Chapter 7 Goals

7.1 Epicurus

• Define Hellenistic era, hedonism, Epicureanism, and atomism.
• Explain what Epicureanism is and how it differs from popular misconceptions of it.
• Understand Epicurus’s concept of pleasure and why unrestrained pleasure is to be avoided.
• Know why Epicurus says that death and the gods are nothing to fear.
• Explain why Epicurus thinks that pleasure is our ultimate aim.

7.2 Epictetus

• Define Stoicism.
• Explain why Stoicism has been so important in the history of philosophy.
• Summarize the historical beginnings of Stoicism and the facts of Epictetus’s life.
• Understand why Stoicism maintains that people of true Stoic virtue cannot be wounded by things external to their souls.
• Explain the Stoic observation that some things are and are not up to us and how the notion supports Stoicism.
• Respond to the claim that the Stoic ideal is total impassiveness.

7.3 Sextus Empiricus

• Define skepticism and appearances.
• Explain the distinction between appearance and reality.
• Understand how skeptics can maintain their skepticism and still live a normal life.
• Critically examine at least five of Sextus’s ten arguments for skepticism.