Epicurean Week of Living Philosophically

As I first read about Epicureanism, I had my doubts. At first glance the description does seem to invoke a sense of hedonism, which does not align particularly well with my life style. But upon reading further I can see how the two philosophies differ. I think that there’s a sort of stigmatism around a philosophy that’s based on appreciating all of the good things of life. This is likely because of the way that people are familiar with hedonism. But learning more about epicureanism really allowed me to find distinctions between the two. In many ways, I do live a slightly epicurean style life. I’ve always been an avid enjoyer of good food, which is not always a necessary pleasure but certainly falls into the category of natural yet unnecessary desires. I appreciate the philosophy is centered around enjoyment of life but not in the excess of these pleasures. Appreciating the finer parts of life without over indulging definitely appeals to me and my sensibilities. I like to live generally in moderation because I know that not controlling yourself can be unhealthy, but I like that Epicureanism still finds rooms for pleasure-giving endeavors.

I have definitely found that the simple things in life can be the most fulfilling. Friends, family, nature, and food are some of the things that I enjoy most in life. Based around my understanding of Epicureanism it feels like these fall in line with what they dictate.

I started my week of living philosophically on Monday after class when we were told that we could do the other philosophy as an actum. I was interested in learning more about Epicureanism, especially since I felt that I related to the core philosophy of Stoicism. I found this week to be equally fulfilling but in a different way.

The activity that I found most challenging was the Botticelli “The Birth of Venus” appreciation. Typically, when I visit museums I like to go through them fairly quickly. If a painting or work of art catches my eye I’ll linger for some time, but certainly never for 10 minutes at any time. I’ve always chosen mostly engage with movies, television, or music as my preferred art forms. Paintings as a visual art tend to elude me slightly, as I feel I don’t always get as much out of them as others. Observing the Botticelli painting for a full 10 minute setting definitely did not come easily to me. To be completely honest, if I were to see this painting in a museum I likely wouldn’t have lingered on it for more than a minute. All of this being said I do feel that I gained something from the experience.

I found that I had a greater appreciation for the painting as I was forced to observe every bit of it. At first glance, the painting feels quite simple. There are four visible characters and one clear intended subject. But as you look deeper into it, there’s much more beyond a surface level. I observed the flowers/petals floating around Venus, the details of her seashell, the patterns of the waves behind her. And while all of these were relatively simple as well, they came together to form a pretty beautiful image. I would not have thought that there would be more to find beyond the original look. I think that I’m generally good at finding beauty in simplicity, but as I found out from this activity there’s always more to learn

At the end of the week I came back to this activity again to see what I had gained. While I’m not sure that I found any more detail or beauty than the first time that I performed this activity, I did feel like I already had a greater appreciation for the painting. Obviously there’s only so much that can change in a week, and I’m not saying that I now have a completely altered outlook on paintings, or beauty. But, I think spending so much time with this one painting has given me a very unique relationship to it. I think that in the future I will look through the resources on how to continue engaging with Epicureanism as I truly appreciated this experience.

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