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Philosophy Then

The Pleasure Principle

Peter Adamson takes pleasure in pondering ancient hedonism.

Spare a thought for the Cyrenaics. Their name remains obscure while those of other Hellenistic philosophical schools – the Stoics, Epicureans and Skeptics – have entered our everyday language. This is a shame because among those schools, it was the Cyrenaics who defended an understanding of the good life that many of us would find quite appealing: that it is natural to pursue pleasure, so that it makes sense to take pleasures as they become available.

The school’s teaching can be traced back to Aristippus, who hailed from Cyrene, in what’s now Libya (hence the school’s name). Aristippus was notorious for his self-indulgence.

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