02 - Epicurus on Happiness - Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness 

I had a philosophy professor whose question was, " Is Happiness passive or active?" The premise for this as is so much in this terrific series is based on being entertained, (passive) as opposed to an active state of happiness, which doesn't rely on fun. One participates in their state of mind. It's a wonderful link in this exploration of what is is to be balanced. It keeps you conscious. Thank you.

Brilliant series. Alain de Botton is a great populariser of philosophy.

In my personal pursuit of Happiness. I was lead to this Epicurean concept of happiness. Epicurus says real happiness needs these three elements. 1. Friends, 2. Financial Freedom 3. an Analyzed life. Advertisements offer this to us by association with things we can buy. Thus we pursue things over essentials. LORD help us...

this series is better than any self-help/new age book out there.

love the idea that having too much is as useful as an overflowing pot! great doc!

by accident it is the second of your videos I am watching, I love the structure of it, it is very well explained

Alain successfully fills out today's social holes with the help of ancient philosophy - that is , we hardy change

GS has that "viral" aspect to it that makes it popular. It's a well produced video about nonsense... that's what makes it endearing.

I find these mindsets frightening. They quickly become your excuses for your lack of success and you convince yourself you have accomplished the things you've wanted to... but you never had enough to feel genuiningly, personally successful.

Oh, so you kind of mean enough to live off of comfortably? I can dig that man. I think the quickest route to happiness is to be content with what you have, preferably to live with less because sometimes the stuff you own starts owning you if you aren't careful.

Excellent documentary. Makes me happy just watching it. :)

But surely understanding is inseparable from memory.

Smoking marijuana in prayer with friends, getting really high laughing unable to smoke more, then meditating together to the awesome 60s music rainbow body meditation

I agree with you on that question. I like to think that everyone achieves happiness in a different way (This is a form of happiness which is influenced by "the external world"). A more scientific way of putting this would be that everyone's brain is different (on atomic/molecular level). Since human's are nothing more than a bunch of atoms our free will is formed by atom's and currents. The result from this is that our happiness is also solely a way of satisfying our brain.

sounds like the school of life guy

its not the destination, its the journey

your reply is interesting because you've seen it from an angle slightly different from my perspective...but very valid in its own right. For me, "accomplishment" is things like scientific discoveries, artistic achievements or leaving behind an effect on the world that outlives our short lives...such as the philosophic thoughts of a man from 500 B.C. Greece I don't see Accomplishment as piles of possessions or numbers in a bank account.

Haha, don't worry I would heartily agree with Epicurus before the Keynesian school any day of the week. Theirs is one of the most destructive of all modern economic philosophies. I think the sarcasm in my comment didn't exactly come across ;)

Epicurus - The father of all hippies

Having money is very helpful towards happiness in today's world. In fact, even having more than the average person can help a lot. Money pays for health bills (even here in Canada, not everything is covered 100%, such as dentists or psychiatrists); it pays for nourishing, quality food; it allows us to provide for our families; it buys us the luxury of travel, and the time needed to do it; it pays for education, undeniably important to our happiness; and it allows us to participate in enriching activities, such as attending the symphony, seeing a play, or going camping. It's true that there are some things that are vital to happiness that money cannot buy, but, spent wisely, money provides us with the opportunity to live longer, healthier, more enjoyable lives.

I totally agree with Andrea. Y lo de escribir en las paredes Great! Tambien lo hacía otros grandes. Si se hace con cuidado, no en plan asesino en serie, puede quedar fantastico.

I think happiness can not be defined in general(for everyone), however it could be possible that those three factors make you happy;). Nonetheless happiness is found within yourself i believe.. (and here happiness isn't about being happy, but about being contempt with the life that you live at every single moment of your life)

Thank for sharing;)

That's an interesting definition of knowledge, in particular the "true" part. Does this mean that scientific knowledge is not knowledge since it has a tendency to be updated?

the good side of the conscience is a lot better than the bad side, the good side seems to eventually include all the benefits of the bad side, without its downfalls, the bad side of conscience actually has no benefits, its only illusion. if your third eye is open you realize bad isn't really even possible and you are always doing good bad only seems to occur to a not fully functional third eye. in fact conscience is not split into sides at all (an illusion perceived by those whose third eye is still reaching maturity), but is actually a circle, revealing the processes of karma. - AJNA CHAKRA

What i am not able to figure out is how come philosophy only flowered in one part of the world?. I mean what was so special about Greece?

