Epicurus is compelling, but I ultimately reject his philosophy in favor of Stoicism / Academic Skepticism for two reasons:
a) The Epicurean belief that emotional disturbance/perturbation is basically bad stymes emotional thriving. In a podcast with fellow Stoic Massimo Pigulicci, therapist and Stoic Scholar Donald Robertson points out that this idea is very close to the statement "anxiety is bad", a belief that correlates strongly with a host of pathological mental conditions/states.
b) The Epicurean aversion to anxiety pushes us away from political engagement and many other activities that root us in the murk of life.
That being said, there are still many profound insights to be gleaned from Epicurus' thought.
a) The Epicurean belief that emotional disturbance/perturbation is basically bad stymes emotional thriving. In a podcast with fellow Stoic Massimo Pigulicci, therapist and Stoic Scholar Donald Robertson points out that this idea is very close to the statement "anxiety is bad", a belief that correlates strongly with a host of pathological mental conditions/states.
b) The Epicurean aversion to anxiety pushes us away from political engagement and many other activities that root us in the murk of life.
That being said, there are still many profound insights to be gleaned from Epicurus' thought.