Security

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According to Epicurus, security is a natural precondition for happiness: it means safety from wild beasts (admittedly, a more pressing reality in Epicurus' own era than nowadays) and hostile people.

Epicurus admitted some usefulness to power (e.g. political power, or social standing), if it procured one security. This deliberately limited usefulness of public office is outlined in Principal Doctrine 6, while the similar benefit of social standing in Principal Doctrine 7; in both cases, security is the true, underlying desideratum.

Yet by far the greatest contributor to one's security, according to Epicurus, is friendship, as friends can be called upon to assist and protect one in times of need and danger.

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