Mr. Logicstorm -- No, not that other people decide what our happiness is.... What I mean is, so many people base their self-images on how "normal" their lives are. Yes, we can live on $1000 per year, but if we make an amount that is comparable to the rest of the population, we might be happier. Money doesn't make your life, but for some, feeling "normal"does.

Advertising probably existed as long as the sale of products. Whether it be modern adds on TV or an ancient stall owner telling you how much more the ladies will love you with his new musk ox fragrance. As long as people have sold things you can bet they had a pitch to convince you you needed their product.

Well said but I am afraid that there are some who can't or won't see or understand your point and will wrongly believe that you must be unsuccessful and envious of others success which leads you to hold on to your false bellief.

Gratitude for the suburbs, studies show that suburbs are slowly invading the cities making them nicer and less polluted big buildings are being dismantled and there are lots of wooded and forest areas interspersed among buildings. The middle class is very multicultural and very wise..  Suburbaners respect trees give to charity and live by ecofriendly methods

I want to be the person that finds Epicurus' books!

Ok I'm angry how come they put up that happiness not included poster then took it down like that's a continuity error right there and thats FACTS

Epicurus missed one important factor for happiness: Having work that satisfies your soul. My work gives my life meaning - I would not be happy without it. Most people trade their lives away in work that isn't fun or satisfying for them - thus, unhappiness.

I recommend the book happiness is a serious problem.

Firinne tha boidheach(The truth is Beautiful)

Heart Chakra is Outpouring a love eclipsing the physical world today   Impossible to fight, world peace, we must remember Israel means Heart, like Heart Chakra, then we understand, world peace

Great, but why oh why the awful, awful soundtrack?

Wow just wow.

Do you think someone can ever find happiness? and if so, does this count for everyone?

Isn't this peculiar, because I believe the same of you. I have thought about this a considerable amount and have not just 'reacted', though thought without action is useless. I don't want to assume what you believe since I don't have much information to go off of, but I assume that you believe that striving for the assertion of material wealth is a good? And that by doing so you can find happiness? If I were to attempt to vent some anger I would start by writing a journal.

why is it friends freedom and an analyzed life? what makes him think this is a complete and generalized list?

I respectfully disagree with your first proposition. To say that happiness requires conformity to the majority is to say that your happiness is in the hands of others and not just yourself, which I do not think is the case.

*sends healing energy*

Greeks and Romans gathered their knowledge from the ancient great Nubian cultures of Middle and Northern Empires. If scholarly people dug a little deeper on research as our professors should have you'd understand that they are so many African philosophers and powerful ideologies that you will never get to study.

you said that 1 month ago and now it has 39,400!

הסם אני התפּלל עבור הפיא סיפור ם כל תרבות לגדול , יש לי תוב מוסר ו להיות ב חנויות ספרים . אלהא God we pray for the fairy stories from all cultures to grow, have good morals and be in bookstores Hashem ani hikefellol avur hafeya seepor me col terebet lagudol, yesh li tov musar va lehiyyot b chanut sepharim

heavenly culture, multicultural heaven

In this age friendship is just transactional

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I COULD REFERENCE THE FRIENDSHIP QUOTE (8:20)?

Cade a legenda?

דרור לאולם אשרה אני התפּלל עבור אנשׂים שׂ לשׂכון ב ענו ו עשׂר מקומות להיות שׂוה בשׂוה שׂמח, חכם, ו בריא Asherah we pray for people who dwell in poor and rich areas to be equally happy wise and healthy

angel lauren - lucid dreams of a peaceful matriarchy with love for everyone, everyone feels intense connection with mother nature, everyone feels good relationship to their mother, everyone is nurtured, the women are respected and the creative aspect in all is respected, it is a shaman dream that also bridges to reality, only the good of the dream flows into reality none of its bad, it is caught in the dreamcatcher woven by the great mother, this is her genius, shamans are all peaceful to eachother they see they are all one being and work together, all life works together, not against itself, people percieve truly and do not waste their energies, all heritages are honored and not only tradition but new growth and evolution is allowed to occur within and among them, there is much multiculturalness and friendship, we honor spirit energy

Is work the only thing that could make your life meaningful? Perhaps you wouldn't even need to work and you could live a happy life.

