Epicurus is one of the prominent philosophers during the Hellenistic era between 341 and 270 BC. Epicurus was an ancient Greek sage who founded Epicureanism, one of the most influential philosophical schools. Epicurus was associated with the interaction of low-class people and allowed women and slaves to join his school. According to Epicurus, the primary purpose of philosophy was to increase people's happiness through hope and have strong faith ( Vaughn, 2017) . Epicureanism contends that pleasure is an essential aspect of life, and everyone should have the chance to have it. Epicureanism's desire advocated for harmonious and peaceful living where people do not go through the suffering that as a result of overindulgence. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reasons of Epicurus' significant concepts, mainly metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.
Reasons for Epicurus' Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics
Epicurus was mainly focused on metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics philosophical concepts to examine the fundamental nature of reality.
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Metaphysics
Epicurus supposed that the main components of the world are microscopic bits of matter moving in space. Epicurus' metaphysics aimed to examine the essential nature of truth, particularly the connection between the human mind and matter. Epicurus believed that ordinary objects are accumulations of many atoms ( Raymaker et al., 2013) . The features of macroscopic particles are elaborated in terms of the collisions and entanglement of the atoms.
Epicurus explains the existence of his metaphysics in two significant points, which argues that there are bodies in motion and that nothing can come into existence from nowhere. Epicurus' first point is mainly seen as a datum of experience, while the second point is considered a commonplace of ancient Greek philosophy, which is based on the principle of sufficient reason.
Epicureanism argues that because people move, there is sufficient space they move in to occupy. Epicurus referred to the space as void and the ordinary bodies as compound bodies that comprise other bodies that are broken down into smaller particles. Nevertheless, Epicurus argues that the sub-division of these bodies does not occur indeterminately because they can easily break entirely to nothing ( Vaughn, 2017) . Besides, Epicurus adds that there must exist basic and unchangeable building blocks of matter that helps in explaining the regularities in nature. Epicurus summarizes the existence of atoms and void that only bodies and void exist per se , and they do not depend on the presence of any other bodies or something else.
Since Epicureanism believes that the existence of everything must have an origin, he argues that the universe has no origin or beginning and existed and will exist forever and ever. Similarly, because atoms are the main building blocks of everything, they do not have a basis but exist naturally ( Raymaker et al., 2013) . Unlike Aristotle, Epicurus reasons that the universe does not have a definite size meaning it is unlimited in scope. According to Epicureanism, suppose the universe was limited in size or has a definite end; people could go to its end or be able to separate between the end of the universe and space. However, it is impossible because the universe is unlimited.
Furthermore, Epicurus's metaphysics talks about the differences from Democritus. Epicureanism is primarily based on the concept of Democritus, a pre-Socratic philosopher and among the atomism investors ( Raymaker et al., 2013) . Epicurus modified Democritus' atomism into three main ways including weight, swerve and sensible qualities. Epicurus believes that atoms have defined weight, shape, property of size and resistance. Secondly, Epicurus believes swerve to the size during collision and the natural tendency of atoms make them fall straight downwards at a uniform speed ( Raymaker et al., 2013) . Epicurus' third assumption is that qualities such as sweetness and whiteness do not exist at the atomic level because the individual atoms are not sweet; however, such properties exist.
Epicureanism does not believe in the existence of divine providence. As a result, it was charged in ancient times; it was referred to as the philosophical concept. Epicurus' theological concept is certainly negative however, Epicurus' mechanistic description of nature illustrates the appeal and will of God.
Epistemology
Epicurus' epistemology is determinedly pragmatist and ant-skeptical. It talks about three canon comprising sensations, feelings and preconceptions. According to Epicurus, human knowledge eventually comes from the senses and senses can be trusted if properly used ( Vaughn, 2017) . Epicurus' canon is a unit of measurement of human intelligence and the ability to acquire knowledge. Epicurus argues that sensation provides information about the external world. It enables people to interpret the world and make a proper judgment based on the sensations. However, Epicurus argues that people must possess certain concepts that allow them to reason upright before making any judgment ( Vaughn, 2017) . On the other hand, Epicurus argues that internal and external factors influence feelings and preconceptions. The internal factors include individual attitudes and behaviors, while the external factors entail the environment in which a person lives.
Epicurus' anti-skeptical arguments are mainly concerned with refuting the skeptical tendencies of Democritus, whose metaphysics. Epicureanism discusses three anti-skeptical arguments, including the lazy argument, the self-refutation, and the argument from concept-formation ( Vaughn, 2017) . Under the lazy argument, Epicurus contends that it is impossible to believe or live as a skeptic. He adds that suppose people think that they know anything and should not engage in any activities requiring reasoning or creativity. Besides, Epicurus argues that if skepticism believes that nothing can be known, people should question whether they know that nothing can be known. In case the person gives a positive response, then he is opposing himself ( Betz, 2019) . Lastly, the argument from concept-formation argues that if the skeptic believes that people know nothing and cannot know the truth, then it is challenging about the knowledge. Such instances infer that people cannot rely on human senses. As such, it will be difficult to the truth about what is happening due to the lack of senses.
Ethics
Under ethics, Epicureanism focuses on factors that directly influence the well-being of human beings. Epicurus' ethics exist in the form of egoistic hedonism. The main components Epicurus talked about under ethics include hedonism, psychological and ethical, type of pleasure, type of desire, the virtues, justice, friendship, and death ( Campos-Daroca, 2019) . According to Epicurus, people must undergo these to live an entire life. For example, people must seek justice, have friends and die as an important rite of purchase. Epicureanism adds that people always need the fulfillment of their desires and pleasure to make them complete.
Conclusion
In summary, Epicureanism is an ancient Greek philosophy based on the existence of matter. According to Epicureanism, main components of the world are microscopic bits of matter moving in space. It argues that there must exist basic and unchangeable building blocks of matter to explain regularities in nature. Epicurus does not believe in the existence of divine providence. The Epicurean concept was charged in ancient times; it was referred to as the philosophical concept, and is negative but its mechanistic description of the nature illustrates the appeal and will of God. Epicurus' epistemology is determinedly pragmatist and ant-skeptical. It talks about three canon comprising sensations, feelings, and preconceptions. Epicurus contends that it is impossible to believe or live as a skeptic.
References
Betz, M. (2019). Living Philosophy: A Historical Introduction to Philosophical Ideas. Teaching Philosophy , 42 (3), 297-300.
Campos-Daroca, F. J. (2019). Epicurus and the Epicureans on Socrates and the Socratics. In Brill's Companion to the Reception of Socrates (pp. 237-265). Brill.
Raymaker, J. A., Grudzen, G., & Holland, J. (2013). Spiritual Paths to an Ethical and Ecological Global Civilization.
Vaughn, L. (2017). Living Philosophy: A Historical Introduction to Philosophical Ideas (p. 480). Oxford University Press.
