EPICURUS AND HIS SCHOOL
Epicurus, though the apostle of hedonism, and heir of the Cyrenaics, taught a doctrine of wealth somewhat similar to that of the Stoics.[[903]] His “happiness” consisted in living a simple and prudent life. He taught that spiritual wealth is unlimited, and that the wise are contented with things easy to acquire (εὐπόριστα);[[904]] that external wealth, on the other hand, is limited,[[905]] and that it is not increase of possessions but limitation of desires that makes truly rich.[[906]] He believed the simplest food to be best,[[907]] both for pleasure and for health, that many wealthy find no escape from ills,[[908]] that he who is not satisfied with little will not be satisfied with all,[[909]] and that contented poverty is the greatest wealth.[[910]] In accord with his teaching, he seems to have lived very simply.[[911]] However, he did not go to the extreme of the Cynics and Stoics, but taught that the wise will have a care to gain property, and not live as beggars.[[912]] He exhibits no tendency toward communism, but rather toward the extreme individualism of the Sophists, and was in sympathy with their social contract theory.[[913]] Later Epicureanism degenerated by taking the hedonistic principle of its founder too literally. Like the Sophists, the school has influenced modern economic thought through its conception of justice, as a mere convention for mutual advantage.[[914]]