Plato, The Stoics And The Epicureans Views On Pleasure And Pain. Essay

Plato, the Stoics and the Epicureans Views on Pleasure and Pain. Plato, the Stoics and the Epicureans Views on Pleasure and Pain. Plato's believes that the body is nothing but constant distraction to the soul. The five senses, along with pleasure and pain are among the most distracting feature of the body because with them, one cannot search for reality. Plato viewed death as the one release from the body in which the soul is free to search with reality, since it has no contact or association with the body. Plato thinks of pleasure and pain, as something one cannot have without the other, "A man cannot have both at the same time. Yet if he pursues and catches one, he is bound to catch the other." But Plato believed that to distance your self from pleasure and pain as much as possible. On the other hand, the Epicureans believed it was natural for humans to seek the pleasant life above all other things, this included needs that are natural and necessary such as food and shelter, and often needs that were natural and unnecessary such as sexual gratification. The Epicurean philosophy did not include needs that were unnatural and unnecessary such as wealth and extreme luxury. Epicureans believed that by trying to satisfy the unnatural and unnecessary pleasures, that one would ultimately find disappointment, failure or illness in the end. Finally the Stoics believed all that occurs, happens in accordance to Natural Law. Their two fundamentals are: 1. Whatever happens is the inevitable outcome of the logic of the universe. 2. Whatever happens, is for a reason, and therefore is fore the best. According to these two fundamentals, Stoics outage on the body would be to go with whatever seems natural, and whatever it is, cannot be helped. The ideal stoic would go about life as an actor in a play, playing the roll they are assigned. If one becomes ill, the would play the part accordingly. The stoic philosophy also say to remain uninvolved emotionally in your fate, and you will live an untroubled life. If someone adheres to this philosophy, they would in essence live a pleasant life. However, the Stoic views of pleasure and pain could would be to simply accept them, and let your opinions of them get in the way. Personally, I feel the views of the Epicureans is the one I agree with the most, however they all have qualities that I believe in. The main reason I agree with the Epicureans, is for their belief that people should not go after pleasures that are unnatural or unnecessary. Although there are a few pleasures I do go for that are unnatural and unnecessary(such as the computer I am typing on.) I do think people do not have to live an extravagant life style, such as the pursuit of wealth and power. And I feel all people should get the necessary and natural pleasures fulfilled. I believed this prior to taking any philosophy courses, and I will continue to believe this for some time to come.