Alain is not British, he is Suizo. Si tiene cara de suizo y es envidiable como se maneja en ingles frances y aleman.

hawaiian philosophy, the spirit of aloha

trance free way of life - jews yogis Buddhists and rastas speak out against hypnosis, advocating meditation in silence or sounds of nature around you with no music either live or recorded, learn how to meditate before hand, but do not listen to instructions during meditation, clear the mind completely, if a thought arises let it go without becoming involved, eventually they will stop without you realizing it, and you will be in totally clear consciousness for a few moments, and you will then realize, I am meditating! but even let go of that thought, and just continue to sit, the clear consciousness will grow longer and longer, and it will be more a part of your life. all sickness is caused by trance states, by removing trances through this kind of clear mind meditation ,over time we become exponentially healthier and more joyful, and it doesn't cost anything, nor do you need to see a teacher, descriptions on meditation can be found online or even in this very paragraph, that's all you need, no pilgrimage, none of that really exists, just meditation itself, just mind free of motion

Giving charity to someone on the street, giving charity to an organization, giving charity to the earth by ecofriendly acts or planting seeds, giving charity to children by giving good stories loving relationships, morals, interesting stuff to do giving charity to adults not making it to boring but also more time for serious pleasures, no sexual charity, giving 15 percent. giving charity to hippies, pass the bowl :) of herb that is :) karmas law

Beautiful😘

The most common Hebrew word for wisdom is chokmah (חכמה).

hedonism, individuality, non shephardic, not moving in huge herds, living as an individual, meditating

halos come with a commitment to nonviolence, morality and ecofriendly living, oh yeah and don't fall into any of the traps of the scriptures, remember, karma's law is the quickest and most complete summation of my divine principle, if you do good to others, it shall return to you, and if you do bad, it shall return to you. divine love! gnosis - YHWH

8:23

Domovoi + kikimori

I'm starting to think that he doesn't change his clothes loll

But I like eating alone. Epicurus I'll have to disagree with you lol.

Are you Epi-curious? I made 5 min...the not curious...

psychedelic karma crystals

איכות סביבה

anyone watching this because of Business Ethics Class exam XD?

And you think the majority of people have an attention span lasting 25 minutes?

I've seen it before though. People pretend that they're happy because their material accomplishments hasn't amounted to much of anything, yet they ignore this and claim that they're doing fine. They just convince themselves they're happy. >I have a family, a career, own a business, and for what? It makes me happy, but is not success. So, society is happy with you. You're happy with you. You don't consider that success? C'mon... something shouldn't be that ambiguous.

You sound like a very angry person. Not only that, but your comment is incoherent. I suggest you attempt to manage your anger through constructive means rather than youtube comments.

I hack computers for a living

big brain? He's bald? Both?

massive forehead looloolloolool

This philosophy is so amateur, I recommend you any acient asian philosophy to show how to be happy, quick example if friends are the reason of happiness what if they die in front of you or get sick, will they be the reason of you sadness? Same object cannot be a reason of 2 diferent things, your mind tricks you...happiness is controling and obsering your mind and not being your mind.

.Love1another. what must I do to be saved? And they said, BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts16:30 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that BELIEVES on me hath everlasting life. John6:47 And he that believes NOT the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John3:36 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not BELIEVED? Romans10:14 i cannot BELIEVE unless i repent of my unbelief. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. .B E L I E V E.

Epicurus Philophphy strikes a cord in me. I think about my future a lot. I think about which to prioritize, Money or Happyness. All of the jobs that bring me excitement also will bring me into poverty. But happiness matters so much more. Another thing I struggle with is happiness in my own life. When I think about the places and times that make me happy I realize that all three rules are met. I need to now figure out how to meet those rules in my own life.

