Sometime during the 300s BCE, the Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote in a letter to a friend: 

“It is right then for a man to consider the things which produce happiness, since, if happiness is present, we have everything, and when it is absent, we do everything with a view to possess it.” ¹ 

It’s no coincidence that Epicurus had happiness on the brain. The times he lived in were anything but. 

Alexander the Great had mysteriously died just a few years earlier, his life cut short at just 32 years old.  His short-lived empire had fractured and civil war broke out as his four generals jockeyed for control. Long gone were the city-states and the golden age of Athens. Change and uncertainty were the new norm. 

The people of the time (Epicurus included) responded by doing what people in such times before and since have done: they looked for answers. On their mind was the burning question, in so many words: “How can we find true happiness and make sense of reality so that we don’t curl up into a ball of despair?”

New schools of thought sprang up in response, jostling to find the best answers. Three of these new philosophies in particular became influential and would endure in different forms over the coming centuries: the Stoics, Skeptics, and Epicureans.

Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism – more than ever – offer profound wisdom for our own chaotic times. Rather than clashing, each offers a unique perspective and together they all make up a more complete blueprint for living. 

Perhaps most importantly, each of these three worldviews challenges our Western culture’s obsession with achievement, status, consumption, recognition, vindication, and general nonstop frenetic activity. 

The Stoic View: Happiness is Inner Peace and Resilience

Stoicism has its roots in the philosopher Zeno, but it’s been made famous by household names like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. It’s influenced many a famous thinker over the years, from Michel de Montaigne to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

At its heart, Stoicism is the belief that we must accept the facts of reality (such as death and uncertainty) and do our best to cultivate tranquility and self-control so that we can be happy despite whatever comes our way. In the words of Seneca, one of Stoicism’s most famous adherents: “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.”

This sentiment may sound obvious, but it’s supremely difficult in today’s world. How are we supposed to not be anxious about the future when we’re faced with so many options and decisions on a day-to-day basis? How do we stay tranquil when we’re bombarded by terrible events on the news or nasty things people say to our faces or behind our backs? How do we handle the devastating loss of loved ones?

The answer largely has to do with our power to direct our own thoughts. Long before the term “internal locus of control” was coined, Epictetus wrote, “We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.”  

The Stoics understood that this was not an overnight process. Marcus Aurelius – himself one of the most famous Roman emperors to ever live – is remembered not for writing public speeches, but for keeping a journal intended only for himself to read. It was there he recorded his most acute and unfiltered reflections about reality; for him, happiness was an interior affair. “The happiness of your life,” he wrote, “depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ²

Stoicism on its own offers much to comfort, inspire, and answer the existential questions we face. It’s also arguably the most popular “brand” of Greek philosophy today. ³

But while Stoicism can more or less stand on its own, Epicureanism and Skepticism offer both vital perspectives that Stoicism lacks.

The Epicurean View: Happiness Is Living a Simple Life

Epicureanism is possibly the most misunderstood of the Greek philosophical traditions.

The word itself tends to conjure up images of hedonists lounging around on dining couches eating grapes and drinking out of goblets. The true definition is very different.

Epicurus taught his followers that the happiest life consists of pursuing pleasure, avoiding pain, and keeping our desires as simple as possible.  For Epicurus, though, pleasure doesn’t mean orgies, benders, or buying a brand-new Mercedes Benz every year.

For Epicureans, pleasure is a deep and wholesome concept. Spending time with good friends and pursuing intellectual growth, for example, are some of the best kinds of pleasure in existence.

Epicureanism’s ultimate solution to the problem of how to be happy is arguably not even in pleasure per se, but in living a simple life whittled down to only the things that are most meaningful and fulfilling (pleasure included).

Epicureanism, while it seems cozy at first glance, runs counter to much about Western lifestyle. It advocates modesty, minimalism, and a focus on personal development over external accomplishments. 

