Life is the concentration of all value
Well-known methods for determining how to spend the time we are given include reason, virtue, piety. Epics look to nature for their evidence.
Since there is no afterlife, “good” and “bad” have no meaning except to the living.
“We are born once and we cannot be born twice but to all eternity must be no more.”1
The “greatest good” does not mean the guide that we follow – the “greatest good” is our most important possession, which is life itself.2
So, how are we to determine the best course of action?
Next in the outline: Nature equips us with feelings to determine value.
1 This is Vatican Saying #14.
2 The point about the “greatest good” comes from this table on epicureanfriends.org, outlining some important clarifications.
Read the Epic Outline
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This is a material universe which we call nature.Nature is all of space and time and their contents. |
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There is no afterlife.Every part of us is natural and returns to Nature when we die. Therefore there is no retribution or reward in a “heaven” or a “hell.” |
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Life is the concentration of all value.Value must be sought between the limits of birth and death. There are no external, absolute standards by which we must all abide, but death is certain and we must choose how to spend the time we are given. |
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Nature equips us with feelings to determine value.There are two feelings: pleasure and pain. “Every animal, as soon as it is born, seeks for pleasure and recoils from pain and so far as possible avoids it.” This capacity is the result of millions of years of evolution. |
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Feelings are contextual.Different people may feel differently when faced with the same situation. The same person might feel differently about something depending on the time of day, or where they are (or their financial situation or their government or their responsibilities or whatever). |
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Our purpose is to maximize pleasure within our context.Keep in mind that some pains lead to greater pleasure, and some pleasures to greater pain. Living according to Nature is calculating both short- and long-term pleasure and pain from within our context to determine which set of choices will serve our purpose. |
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Therefore it must be said that there is no one right way to live.Note that the goal is not “avoiding pain” but “maximizing pleasure,” by which we mean pleasure as ordinarily defined. There are no divisions of pleasure imposed from without; there is no “best” pleasure because pleasure is pleasure. You choose! |