I wish we had more of his work.

don not lease a car , stay in university as long as you can, if you buy a residence, do not go by American standers( big big) and exercise and read .period

advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. - fight club

well not directly; this includes other factors and other means. because we have bodies, we need security to be happy. money is one of the means to provide security (of course there are other alternatives like living in the forest and be self sufficient where currency is not valuable). However, there are numerous studies show that there is a certain point where money provides you with happiness but it becomes stagnant at a certain level of wealth acquisition.

Being happier with less is so very important for those that have very little to those that have more than they need. I agree with your post and hope that humanity can learn that material goods are more of a hindrance to happiness than a path to happiness as many wrongly presume.

This show was made 13 years ago, that means social networks didn't exist yet. I bet he today would make a different approach about the theme of happiness with the way our society is influenced by facebook.

The best philosophical piece i have read so far.. Quite insightful...

Epicurus was wrong, according to the Keynesian school of economics. If we don't go out and spend our money on things we don't need, our credit card bill will be lower. The ensuing reduction in consumption spending will cause aggregate demand to collapse and imperil the fragile economic recovery. This would cause net unhappiness to increase sharply.

EPICURUS IS MY NIGGA

Gratitude for Epicurus in Maryland, USA

why is this guys forehead so big?

Don't be sad my friend for we are not all lost and there is people starting to look in the right place each and everyday! I think sharing good news daily with ones peers is a fantastic idea. - one love my brother

That's the way it should be. Can you imagine a world in which everyone thinks in an individual manner?

14:44 look at the top of his head

maybe this is where we get the saying "written in stone" !!!

>Shows you videos of 21st century Greece that has absolutely nothing to do with ancient Greece

What if I can't make friends?

On a more realistic level, this means that happiness cannot be achieved by everyone according to the same ideology. Everyone's brain is different due to different experiences and inherited features(nature/nurture).

God caused modern people to have very high intelligence combined with a very high morality (UNABLE TO BE PROGRAMMED BY CULT LEADERS BUT SEEING DIVINE FROM SELF REVELATION), freedom combined with the intentions to use it for collective good, not for harm, everyone wanting to live by karmic law, in a nonviolent way, honoring the sacred in all beings, and life forms, not exploiting any, using technology, but not abusing it for frivolous purposes that don't make sense, but to make ourselves more in harmony with nature, and valuing meditation and organic technologies, to raise the abilities of the spirit, not in a laboratory setting but in a wholistic soulful setting of humility and awe in the divine love of God Shekinah, we realize our oneness with nature and cause the thriving of earth as well as our own species. God causes there to be multicultural ethnic families and no racism, though we learn about racism, as a test of morality, but in the end, we graduate to the adult world where such things are dispelled, all peoples acknowledge oneness among diversity in modern times. God is love. all religions are okay, as long as its moral, mysticism is common. God causes meditation, God is the silent mind without stories without concept, basking in divine love, that sees all beings all experience and creation as one

celestial beings, blessed ones, and abiders of karmas law (all by yogic kriya) listen to my well-founded morals: kindness for animals, free them from cages, let them roam free, where they would like, befriend them without binding them, this is the way of tao (power of now) , and true friendship, just because we are different doesnt make us superior, a friend doesnt hold a friend back to be with them, but lets them come and go as free as the wind. in the end God makes us all equal, because all parts of God can equate to God, or it wouldn't be truly God, hence we must respect animals, just as we respect all races, all have a peice of the puzzle that is Being, nothing is devoid of spirit, or god's wisdom. (honoring divine feminine - know that if you dream it, and try your best, an angel will cause it, even if you cant directly, just remember to leave signs in public places for what you want, animal rights, respect for the spirit of the animal, and all forms and expressions of life) -

Karmic Lawyer - Living according to a moral code that acknowledges karmic law, that good deeds causing longterm joy and wisdom cause good rewards, whereas bad deeds, causing longterm sorrow and foolishness, cause bad reward. Practicing optimism, and enjoying the good feeling of practicing a good deed, as well as knowing that in benefitting another we also benefit as well.

only buy nonmasic/secret society kabbalah teachings in terms of aesthetic, we don't build temples but see the forest as divine all the earth is blessed, think karmic wholeness rather than labeling, feel free to change phrases in books you read, especially religious books if the characters or storyline goes against karmic law, by harming or endorsing harm, this is the art of lucidity, and the kabbalah, to plant a tree is the temple, not to build with stone