DEMOCRITUS PLEASURE, HAPPINESS AND CHEERFULNESS Democritus of Abdera (second half of the 4th century BC) is known today primarily for his theory of atoms, which resembles to some extent modern scientific theories. In fact, he wrote many books about a variety of topics, including ethics, natural science, mathematics, music, and technical works. Only fragments of these works have survived, many of them quotations by Aristotle (who lived about two generations later). The following are Democritus’s main fragments on the topic of...

EPICTETUS Freedom from wanting things not in our control Epictetus (55-135 AD) was a Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave, but was educated by his rich masters. He was freed as a young man, and began teaching philosophy in Rome. When the emperor banished all philosophers from Rome, he went to Nicopolis, Greece, where he lived and taught until his death.      Like other Stoics, Epictetus believed that many events in life are outside our control. We may plan as...

Aristotle was one of the most important philosophers in the history of Western philosophy. He was born in Macedonia, was a pupil of Plato, and later was a tutor of Alexander the Great. His writings are systematic, covering most...
On Happiness