Epicureans used atomist natural philosophy to dispel fear of gods and death, locating the best life in stable pleasure, friendship, prudent choice, and freedom from disturbance.
Shared questions
What kinds of pleasure, desire, and natural explanation make a secure and undisturbed life possible?
Internal disagreements
Whether pleasure is a bodily feeling, the absence of pain, or a criterion requiring active calculation and limits.
Key texts
Letter to Menoeceus — One of three letters preserved by Diogenes Laertius, which carry most of what survives of Epicurus in his own words.
De rerum natura — Lucretius' poem is the fullest surviving statement of Epicurean physics, and was left unfinished at his death.