a truly happy human life.