I would say that most children and young adults are Epicureans. We are at an ambitious time period of our lives. So naturally, we will pursue goals that give us pleasure, and avoid those that bring us pain. Stoicism on the other hand, seems to grow with age. For example, working adults tend to find a certain pleasure in grinding away long hours so as to earn money to fuel their family’s well being.
There are points to be made from each type of philosophy. A young athlete talented in football may dominate on the field with ease. He takes pride in his talent, and how it enables him to succeed over his peers. His Epicureanism side loves this edge of life, and has no reason to complain. However, this athlete may find the academic side of his life to be very challenging, and prefers not to put himself through the stress of keeping up with his school workload. A Stoic would thrive in this situation, and push through the academic stress so that at the end of the day he would be able to take pride in his academic success.
Personally, I believe that these two philosophies go hand in hand with life. The fact of the matter is, when happiness is placed in front of us whether it be in one form or another, it is almost certain that the steps we take to obtain this happiness will vary between our many different experiences.
I think it might be more accurate to say that we abandon the Hedonistic ideal of “pleasure now” for what appears to be the Epicurean ideal of “long term pleasure is better (because there’s less pain in the end)” as we get older. When students are told at B-CC to “think, learn, serve, and be responsible” they’re essentially being encouraged to consider the long term—sacrifice now, and pleasure is around the corner (in the form of a great college and career).
ReplyDeleteBut is this REALLY an Epicurean approach? There seem to be plenty of college grads and working adults who are depressed about the course their life has taken—which suggests that they miscalculated somewhere along the line.
The adult world doesn’t seem to be advocating a Stoic approach, either. We’re not really taught that pleasure isn’t a good goal like a Stoic, only that long term pleasure will only come with sacrifice.
So the real question is what philosophy are teenagers heading into adulthood actually adopting? Maybe something that should be called Careerism: the vague idea that college + career = happiness.
True Epicureanism only works if you take the time to figure out for yourself what long term happiness looks like. And the only way you’re going to figure this out is to get to know who you truly are. The good news is, you’re now in a course that allows you to think about exactly that.