EPICUREAN EXERCISES: BETWEEN MODERATION AND THE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE

Epicurean hedonism has been interpreted for centuries as a “philosophy of excess,” encouraging people to break all moral and intellectual barriers to enjoy uninterrupted pleasure. However, philosophical historiography has repeatedly shown that, in fact, Epicurus identified true enjoyment with the removal of pain from soul and body. He therefore advocated the cultivation of the virtue of temperance, which manifests itself in various forms of self-mastery and care of the self, especially in selecting desires and calculating pleasures. In his talk, Piergiacomi will focus on this question in order to better define Epicurean moderation, highlighting two decisive and perhaps unexpected aspects. On the one hand, Epicurus avoided a simplistic reading of temperance as total self-denial and the pursuit of absolute self-sufficiency. This would cause damage as serious as intemperance, including isolation from other human beings and passive acceptance of every event, thus leading to harmful conformism to evil and disengagement. On the other hand, a paradox will be highlighted. Epicurean moderation requires that one should not moderate oneself at all in certain aspects of life. In particular, for Epicurus, the philosopher must be in constant mental “tension” or relentlessly cultivate her intellectual abilities and prepare herself for extreme sacrifices, for example, to save her friends. Ironically, this restores Epicureanism’s unfortunate reputation as a “philosophy of excess”, albeit from a different perspective.

ENRICO PIERGIACOMI

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology / Fellow of the Center for Religious Studies

The event, organized by FBK’s Center for Religious Studies, will be held in Italian.

The event will be held online.

Registration by June 17, 2025 at 12:00 a.m. is required in order to arrange the connection.

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