Ethics of Epicurus. — Without divine sanction, with- out responsibility or existence hereafter, with neither reward nor penalty in a future life for " deeds done in the bod}'," no real system of ethics is conceivable. There is no constraint, no obligation to rectitude ; there is no moral compulsion ; there is no domain for conscience ; there can onlj- be a more or less judicious and provident adaptation of actions to the judgments or dispositions of men, and to the supposed satisfaction of the individual. ^loralit}' without religion is a pre- tence and a delusion. A tranquil and pleasurable ex- istence becomes the summum honurti of the sage ; the gratification of every passion as it arises the sole duty of an eager and undisciplined nature. Eveiy restraint is removed except such as may be voluntarily imposed ; and though cool, impassive, and indolent dispositions may maintain an external propriety of demeanor when exposed to no temptation, there can be no guarantee for rectitude of conduct, and the license of all passions will be gratified b}- the unclean beasts who wallow in the Epicurean stye. The insufficiency of the doctrine as a rule of conduct was exhibited from the ver\- first. Epicurus placed the highest pleasure in undisturbed repose, but he considered every pleasure to be good in itself; and his favorite disciple, Metrodorus, asserts that the dictates of natural reason would limit all care to the satisfaction of the belly, thus taking as the cor- ner-stone of the system the declaration of Ecclesiastes, "All a man's labor is for his mouth." The stories which circulated in regard to the connection of Epi- curus and his companions witli Leontium, Marma- rium, and other notorinus ladies of the like persua- sion, show that the tendencies of the doctrine were at once recognised, even if they were not illustrated in practice.
As all the religious foundations of virtue were re- moved, no logical foundation remained. The tunonlc of Epicurus, wliich was at once liis logic and hio mcta- ])hysics, amounted to the negation of any absolute or immutable trutli. The sensible impression was the sole criterion of truth. Every sensation, as every gen- eral conception, was necessarily true ; and we are here reminded, though in different modes and degrees, of the positions assumed by Des Cartes "and by Hume. No guidance is accorded for the conduct of the under- standing more assured than the immediate impression or the unregulated fancy, and tlie passions are thus left without any valid control by the reason. A life
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EPIPHANIUS
according to natural impulses liecomes therefore the aim anil tlie duty of a pliilosopher.
The Physics of Epi'tirus -were devised as a means of escape from all divine authority and superintend- ence. They constitute the most elaborate, coherent, and oriuiiinal portion of the Epicurean system. Even here there was little real originality. Epicurus was a man of little learning, of little logical perspicacity ; but he was actuated by a distinct purpose, and pos- sessed of a clear ratlier than a penetrating mind, lie diligently availed himself of everything subservient to his aims in previous systems, and worked out what- ever accorded with his plans into a plausible and su- perficial scheme, in which consistency was little re- garded, and acceptability assured by addressing the natural inclinations of men. The Physical Theorj'- of Epicurus acquired more reputation in antiquity from its connection with theologj' and ethics, and from its exposition of Lucretius, than from any estimation in which it was held by tlie real students of science. The ol)ject of Epicurus was to explain, like Des Cartes, how the universe might have been formed and per- petuated without any foreign agency, though he went further than Des Cartes in rejecting even a divine agency for its first creation.
The leading lines of his physical doctrine are that matter is uncreated and indestructible. Its primitive elements are indivisible particles — atoms — which are eternal and imperishable, passing through various combinations, and assuming new properties and forms according to these mutable compositions. These at- oms are infinite in number, and solid, though so small as to be imperceptible by the senses. They possess gravity, and move downwa ds in an infinite vacuum. Their descent, however, is not in a uniform line ; the}' are deflected by a spontaneous impulse, due to mere contingencj', and come into collision, conjunction, com- position with each other. Thus worlds, infinite in number, and infinitely varied in their phenomena, are formed. These atoms are in a continual state of vi- bration or oscillation, and from their concretions and dissolutions, their coherences and dissidencies, all the multitudinous changes of inorganic and organic nature are derived. All, however, are governed by chance alone; there is no compulsion, no necessity, no exter- nal law, no decree of fate. The cause of being is not extrinsic, but is involved in the process and act of be- ing. No room is allowed for the operation of any con- scious and ordaining intelligence ; the world is nothing more than the curious result of uncomprehending, un- dcsigning accidents. It will be observed that this the- ory of E|)icurus differs from the vortices of Des Cartes in little more than in ascribing a straight, downward, but variable motion to the atoms in a vacuum, while Cartesianism assigns to them a gyrator}' movement and denies a vacuum. The difference is more obvi- ous between this system and the recent doctrine of evolution, but the logical principle is the same — the construction and continuation of the universe by sim- ple elements and simple forces generated within its own sphere, and independent of foreign determination. It is consequently not surprising that an attempt has been verj^ recently made to V)ring the Epicurean Phys- ics into harmony with modern science, whose present tendencies are in the direction of similar irrational self-sufficiency. A like attempt was made by Gas- sendi more legitimately, but without any permanent acceptance, in the 17th centur}- ; and it may be con- fidently asserted that, in an age of infidel appetencies, there will always be a revival of the Epicurean phi- losophy ami Epicurean proclivities.