A Non-Intellectualist Account of Epicurean Emotions Margaret Róisín Hampson UCL MPhil Stud 1 I, Margaret Róisín Hampson confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract This thesis argues against the orthodox, intellectualist interpretation of Epicurean emotions, in favour of what I call an Appearances View. The intellectualist interpretation takes the Epicurean fragments to suggest that emotions are essentially based in beliefs or judgements and that it is sufficient to alter an emotion by altering the relevant belief(s). I argue, however, that this interpretation is not decisive and at best only weakly supported by the texts. Further, I believe that the reading faces conceptual and textual problems that it cannot adequately respond to, and we thus have reason to seek an alternative. To develop an alternative interpretation, I consider Aristotle's discussion of habituation and virtue in the Nicomachean Ethics, for insight into how Epicurus might understand the notion of ‘accustoming’ and what model of emotion must be assumed if we think that emotional dispositions can be altered through a process of habituation. I argue that the Rhetoric and the Ethics strongly suggest an Appearances View of emotion, in which emotion is constituted by a feeling of pleasure or pain, caused by an appearance (phantasia) of its intentional object. On this view, emotion is cognitive and intentional but not intellectual. I then explore how this model might be applied to the Epicurean fragments, drawing on Epicurus’ own account of phantasia to develop an Epicurean Appearances View. I show that both Epicurus’ physics and ethical writings can support this reading, and that the account can deal with those cases presented against the intellectualist account, thus giving us reason to prefer it. Finally, I consider how this account might be applied to the case of our fear of death, and suggest that changing the appearance of death and thus removing our fear requires that we live a good, Epicurean life and in this way achieve ataraxia. 3 Contents List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................ 6 Introduction Ataraxia and Emotion .............................................................................. 7 0.1. The Epicurean Telos ......................................................................................................... 7 0.2. Achieving Ataraxia ............................................................................................................. 8 0.3. Some Points on Methodology ........................................................................................ 10 Chapter 1 Against an Intellectualist Interpretation .................................................... 13 1.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 13 1.2. An Intellectualist Interpretation ..................................................................................... 14 1.2.1. The Intellectualist Interpretation is Not Decisive ........................................................... 16 1.2.2. Infant, Animal and Recalcitrant Emotions ................................................................... 17 1.2.3. Accustoming Ourselves .................................................................................................. 20 1.2.4. Internalising Beliefs ....................................................................................................... 23 1.3. Alternative Therapy? ........................................................................................................ 26 1.3.1. Reconstructing Tsouna’s Argument .............................................................................. 27 1.3.2. An Intellectualist Response .......................................................................................... 29 1.4. Towards a Non-Intellectualist Account ....................................................................... 31 Chapter 2 Aristotle, Habituation and Emotion ........................................................... 33 2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 33 2.2. Insight from Aristotle ...................................................................................................... 34 2.2.1. Aristotle on Habituation .............................................................................................. 37 2.2.2. Aristotle on Emotion: the Appearances View ............................................................... 40 2.2.3. Habituation and the Appearances View ....................................................................... 45 2.2.4. Response to Dow ........................................................................................................... 47 2.3. Remembering Aristotle, Anticipating Epicurus ........................................................... 48 Chapter 3 An Epicurean Appearances View ............................................................... 50 3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 50 3.2. The Epicurean Appearances View ................................................................................. 52 3.2.1. Phantasia in Epicurus .................................................................................................. 53 3.2.2. The ‘truth’ of phantasia ............................................................................................... 55 3.2.3. Variance in phantasia ................................................................................................. 57 3.3. In Support of the Epicurean Appearances View ......................................................... 59 3.3.1. The Appearances View and Epicurean Ethics ............................................................. 60 3.3.2. Accustoming; Infant, Animal and Recalcitrant Emotions (revisited) ............................. 62 3.4. An Objection and Response ............................................................................................ 65 4 3.4.1. The Role of Epicurus’ Arguments ................................................................................. 66 3.4.2. Therapy for appearances ................................................................................................ 68 Chapter 4 The Fear of Death and the Epicurean Life ................................................. 72 4.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 72 4.2. The Fear of Death and Problem of Experience ........................................................... 72 4.2.1. The Appearance of Death ............................................................................................ 73 4.2.2. Altering the Appearance of Death. ................................................................................ 76 4.3. Concluding remarks .......................................................................................................... 79 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 81 i. Ancient Sources ................................................................................................................. 81 ii. Modern Sources ................................................................................................................. 82 5 List of Abbreviations DA Aristotle, De Anima DL Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers DRN Lucretius, De Rerum Natura Ep. Hed. Epicurus, Letter to Herodotus Ep. Men. Epicurus, Letter to Menoceus Ep. Pyth. Epicurus, Letter to Pythocles KD Epicurus, Kyrai Doxai LS AA.Long & D.N Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers, Vol.1 M Sextus Empiricus, Against the Mathematicians NE Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Rhet. Aristotle, Rhetoric VS Epicurus, Vatican Sayings 6 Introduction Ataraxia and Emotion 0.1. The Epicurean Telos Like many Hellenistic philosophers, Epicurus saw the practice of Philosophy not as an intellectual exercise, but as an art of living. Ethics, in particular, is characterised not as a search for moral truths, but as “about things worth choosing and avoiding and about ways of life and about the goal of life” (DL X.30); it is a deeply practical exercise, through which the philosopher aims to lead a good or eudaimon life. As Sextus Empiricus recounts: “Philosophy is an activity which by arguments and discussions brings about the happy life” (M 11.169) and Epicurus believed that if the principles formulated in his ethical writings were observed, then his followers could live a divine life on earth.1 What distinguishes the Epicureans from other Hellenistic schools, however, is their conception of the state of happiness towards which we aim. Epicurus equates happiness with pleasure, asserting that: “pleasure is the beginning and end of the blessed life. For we recognise pleasure as the good which is primary and congenital; from it we begin every choice and avoidance, and we come back to it, using the feeling as the yardstick for judging every good thing” (Ep. Men. 128). But in claiming that pleasure is the goal of human