Hellenistic principle
Hellenistic principle
The foundation of the Hellenistic schools (such as Stoicism) can be found in the practical beliefs of the Hellenistic period. Understanding these principles helps not only to contextualize the schools, but also ensures to keep the prior goals of the schools in focus.
The primary practical goal throughout the era is individual happiness, or eudaimonia. The specific practical principle of Hellenistic philosophy that guides a person on its path to happiness can be stated as follows1:
In order to have what you want, you need to want what you have.¹
The truth of the principle can be understood by acknowledging the contraposition: If I want something I do not have, I am unhappy. By cutting this root of all mental evil – wanting more than one has – happiness can be achieved. That is so, the Hellenistic philosophers argue, because the state of not craving for more than one has results in a peaceful inner state that is happiness.
But why am I happy when there is nothing more I need? And how do I actually achieve this state of not wanting more than I have?
While each Hellenistic school is guided by the Hellenistic principle, each gives its unique answer to questions that arise. The answers to these are sophisticated and need some elaboration. Understanding the answers is a big part of understanding the system of each school. And while they all differ in their specific response, what unites Stoa, Epicureanism and Pyrrhonian Skepticism Hellenistic principle, based on which they shall be interpreted.
There are basically two ways to achieve the goal behind the Hellenistic principle:
- (i) by maximizing need satisfaction or;
- (ii) by minimizing needs, in the first place:
One can try to have either as much satisfaction as possible or as few needs as possible. The modern era took the first path, through the mastery of the external world, Hellenism took the second, through the mastery of the internal world. And since today doubts arise against the correctness of the first and many recognize a contradiction in it, because the technical subjugation of nature on the one hand opens the possibility of a higher quality of life, which it destroys again on the other hand, Hellenism comes to new topicality.2
Summarizing, Hellenistic philosophy as a whole is about minimizing the needs a person has, rather than controlling things external to a person. The promise is that it is wholly in our hands (or rather minds) to be happy, be the external things as they may.
Read further on how this can be accomplished and why it leads to happiness:
I: The Stoic way. → The Stoic slogan