Many things have changed since Epicurus wrote on his philosophy of happiness around 307 BC, but in this century we can still obtain happiness as long as we have Epicurus’ three foundations of freedom, friendship and an analyzed life. He says that happiness does not come from money and money is not required to obtain happiness as long as the essentials are met. (de Botton, ND) There is comfort taken in the ideas of Epicurus because the three things needed for happiness can be accessed by everyone.
The philosophy of Epicurus is not as prominently applied in this century as it should be and our society could benefit if more people in the twenty-first century followed the ideas of Epicurus, but everyone needs to be offered of choice to apply this philosophy in order to keep the right of freedom available to all. Act utilitarianism and personal ethical egoism should be applied in order to allow people to continue to make their own decisions but will also allow them to be mindful of their actions and choose which will bring about the greatest good.
Epicurus’ philosophy is a way of thinking, and each individual should have the opportunity to express their beliefs and have their own way of thinking. Everyone has a right to choose how they would like to live, in fact, freedom is one of the fundamental parts of Epicurus’ philosophy on happiness. (de Botton, ND). Applying personal ethical egoism allows individuals to act in their own self-interest and make decisions that are best for themselves (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2015), including the choice of applying of Epicurus’ philosophies to their own lives.
A memory that reminds me of this, was when I was a student high school, taking a psychology class; the teacher was going around the room asking everyone what their goal in life was and many students answered with a wish to be successful, but when it came my turn to answer, I said that my goal was to be happy, that I wanted to look back on my life with a smile and feel like I made the most of my time. And I was the only student in my class to have such an answer, which surprised me.
Everyone has different goals and beliefs, and while it may benefit our society to use the philosophy of Epicurus, you cannot force people to feel or think a certain way. Epicurus believed that true happiness came from freedom, friendship and an analyzed life which is obtainable in many different ways. By leaving the choice up to individual to follow the teachings of Epicurus we can guarantee we are giving them their freedom.
There are many current issues in the twenty-first century that could benefit from the teachings of Epicurus, like our spending habits and our debt as a country. It is unfortunate that our culture is based off of buying things, we live in a generation where we have a need to constantly update our lives, trying to keep up with the demand that companies have manipulated us to believe is important. Businesses have lead us to believe that new is better, like the ever-updating iPhone by Apple, who seems to put out new version of their iPhone every six months.
And every time a new version comes out, people will actually wait in line for days in order to be some of the first few people to own the new phone! Apple’s marketing technique is ingenious, but is also tragically effecting the way we treat everything and everyone else. Epicurus said that people shop in an attempt to find happiness, but believes that happiness cannot be created by buying things. Certain marketing techniques use emotive responses to attract customer, like the advertisement I discussed this week, by Coca-Cola, titled “Happiness Machine”.
This commercial showed a soda machine placed in a college and was dispensing free sodas, among other things like balloons and giant sandwiches. This commercial actually made me smile because of the students’ reactions to receiving free sodas, they were shocked and elated by the surprising things coming out of the machine. The advertisement provoked a negative response from me was because it was obvious that the action was not genuine, it was trying to sell Coca-Cola and trying to make viewers connect happiness with drinking their soda.
The commercial was clever, but was also manipulative because it was purposely looking to play on people’s emotions, knowing that everyone strives for happiness. This advertisement is a great example of what de Botton was explaining in the video of Epicurus, where he had a billboard posted in a mall that showed a big beautiful house with an asterisk beside it marking that it “does not included happiness” (de Botton, ND). de Botton’s billboard was trying to tell consumers that purchases are not the root of happiness, unlike Coca-Cola who is trying to convince us otherwise.
As a country, we have been known to super-size everything and to buy unnecessarily because we simple have the means to: no one should buy in excess and everyone should be aware of the money they spend regardless of how wealthy they may be. Being conscious of how, when, and where you spend your money is important because the more you know, the more power you have to save, support and donate. By applying act utilitarianism, everyone can mindfully consider the actions that will bring about the greatest good (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2015).
An example would be if a consumer is trying to shop environmentally friendly and have recently found out a business they support lacks environmentally responsible actions; they can choose to no longer shop there to show that they do not agree with the actions of the company. In this way, anyone can make a difference and strive for the greatest good. Epicurus stresses the importance of an analyzed life, and by making conscious decisions of what businesses you support, you are analyzing your purchasing habits and actively adding to your level of happiness.
The financial crisis has many factors including the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the distribution of wealth and the high amount of bank and federal loans being dispersed. Although the spending of our citizens may be a solution in getting our economy bounce back, there are many other factors that should be considered that could also help us get out of our financial crisis, and one of them includes a decrease in government spending. By creating a society that spends more, there are potential consequences that may not have been considered.
If happiness cannot come from buying things, could it be that buying things are make us less happy? Epicurus might have pondered that question himself, considering the consequences that an overzealous shopper may confront. By choosing to follow the philosophy of Epicurus in the 21st century, we benefit from analyzing our behavior in a society that is driven by consumption. The ethical theories that currently exist do a great job in helping people create their own ethical standpoint and applying it to everyday life.
The philosophy of Epicurus is a way of thinking and should be approached as such. By applying act utilitarianism and personal ethical egoism everyone is allowed the right to apply their own beliefs and chose if they would like to apply Epicurus’ philosophy on happiness, and can continue to help people consider which actions will bring about the greatest good. If we allow people to make decisions based on their own happiness we can also ensure that people have the right to their freedom, which is an essential role in the philosophies of Epicurus.
