Pleasure and Human Good in Epicurus

In this paper, I argue that Epicurus is a psychological hedonist but not an ethical one. Though he holds a unitary conception of pleasure, he also maintains a distinction between kinetic and katastematic pleasures. This is designed to serve diagnostic purposes by identifying categorially distinct psychological conditions in which an agent may experience pleasure. I show that the evidence does not commit Epicurus to ethical hedonism but rather provides grounds for doubting it. I then sketch a proposal regarding Epicurus’ conception of the human good. Though not hedonistic, this conception does justice to Epicurus’ well-attested preoccupation with pleasure and pain by pointing to these feelings as the only reliable epistemic tool available to humans in pursuing their final end. Finally, this conception identifies the individual human being’s phusis as the fundamental bearer of value.