Hedonists, Cynics, and Stoics: Competing Theories of Happiness

Hedonists, Cynics, and Stoics: Competing Theories of Happiness

Andrew Worwood

Philosophy 1000: Intro to Philosophy

March 18, 2017

One of the most fundamental traits of the human experience is the pursuit of happiness. In fact, this attribute is so vital that it even appears to be genetic. Just think back to any interaction you have had with an infant. These new borns seem to instinctively avoid distress and pursue happiness and gratification. The concept that the pursuit of happiness is inherent in all of us is at the core of the Hedonists’ philosophy of happiness. But as the child grows, matures, and evolves so does his ideas about what constitutes happiness. This evolution of maturity is paralleled in the alternate philosophies of happiness of the Cynics, and the Stoics. The Cynics’ idea of rejecting social norms to achieve happiness are comparable to that of a rebellious teenager, and the Stoics’ more softened and realistic view of happiness is more akin to a mature adult. The similarities between the maturation of a child to an adult and the competing philosophies of happiness between the Hedonists, Cynics, and Stoics will be outlined in this paper.

Hedonism

The word “hedonism” comes from the Greek root for pleasure, hedone. Hedonism is one of the earliest, most persistent, and basic theories of happiness. This is in part why I view Hedonism as the least mature of the philosophies of happiness. This theory of happiness can be boiled down to the simple idea that one should pursue pleasure and avoid pain. Hedonists believed that “nothing that provides pleasure can be bad."¹ In this paper I will be discussing two schools of Hedonism. The first will be the Cyrenaic Hedonist, and the second will be the Epicurean Hedonist.

Cyrenaic Hedonism

Aristippus lived in a town called Cyrene, which lies on the north coast of Africa. Aristippus was clever and friendly, and as a young man went to Athens to meet and learn from Socrates.² After becoming a member of some of the most involved groups of Socrates’ followers, Aristippus began to teach. His style of teaching wasn’t exactly welcome among his Socratic friends because he charged large fees. Eventually Aristippus went back to his home town of Cyrene and opened a school that advocated the ideas of Hedonism, thus the Cyrenaic Hedonist is born. This specific brand of Hedonism advocated for pleasure that is intense, immediate, physical, and of the most quantity.³ This pursuit of immediate gratification is similar to the behavior you might see in a toddler. In fact, one of my earliest childhood memories involves me sneaking into the kitchen pantry to eat powdered Ovaltine. I had to sneak because my parents didn’t want me to ruin my appetite. But being the immature Hedonist that I was, I knew I had to have this immediate chocolatey pleasure. While I was busy with the Ovaltine, my sisters were sneaking Saltine crackers. Although these preferences were different, they are in exact alignment with Cyrenaic hedonism. This is true because Cyrenaic hedonism laid no boundaries about pleasure. To these Hedonists it seemed absurd to make a distinction between good and bad pleasure, “Whatever pleases me most at the moment is the highest good there can be.”⁴ This is a similar sentiment to hearing someone say, “Whatever floats your boat.”

Epicurean Hedonism

Epicurus was a citizen of Athens and studied with followers of Plato and Aristotle. He eventually rejected both of these teachers and referred to himself as self-taught.⁵ He eventually founded his school called The Garden, where anyone was welcome. This was especially taboo at the time because Athens was very elitist and The Garden allowed women, non-citizens, and anyone perceived to be a lesser class to enter the school and be treated as an equal. In The Garden, Epicurus taught a type of Hedonism that focused on pleasures that weren’t only physical or fleeting. To Epicurus pleasure still led to happiness, but he focused on intellectual, long-lasting, and quality pleasures. Epicurus made a distinction about the quality of pleasure because he saw that many things that can give one pleasure in the moment can, over time, lead to pain. This idea is exemplified in my Ovaltine story. Where once I searched for an immediate indulgence that would lead to me getting in trouble with my parents, now, as I was a little older, I found that if I ate all of my vegetables like my parents wanted, then I could get a dessert that was far superior to a mouthful of powdered Ovaltine. Just like the wiser child that I was knew that stomaching the distasteful vegetable could lead to decadent desserts, Epicurean Hedonism taught that enduring a little pain for a greater reward was superior to immediate subpar gratification. Even today the word Epicurean is synonymous with high-quality pleasures, as in a dessert being called an Epicurean delight because it is so rich and tasty that even a little bit is enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. The main difference between Cyrenaic and Epicurean Hedonism is quantity versus quality; Epicurean preferred the latter.

