Final Report Epicurus Part 3 of 4

Epicurus’s views on Gods, Spirituality, and Death.

            Epicurus’s view on “religion”, like most of his ideologies, is rather unique. He believes that the gods live content lives eternally in the void of the universe and have no concern with the affairs of mankind. Which means there are no rewards after death such as heaven. On the contrary this means there is also no punishments after death, no hell, just extinction.

            Epicurus had spoke about how he saw fearing death as rational judgment, but felt that to fear death itself is absurd, since it brings nothing of it. Essentially, he believes that the fear of not being alive is more rational than the fear of death itself. Despite his view of death being that nothing comes out of it, he does believe in a type of soul.

            Epicurus believed that humans do possess a soul of some sort. However, it isn’t quite the type of soul that would be described in something like Christianity or Islam, he sees the soul as a material. This relates back to his atomic theory, in that it is composed of atoms. The soul itself is composed of very small, fine, round atoms. He believed the soul gave sensation to the body, and in return, filled the needs of having a body to exercise the function of sensing.  Going back to his view on death, he believed that when man dies, his soul is torn apart from his body, and that sense neither the soul nor body can sense apart, the essence of what makes that person is gone forever.