"………. at its heart Epicureanism is a philosophy for drop outs. Epicurus postulates that the pursuit of advancement in whatever domain almost inherently involves an attempt at wielding power which is diametrically opposed to the
pursuit of ataraxia. Yet refusing to excel in some activity which
allows us to exercise a talent, even an interest, goes against the grain of human nature and therefore dooms us to another kind of unhappiness. So there does seem to be a conundrum here.
Courtesy of Tom Merle, of California, on the Yahoo discussion group
Conundrum, maybe, but the core problem is that there are different kinds of power if power is understood as the ability to influence the will of another human being. There is social, religious, economic, political, military, and intellectual power. No human can escape that realitiy. Some kinds of power are diametrically opposed to ataraxia and others essential to it.
The question is how to obtainhappiness without striving for happiness? How to achieve satisfaction without becoming attached to the satisfaction; I imagine that if we could just live in the immediate and let things come to us naturally, that would be lasting satisfaction; very difficult not to think of the past or future though.It seems that humans have the ability to plan and set goals, which are perhaps necessary for future happiness, but also can entangle us in a web that causes unhappiness.
Interesting post, especially since I’m strongly considering “dropping out” of my academic career path and pursuing a career/job that is more conducive to the cultivation of ataraxia.
I think one can exercise a talent (music, for example, or scholarship in my case) without seeking professional advancement. They’re not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, making a career out of something you’re good at can make you so sick of it that you don’t want to do it anymore.