Cynicism

As bridled and matured as Epicurean Hedonism was compared to Cyrenaic Hedonism, Cynicism takes us to a new age of development. Cynicism was, in a loose sense, a philosophic school founded by Antisthenes. This school was named Cynosarges (the silver dog)⁶. The word “cynic” comes from the Greek word for dog, and the most famous advocate of Cynicism, Diogenes, was even given the moniker dog because he was said to have lived like one.⁷ What made a Cynic happy was to reject social norms, conventions, and opulence. This is why Diogenes lived in a wine barrel on a beach and once said, “When I saw a child drinking from his hand, I threw away my cup.”⁸ Cynics believed that luxury would always bring with it complications that would cause frustrations in people lives, and make them vulnerable and soft. The Cynics also distrusted society; they viewed it as corrupt and they thought that manners and other social conventions were phony and would lead people to unhappiness. This is why rejection of what society deems conventional was so important to the cynic. This rejection of convention is reflected in the attitudes of teenagers and young adults. In my teen years, I can remember wondering why I needed to wear nice clothes when going to a formal event. Or even why I would need to wear underwear at all? They would just be another item of clothing that I would need to take care of. And who said that I had to wear them anyway? And I am confident that if you have had any interaction with a teenager you have probably seen the same sentiment of rejection that the Cynics advocated for. The Cynic truly believed that the less you required to be happy, the less vulnerable you will be. The problem with the Cynics desire to reject social norms is that if everybody were to become a Cynic you would then need to reject Cynicism.

Stoics

The Stoics, like the Cynics, saw that restraint, self-control and detachment could make a person happy.⁹ And even the prominent Stoic, Epictetus, saw Cynics as a sort of ideal to strive for, but he also acknowledged that most people probably weren’t up to the rigors required of Cynics. This is similar to the way that an adult views a teenager. An adult reflects upon his teenage years as ideal and full of life, but at the same time realizes that he must pursue happiness in a more realistic and mature way. Stoics believed that a good life was a matter of chance. A good-looking person is said to have a better life but they had little to do with the looks that they received from their parents. In this way, the stoics believed that you had no control over the things that happen to you, but instead you were subject to fate. If something bad happened it was out of your control because Logos willed it to be that way.

To the Stoics, Logos was considered World Reason, God, the Cosmic Mind, Nature, and Fate.¹⁰ This idea of Logos, or Nature, was a key part of the Stoic philosophy of happiness. One of the earliest stoic writers, Seneca, had this to say, “The Stoics maintain that happiness is living in accordance with Nature…Only that which is perfectly in accordance with nature as whole is truly perfect. And Nature as a whole is rational.¹¹” Because Nature (Logos) has all the control over what happens in your life, the Stoics believed happiness can only be achieved by accepting your fate, and realizing that the only thing you can control is your attitude about your lot in life, and thus a Stoic made himself happy. Again this, to me, is a philosophy of happiness that would be scarcely found in a young mind. Instead this seems to be born from a mind that is mature and experienced in life. I have noticed in my own life that when things turn sour I can remain relatively happy and at peace if I only have the will to do so. It isn’t easy and sometimes this idea is lost in the moment, but whenever I can apply it my whole life seems less chaotic and more serene.

From a crying toddler who is unwilling to wait for gratification, to a small child willing to endure a little discomfort for superior reward. From a teenager who is rebellious in rejecting the things that society tell him will make him happy, to an adult willing to take the world as it is and realizing that the only control he has over his happiness is in his own attitude. This sort of archetypal coming of age story perfectly mimics the competing philosophies of happiness. The Cyrenaic Hedonist as the infant child, the Epicurean Hedonist as the preteen willing to delay gratification. The Cynic as the rebellious teenager, and finally the Stoic as the reasonable adult. Regardless of what stage you are at in life one thing for certain is that happiness is key and there is a philosophy to take you there.

Bibliography

Atkinson, Shannon. 2017. "In Class Notes." Philosophy 1000.

Perry, Clint. 2009. "On Happiness: Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics." Philo Sophia. March 17, 2009, Accessed March 13, 2017. https://clintperry.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/on-happiness-aristotle-epicurus-and-the-stoics/.

Soccio, Douglas J. 2010. Archetypes of Wisdom. Cengage Learning.

1^ J. Douglas Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom, (U.S.A: Wadsworth Cengage Learning 2010), 182

2^ Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom, 183

3^ Class Notes, Handout 7

4^ Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom, 184

5^ Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom, 184

6^ Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom, 187

7^ Class Notes, Handout 7

8^ Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom, 187

9^ Class Notes, Handout 7

10^ Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom, 193

11^ Clint Perry, “On Happiness: Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics,” Philo Sophia, March 17, 2009, accessed March 13, 2017, https://clintperry.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/on-happiness-aristotle-epicurus-and-the-stoics/.