Philosophy both heavily criticised and popularised since Antiquity, Epicurus, born in Samos in 311 BC, died in 270 in Athens having established his own school thirty years earlier, places an onus on the ethical role of philosophy: to liberate us from false opinions on the gods, death and nature, which prevent us from being happy, in other words from enjoying the pure pleasure which we all long for. This liberation will be obtained through an awareness of nature, which reveals a world stripped of all metaphysical meaning and all providence, as well as a human who is vulnerable but able to lead a free rational life, the guaranteed hallmark of happiness.
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