Philosophical Schools: Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Ethics

Philosophical Concepts and Ethical Theories

Several philosophical viewpoints address life, knowledge, and morality. Some of these ideas lead people to live in poverty and worry more about money than is necessary.

Cynicism and Naturalism

• Naturalism: Life is viewed cynically, often using the animal model as a standard for how one should look or behave.
• Defense of Autonomy: A focus on independence, suggesting that one should be minimally dependent on others.
• Agnosticism: An agnostic is someone who states that it is impossible to know whether God exists or not.
• Anti-Intellectualism: Unlike Socrates and Aristotle, the Cynics believed that knowledge and wisdom gained through study do not lead to happiness; one must live life actively.

Stoics and Epicureans

Stoicism

Stoicism was founded in Greece by the thinker Zeno. It gained significant importance in Rome through figures like Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus.

• The Stoic ideal of life involved achieving apatheia (in Spanish, apatía), meaning a life without passion, tranquil, and accepting everything that nature dictates.
• A Stoic is a person who endures great difficulties with composure.

Epicureanism

Epicureans were followers of Epicurus. Epicurus was famous for teaching in a garden, advocating that a happy life is one of leisure.

• The core idea is pleasure, which is why they are sometimes called hedonists. Greek hedonism centers on pleasure; a hedonistic person lives for pleasures.
• Plato once questioned: Are all pleasures good? Are there not bad pleasures? If so, the good is not simply the presence of pleasure, as some pleasures are detrimental.

Emotivism and Utilitarianism

Emotivism

Emotivism is an ethical theory linked to empiricism. Empiricism defends the idea that everything we know comes from the senses.

• The thrust of emotivism is that our moral preferences do not depend on good moral reasons but on our emotions and feelings.
• For a good emotivist, there is no rational reason not to prefer a scratch on the finger over the destruction of a city if the majority prefers the scratch—things are simply as they appear.
• The philosopher who defended emotivism in the 18th century was David Hume.

Naturalistic Fallacy

Hume also explained what is known as the naturalistic fallacy, which is a poorly constructed argument.

• A naturalistic fallacy would be trying to show what men ought to do based on what happens in nature.
• Example: Stating that men must dominate women because this is what is associated with the norm in nature.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism defends the action that makes the most people happy.

• Is this correct? Not necessarily, as people can be cheered up by bad things.