HOW TO BE AN EPICUREAN

How an ancient art of living well is no less applicable—and broadly beneficial—today.

Wilson (Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction, 2016, etc.), British-born visiting professor of philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center, explores the ideas of Greek philosopher Epicurus, whose writings have come to us largely through the verse of his Roman follower Lucretius. A fundamentally optimistic philosophy, one of the five major schools of thought of the ancient Greek and Roman world, Epicureanism concerns living well and justly, and it was unique for the time in opening its doors to women. But as Wilson shows, the emphasis on pleasure is largely misunderstood. Far from the hedonism with which Epicurus' philosophy is mistakenly associated, and which diminishes a far more comprehensive body of thought, it is his concept of a life of virtue and inquiry that serves as a foundation. After explaining how Epicurus viewed the world, the author applies her concept of the modern Epicurean philosopher to suggest the most constructive approaches to bring to complex sociopolitical problems of our day. Both her assessments of the issues and arguments against contemporary foolhardiness are, in the main, unassailable. However, there is also a large helping of wishful thinking concerning remedies and a decidedly left-leaning scaffolding. Such analyses harbor both strengths and weaknesses. Some statements are much too sweeping, and some assertions are surprisingly oversimplified. Wilson contrasts Epicurean philosophy with its traditional rival, Stoicism, and finds areas of accord as well as divergence. But she contends that ethical and political values are grounded in particular ways of seeing the world, and Epicureanism seems at once to be the most appealing and (ultimately) responsible of precepts. She is a proponent of Epicureanism but not to the extent of ignoring its shortcomings and seeming contradictions.

Wilson's writing style varies from lively and lucid to pedestrian, but her intelligence and command of her subject are compelling.