Summary and concluding remarks

Epicureanism, as already discussed in chapter 1, attributes the survival of the species to the security derived from the creation of justice and laws. In this chapter, we have shown how Epicureanism develops the category of security to conceptualize the philosophical life it proposes.

The first step of this task was to highlight the continuity that exists between the recognition that Epicureans give to the security provided by political communities and the considerations of Anonymus Iamblichus, Plato, Aristotle and Demosthenes around security [ασφαλεια], safety [σωτηρfα] and freedom from fear [αδεια, αφοβfα]. Next, we have shown that such continuity makes it evident that Epicurean philosophy understands itself as a curious historical phenomenon. Epicurus both recognizes the security provided by the polis as a necessary condition of its possibility and also attributes to the polis the promotion of vain fears and limitless desires that Epicureanism seeks to dissipate through the investigation of nature (i.e. the Epicurean ‘physiology') to attain security. The Epicureans develop a genealogy of such fears and desires and of the security to which human beings moved by them aspire. The analysis of these issues allowed us to advance towards the clarification of the Epicurean conception of security and its relationship to the security that the polis provides. Another important detail that we have emphasized in this chapter is that necessary natural desires, friendship and philanthropy are the main factors that give the Epicurean way of life the ‘purest security'. Their combination reinforces the liberation from irrational fears and desires. Furthermore, it establishes a permanent attitude of gratitude, satisfaction and trust in human beings with regard to the past, present and future.

This permanent temporal disposition enhances the unity and stability of the Epicurean life. Interpreters of Epicureanism have not regarded security as a main topic of focus. However, its study contributes significantly to the clarification of aspects of the Garden's philosophy that may be subsumed under the name of the Epicurean life and approach to society. Security is the key concept for analysing how Epicureanism understands itself concerning both the genealogy of justice and law and of irrational fears and unrealistic desires. Consideration of both relationships sheds light on the intersection of central aspects of the Epicurean way of life, such as the observance of necessary natural desires, friendship and philanthropy, with the way of life made possible by political communities. Two elements of this interest, which are generally not very prominent, are particularly illuminated: the role of property in Epicurean life and the contribution of attitudes towards the past, present and future to the unity and stability of the Epicurean way of life.

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Source: Aoiz Javie, Boeri Marcelo D.. Theory and Practice in Epicurean Political Philosophy: Security, Justice and Tranquility. Bloomsbury Academic,2023. — 230 p.. 2023

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