Hellenistic Philosophy Introductory

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

62 /-26 to /-27


periods of antiquity, you could hardly find three pairs of [true] friends,
starting with Theseus and finishing up with Orestes. But in just one
household-and a small one at that-Epicurus assembled such large
congregations of friends which were bound together by a shared feeling
of the deepest love. And even now the Epicureans do the same thing.
But let us get back to the point; we do not need to speak of individuals.



  1. I see that the question of friendship has been dealt with in three
    ways by our school. Some say that our friends' pleasures are not in
    themselves as worthy of pursuit as are our own (a doctrine which some
    think undermines the stability of a friendship), but nevertheless they do
    defend this claim and easily, as I think, get themselves out of their
    difficulties. Just as we said about the virtues somewhat earlier, so for
    friendship: they deny that it can be separated from pleasure. For since
    a solitary life without friends is full of dangerous traps and fear, reason
    herself advises us to get some friends; and when we do so our mind is
    reassured and becomes indissolubly linked to the expectation that plea-
    sures will thereby be acquired. 67. And just as hatred, envy, and contempt
    are inimical to pleasures, so friendships are not only the most trustworthy
    supports for our pleasures, but they also produce them, as much for our
    friends as for ourselves. We enjoy friends not only while they are present
    with us, but we are also elated by our expectations for the immediate
    and for the more distant future. Because we cannot possibly secure a
    stable and long-lasting pleasantness in our life without friendship, and
    cannot maintain friendship itself unless we cherish our friends just as
    much as we do ourselves, it follows both that this kind of thing does
    occur in friendship and that friendship is linked with pleasure. For we
    rejoice at our friends' joys just as much as at our own, and grieve just
    as much for their anguish. 68. That is why a wise man will have the
    same feelings for his friend as for himself and will undertake the same
    labours for the sake of a friend's pleasure as he would undertake for the
    sake of his own.
    What we said about the way the virtues are always found to be essen-
    tially connected to pleasures must also be said about friendship. For
    Epicurus made a splendid declaration, in almost exactly these words:^27
    One and the same doctrine has reassured our minds that there is no
    eternal or even long-lasting bad thing to fear and has also seen that
    in this present span of life the most reliable source of protection lies
    in friendship.
    69. There are, however, some Epicureans who are more timid in the
    face of your abusive criticisms, but are nevertheless pretty sharp-witted;

  2. Principal Doctrine XXVIII.

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