On Epicurus’ View Of Virtue

Virtue is an important part of ethics research.The study of virtue has become a hot issue in western ethics research in the second half of the 20 th century.As one of the earliest materialist philosophers in ancient Greece,Epicurus’ philosophy is also full of a large number of studies on virtue,his view of virtue has certain theoretical significance and practical value.This paper adopts the method of literature research and the combination of Marxist historical materialism and dialectical materialism.Focusing on Epicurus’ view of virtue,this paper is divided into five parts: the first part is the introduction.This paper discusses the necessity,feasibility,innovation and value of Epicurus’ view of nature from four aspects: the proposal of the problem,the research summary,the research method,the innovation and the shortcomings;The second part is the historical background and theoretical origin of Epicurus’ view about nature.In terms of historical background,this paper discusses the political,economic and cultural background of Epicurus’ era,as well as his special personal life experience,according to the universality and particularity of Epicurus’ historical background.In the aspect of theoretical origin,it discusses the natural philosophy of Democritus,the hedonism of Cyrenaic and the virtue of rationalism;The third part is the theoretical basis of Epicurus’ view of nature,which systematically discusses the three pillars of Epicurus’ philosophy system.namely,the principles,natural philosophy and ethics.Among them,the three standards of truth,feeling,preconceived concept and emotion,are discussed in the theory of principles.Natural philosophy includes a series of theoretical achievements,such as atomism,spiritualism and atheism.In the part of ethics,The essence of happiness have been discussed,and the significance of ethics have been explained;The fourth part is the content of Epicurus’ view of virtue,summarizing the category,essence,purpose and cultivation of virtue.On the category of virtue,this paper sums up the connotation and extension of virtue,and divides virtue into rational virtue and ethical virtue,on the basis of soul theory.As for the essence and purpose of virtue,the essence of virtue is "moderation",and the purpose of virtue is to help people achieve physical and mental peace.As for the cultivation of virtue,this paper discusses the ways of obtaining virtue,the factors of obtaining virtue and the methods of cultivating virtue,and introduces in detail the quality and characteristics of the ultimate goal of virtue cultivation-"the sage";The fifth part is the historical value and ideological limitations of Epicurean virtue.In the historical value of virtue,discusses the inherit and historical development of Epicurean view of virtue by the utilitarian school in England and the encyclopedia school in France in the 18 th century.In terms of ideological limitations,from the standpoint and method of Marxist historical materialism,discusses the individualism tendency in Epicurus’ view of nature,which separates the relationship between individuals and society,and ignores the comprehensive and free development of human beings.Since the beginning of the 21 st century,China’s economy has developed at a high speed.However,while the material is greatly enriched,some people lost their moral compass due to the material desire,the spiritual world of people is deficient.Epicurus’ view of virtue is the aspect of Epicurus’ ethics.His ideas of pursuing simple material satisfaction,treating his desire with prudence,and dispelling inner panic with knowledge still have a certain reference value,it is good for people to build a harmonious society and a happy life.