Summary Of Epicurus's 'The Extant Letters'

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In The Extant Letters, Epicurus argues that the primary goal in life is to achieve pleasure. However, he emphasizes that there are various types of pleasures, and not all of them are aimed at proper ends. The sole aim of this paper is to analyze the various types of pleasures, explain what is the proper end of humanity according to Epicurus, and discuss why his distinction among desires is evidently implausible. In order to understand the concept of pleasures, Epicurus commences his argument by divulging the different categories of pleasures. Epicurus expresses:
“One must reckon that of desires some are natural, some groundless; and of the natural desires some are necessary and some merely natural; and of the necessary, some are necessary for happiness and some for freeing the body from troubles and some for life itself ”(30).
In other words, Epicurus is merely stating that our desires can be classified into three main categories: natural and necessary, natural and unnecessary, and groundless. Pleasures that are natural and necessary include those that are compulsory in order for an individual to thrive and flourish in life. These pleasures are essential to an individual’s well-being, because without these …show more content…

He states that we should inherently fulfill these desires because if we did not have them, then we would be exhibiting some form of suffering. As human beings, our aim in life is to avoid stimuli that cause us pain, and strive after things that give us pleasure. Thus, it is crucial to follow our innate need to obtain basic human needs such as food, water, and shelter. Epicurus argues that we need to accumulate the needs that are natural and necessary, so that we can survive and ultimately lead satisfying lives. It seems that he is attempting to advocate a view to have individuals be content with their possessions and become less dependent on material

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