Epicurus believed that death should be nothing to us. Describe and Essay

Epicurus believed that death should be nothing to us. Describe and critically assess his principle argument for this conclusion - Essay Example Unfortunately, we can become acquainted only with small parts of his works and some letters,  which reached our times. All the fine points of  Epicureanism can be learned from the works of his followers and critics. Nevertheless, the philosophy of the thinker is valuable and worth-discussing as it presents very interesting ideas about life and death, pleasure and pain, and teaches us how to avoid the fear of death that prevents people from enjoying life. Epicurus had very interesting view on philosophy. He stated that the aim of this science was to reach the pleasant, calm life, absolute harmony without fear and hurt, full-fledged life among true friends. According to the philosopher, delight and hurt define what is good and bad, while death represents the end of everything, both the body and the spirit and that is why humans should not be afraid of it (Bakalis, 2005). The philosopher did not believe that any supreme forces can control human’s life and punish humans. According to his materialistic point of view, our world is founded on the atoms’ behavior and represents eternal system (Panicha, 1967). Epicurus considered the science of philosophy to be very helpful for people in their attempts to make their life more pleasant. The philosophy can help get rid of troubles that make our life poorer. One of the troubles that prevent us from enjoying our life is the fear of death. According to Epicurus, this fear spoils our life and in order to get rid of it, it is necessary we should understand what death really is. In order not to suffer people must feel safe. Here Epicurus is talking about the value of justice. According to the philosopher, only justice can eliminate harm and suffering completely. The philosopher talks about the justice system as about an agreement we sign with each other people make with each other to guarantee our safety. Get used to believing that death is nothing to us. For all good and bad consists in sense experience,