Sulakkana Weerasinghe

Philosophy 1A03

Professor Barry Allen

TA: Talene – T01

February 26, 2009

Justice: A Fundamental Value of Epicurean Philosophy

Epicurus is an ancient Greek philosopher, he practised and taught philosophy through his

school which he established in Athens during the Hellenistic period. One of the most important

concepts in Epicurus’ Principal Doctrines is the Epicurean view on justice. Justice is seen as a

virtue because a happy life is one without disturbances or anxieties, and as according to the

Principal Doctrines “the unjust life is full of the greatest disturbance” (The Principal Doctrines;

319a) therefore only a just life can be a happy one. In spite of this, the fact that Epicurean

philosophy would contradict statements made by Plato such as “Wrongdoing is in every way

harmful and shameful to the wrongdoer”; and “Do not value either your children or your life or

anything else more than goodness.” (Crito 49b, 54b; pp. 45a, 48a), as well as having statements

in its own doctrines saying that injustice is not bad, would cast doubts on how much justice is

truly valued in Epicurean philosophy. What separates the Epicurean view of justice from those

of other famous Greek philosophers is its definition of injustice, actions that in other cases would

be seen as unjust would not be viewed as such in accordance to Epicurean principals, however

this difference in definition does not suggest that Epicureans do not value justice as highly as

other schools of philosophy.

Epicureans view justice as a virtue, yet Principal 34 of the Principal Doctrines states,

“Injustice is not a bad thing in its own right,” (The Principal Doctrines; 319a) this may seem to

some a contradiction as one cannot believe justice a virtue while believing that injustice is not
also inherently bad. Nonetheless, Epicureans do not think that these two principals contradict

each other, it is true that they disbelieve that the simple execution of an unjust act is bad,

however what they view as the true evil of an unjust act is the fear and anxiety one feels after the

completion of such an act, caused by the suspicion that the act will be found out and

apprehension for the consequences that would then ensue. Thus, the two principals do not

contradict, as justice is not valued because Epicureans believe that it is inherently good, but

because a just life allows for fewer disturbances which enable one to live a tranquil and happy

life. As a consequence injustice is bad not only because it would be the wrong thing to do, but

because the resulting feelings such as fear does not allow one to live a life without anxiety and

paranoia, which in extension does not allow one to live a life of happiness and tranquility.

Therefore, justice is valued as it leads to a happy life, and injustice is not, because it is a cause of

an unhappy life.

Plato believes that “whether the majority agree or not, and whether we must still suffer

worse things than we do now, or will be treated more gently, that nonetheless, wrongdoing is in

every way harmful and shameful to the wrongdoer” (Crito 49b; 45a). This statement, which

holds the idea that disobeying the law no matter what the context is intrinsically wrong, goes

against some of the fundamental Epicurean beliefs about justice as laid out in the Principal

Doctrines. Principal 37 states “And if someone passes a law and it does not turn out to be in

accord with what is useful in mutual associations, this no longer possesses the nature of justice”

(The Principal Doctrines; 320a), this means that if a law is not fulfilling its purpose such as

stopping wrongs from occurring then it is not just, in other words a law is not innately just and

should not be blindly followed just because it is a law. The context in which Plato uses the

above statement is when Socrates is wrongly convicted and sentenced to die, when given a
chance to escape, the fact that it would be wrong to break the law is his reason for not doing so.

However, Epicurus would not agree with that statement, because the law has not seen justice

done where Socrates is concerned and consequently does not fulfill its purpose, thus the law is

not right and should not have to be followed. This view of justice makes it clear just how highly

it is valued by Epicureans as they are willing to give it more importance than that of the state and

its absolute authority.

Another statement made by Plato which is disagreeable to Epicurean philosophy was also

made while Socrates was waiting execution, “Do not value either your children or your life or

anything else more than goodness, in order that when your arrive in Hades you may have all this

as your defence before the rulers there” (Crito 54b; 48a). The first point that Epicureans would

disagree with here is making pivotal life decisions based on how they would be viewed in the

afterlife, as according to Epicurus everything that is either good or bad is related to sense

perception, and as death is the end of sense perception nothing can harm you when you do not

exist. Thus, it would not make sense for Socrates to not escape from prison out of fear for what

will be done to him as punishment in the afterlife, since once he is dead he will simply cease

existing, and since people no longer continue exist when they are dead then the lives of

themselves and their children should be paramount to any person. Secondly, Principal 32 of the

Principal Doctrines states that justice “exists in mutual dealings in whatever places there is a pact

about neither harming one another nor being harmed” (The Principal Doctrines; 319b), this

suggests that there is a contract between the state and its citizens, however in Socrates’ case the

state did not fulfil its side of the bargain, its side being to see justice done and not causing harm,

hence Socrates does not have any obligation to the state to follow its laws. The fact that
Epicureans disagree with Plato’s statement is a testament to the degree to which they value

justice as they value a happy life earned through just living than living one’s life in fear of death.

It is thus apparent, that regardless of the more lax views on laws and injustice, Epicureans

valued justice, just as much if not more than other philosophical schools. In some ways

revolutionary, Epicurean views on justice are perhaps closest to those of many present day

democracies as several values expressed in the Principal Doctrines can be seen repeated in

today’s policies. The awareness that in order to be happy one must live a just life, the insight

that a law is created by man and can thus have faults and be unjust, and that if it is so the law

should not be followed as it is does not fulfill its purpose and should be changed, make apparent

that true fairness is the goal of an Epicurean, not the facade of justice that is built around some

societies. Therefore, it is indisputable that Epicureans highly valued justice as an integral part of

any society, for they believed that it was necessary to achieve what every person lived everyday

of their lives hoping to accomplish, human happiness.

 Bibliography

Cahn, Steven M, eds. Classics of Western Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006.