One of these movements included the Epicureans. They followed Epicurius who said, “that happiness, that is pleasure, consisted in performing right and moral actions for their own sake” (Cicero, 11). To be clear, the Epicureans held no distinction between happiness and pleasure. They believed that the highest good is static pleasure, which is the absence of all pain. In this system, virtue is merely a consequential good that is used to obtain pleasure. Cicero states, “then virtue and knowledge will turn out to be desirable in themselves, and that is something which Epicurius would utterly reject” (Cicero, 12). Cicero goes on to explain how each of the major virtuous lead to happiness. Justice brings pleasure because injustice is not worth the trouble. If one commits an unjust act, they can never be certain they will not be punished and they will live in fear of that punishment. Courage brings pleasure because one will not suffer the pain of fear, for example, the fear of death. Temperance allows us to act on wisdom, and wisdom allows us to choose which pleasures are worth going after. So, for the Epicureans, the virtuous allow us to obtain pleasure, and pleasure is
One of these movements included the Epicureans. They followed Epicurius who said, “that happiness, that is pleasure, consisted in performing right and moral actions for their own sake” (Cicero, 11). To be clear, the Epicureans held no distinction between happiness and pleasure. They believed that the highest good is static pleasure, which is the absence of all pain. In this system, virtue is merely a consequential good that is used to obtain pleasure. Cicero states, “then virtue and knowledge will turn out to be desirable in themselves, and that is something which Epicurius would utterly reject” (Cicero, 12). Cicero goes on to explain how each of the major virtuous lead to happiness. Justice brings pleasure because injustice is not worth the trouble. If one commits an unjust act, they can never be certain they will not be punished and they will live in fear of that punishment. Courage brings pleasure because one will not suffer the pain of fear, for example, the fear of death. Temperance allows us to act on wisdom, and wisdom allows us to choose which pleasures are worth going after. So, for the Epicureans, the virtuous allow us to obtain pleasure, and pleasure is