Principal Doctrine 20

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Translation

Bodily pleasure seems unlimited, and to provide it would require unlimited time. But the mind, recognizing the limits of the body, and dismissing apprehensions about eternity, furnishes a complete and optimal life, so we no longer have any need of unlimited time. Nevertheless, the mind does not shun pleasure; moreover, when the end of life approaches, it does not feel remorse, as if it fell short in any way from living the best life possible.

Analysis

Developing the statement made in Principal Doctrine 19, Epicurus identifies the "culprit" of our misconceptions about the pleasures, our common habit of thinking of them as capable of infinite prolongation: it is "the flesh", i.e. the unthinking body that, having experienced the "sweetness of pleasure" (Lucretius' blanda voluptas), misunderstands the pleasures to be infinite, and thus similarly infinite the amount of time in which they can be experienced fully.

The mind, on the contrary, has understood the matter correctly, counter-argues Epicurus. The ruling intellect has gone through a process of step-wise enlightenment:

• First, it has understood the true "end" or "goal" of the body, namely to not be hungry, thirsty, cold, etc.; it has also understood the limit of those needs.

• The mind has also dispelled all fears and anxieties pertaining to eternity, which, for Epicurus and his followers, is simply irrelevant to the individual. (This notion is "imported" from other teachings of Epicurus, and is not elaborated here; it is taken up again in the following Principal Doctrine 21.)

• Combining the two realizations above, the mind has concluded that there is no need whatsoever for infinite time in order to be happy, and has thereby procured the "perfect life" for those who reason and are not misled by the stimuli of the body alone, pining for ever more time; the wise have no need for that.

• Yet the wise man does not espouse any ascetic ideal, either, fleeing pleasure altogether; he enjoys the pleasures of life --modestly, of course-- and, when the time comes for him to face his own, inevitable demise, he does not lament the fact that his time is over, knowing full well that more time would have hardly meant more pleasure. He dies happy, convinced that he has not missed any part of the very best life, of the life that, literally, "satisfies all goals".