It struck me the other day that the
philosopher Epicurus would probably have a giant problem with the modern day
quip 'No pain, No gain'. As a Stoic, his approach to life revolves
around the central idea that people need to control their will to act in accordance
with nature, while at the same time not allow themselves to be overcome by
passions. In the end the ultimate goal
in life is aponia, the Greek phrase describing the absence of pain.
My disagreement with this philosophy is the extreme to which it is taken. According to Epicurus, pain is to be avoided at all costs. On the surface this sounds like a no brainier, pain is the opposite of pleasure so why on earth would anyone want to experience it? If someone slaps you across the face, no one’s natural reaction is to turn the other cheek. In the context of the individual this philosophy makes sense, but let’s analyzes it on a bigger scope of a community.
My disagreement with this philosophy is the extreme to which it is taken. According to Epicurus, pain is to be avoided at all costs. On the surface this sounds like a no brainier, pain is the opposite of pleasure so why on earth would anyone want to experience it? If someone slaps you across the face, no one’s natural reaction is to turn the other cheek. In the context of the individual this philosophy makes sense, but let’s analyzes it on a bigger scope of a community.
Epicurus believes that everything in life should follow nature and rationality. If pain is irrational then, how come it is so frequently found in nature? Certain species of chimps have been known to fight each other, often to death, a clear contradiction of nature being succinctly ruled by rationality and the absence of pain. Likewise, we humans are far from being a peaceful lot. Murder, rape, slavery, abuse, the list goes on and on of examples where we inflict pain on one another for the sake of our own selfish desires. While thankfully not everyone practices these awful actions, the Epicurus certainly doesn’t do a good job of explaining their existence.
One of the
leading causes of pain and injustice is caused by people’s desire for retribution. There’s a snowball affect once someone is
harmed that leads to further harms and reactions. This is why I believe Epicurus is wrong in concluding
pain is always to be avoided.
Hypothetically this may sounds great, but in reality it’s simply impractical. People don’t act in every way to avoid pain,
instead they act based on self-interest overall. They weigh the benefits and the consequences
and react accordingly. Consider the profession
of the secret service. These men and women
are willing to give their lives for the sake of another person. If what Epicurus says is true, these acts of
selflessness make no sense whatsoever.
In the end
I don’t think the avoidance of pain can be the basic motivator for people. Simply put, there’s too much pain in the
world caused by people for this to be true.
Pain in certain circumstances is actually good. Athletes are motivated by the phrase ‘No
pain, No gain’ an expression that sometimes we undergo the rough to reach the
happiness. Ultimately then pain isn’t what
matters, it’s the outcome that matters.
It seems as though maybe the difference in approach, here, lies in the fact that Epicureans see pain as its own end, so to speak, whereas we may say instead that pain is in fact a means to an end. If pain is the only thing that matters, that needs to be considered, then yes, it makes sense to avoid it in the short-term. But, if pain becomes a means to an end, a necessary evil in growing stronger--indeed, an indication of growing stronger--then it is easier to comprehend why it might ever be worth undergoing it at all. Moreover, this sort of "it's worth it" thinking seems to be geared more toward long-term goals, not solely goals that are "in-the-moment."
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what Daniel is says in the contexts of the philosopher Epicurius’s opinion on pain. I believe in avoiding pain in most cases. I believe in avoiding pain for pains sake. However, many times a person has to go through some sort of pain in order to achieve something great. All great athletes must go through the pain of practicing and the physical pain of competing. They must push themselves to the limit in order to improve their performance. Those who work really hard to build businesses and retire early work really hard to create a better life for themselves. They must go through the pain of long hour, hard work and loneliness. They do it to help customers and to improve their life. So, on the outside I think I would initial agreed with Epicurius’s opinion to avoid pain, but after a closer look I don’t think any great accomplishment could have been achieved if pain had been avoided. So in conclusion, I believe in avoiding pain purpose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what Daniel is says in the contexts of the philosopher Epicurius’s opinion on pain. I believe in avoiding pain in most cases. I believe in avoiding pain for pains sake. However, many times a person has to go through some sort of pain in order to achieve something great. All great athletes must go through the pain of practicing and the physical pain of competing. They must push themselves to the limit in order to improve their performance. Those who work really hard to build businesses and retire early work really hard to create a better life for themselves. They must go through the pain of long hour, hard work and loneliness. They do it to help customers and to improve their life. So, on the outside I think I would initial agreed with Epicurius’s opinion to avoid pain, but after a closer look I don’t think any great accomplishment could have been achieved if pain had been avoided. So in conclusion, I believe in avoiding pain purpose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you wrote in your post. An example that I begin to think about while reading your post is the concept of creating life. For a female, there is something we go through by nature monthly in order to recreate one day. This is not by choice nor is it something we sign up for ultimately. This is solely due to nature and the biology of the female anatomy. So, for Epicureanism to believe that we should strive to have a life free of pain is really difficult in this circumstance. Also, when a women is giving birth, the pain is inevitable. So I think they would say that to have happiness, you would not need to give birth. This is basically frowning upon new generations of human beings just so that the “happiness” of that individual can be reached. Another example that dawned on me while reading your post is that of someone exercising because they are obese and want to lose weight. They will first degree with this individual because of their concept of over indulging. But, I wonder if they would agree that the pain this person may feel by losing the weight could make them happy in the end when they reach a decent size.
ReplyDeleteI will argue this for the sake of argument. I believe that pain is too be avoided at all times. The avoidance of pain is not a motivator of epicureans rather it is just an outlook on life and how to be happy. You cannot compare chimps to humans even though they fall under the rational and structured order of nature. Humans most certainly do as well but we are much better at controlling our basic needs, instincts and desires where as animals cannot. There will always be pain in life but humans hold the capacity to achieve a happier life by making removing pain from it.
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