“Of the desires, some are natural and necessary, some natural, but not necessary, and some are neither natural nor necessary, but owe their existence to vain opinions,” Epicurus argues. In other words, it’s important that we learn to distinguish between the things that actually matter in life and the things that don’t.

For example, drinking water when you’re dehydrated is both natural and necessary, eating a nice farm-to-table meal isn’t necessary but it’s a natural thing to enjoy, and erecting an expensive statue for a self-serving, wealthy donor is neither necessary nor natural, but rooted in vanity. 

Epicureanism, while it seems cozy at first glance, runs counter to much about what many so-called influencers today promote. It advocates modesty, minimalism, and a focus on personal development over external accomplishments. 

The Skeptic View: Happiness Is Avoiding Dogma 

As their name suggests, the Skeptics are the most cautionary of the bunch.

Unlike the Stoics and the Epicureans, the Skeptics don’t tend to address the issue of happiness directly.  Nevertheless, they offer a type of wisdom that’s acutely missing in today’s fraught world: the importance of detachment from your own opinions. In other words, not blindly adhering to any kind of ideology or dogma.

Pyrrho of Elis, the most famous of the Skeptics — like many visionaries — was a bit of an eccentric. According to one historian, he worked so hard to question his own senses and beliefs that he often walked near cliff edges and oncoming wagons. (Thanks to the help of friends grabbing him at the last minute, he stayed safe and lived to be almost ninety years old). ⁴ 

Despite these antics, Pyrrho was well-liked and well-respected. He was honest, straightforward, and open-minded to a degree that almost defied logic. His core belief was that none of us are capable of arriving at absolute truth because of how limited the human mind is. 

In his “ten modes,” or arguments, Pyrrho lays out the challenges of establishing any kind of objective certainty. These include challenges we today often encounter, such as the fact that age, culture, and personal experience affect people’s values and the way they perceive things.

Skepticism…when taken in doses offers us a path to independent thinking, less angst over current events, and the strange but wonderful comfort of not having to be right about everything.

Of the three Greek philosophical worldviews we explore here, Skepticism is the spikiest. Regardless of your religious or political background, you may find yourself recoiling from the idea that no particular opinion or belief is better than any other. Taken to its furthest extreme, it could lead to apathy or even nihilism. 

But Pyrrho and his ilk don’t mean to paralyze us so much as they do challenge us to question our own thinking. The goal here is to detach from our views, look for flaws, and see them as an outsider might. 

Skepticism ala carte makes for a difficult worldview, but when taken in doses it offers us a path to independent thinking, less angst over current events, and the strange but wonderful comfort of not having to be right about everything.

Stoic, Skeptic, Epicurean – Or All Three?

You may find that between Stoicism, Skepticism, or Epicureanism you are drawn to one in particular. Certainly, each addresses a different aspect of the problem of happiness and existence. Therefore, each has appealed to different followers.

It certainly seems to be human nature to look for a particular label or banner to group under, something concrete that allows us to say “I am a — !” and feel a sense of belonging and understanding. 

But just as a prism is three-dimensional thanks to its multiple facets, we become more developed as individuals when we examine different views and take in the best part of each of them. Stoicism, Skepticism, and Epicureanism aren’t so much opposed to each other as they are focused on different aspects of how to be happy and stay sane in a very frustrating world.

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Read Next: Eudaimonia: A Better Word For Happiness →

1. Diogenes Laërtius. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers. Translated by C. D. Yonge, Project Gutenberg, 16 June 2018, see this link for Epicurus’s letter to Menoeceus.
2. Aurelius, Marcus, and Martin Hammond. “Meditations.” Penguin Books, April 27, 2006.
3. The Stoics have an advantage in that the writings of some of their most important contributors – Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius – have survived intact to this day. Head to your nearest bookstore and you are likely to find a copy of Aurelius’s Meditations, or Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic. This is sadly not the case with Epicureanism or Skepticism, which rely much more on secondary accounts to explain their views.
4. Diogenes Laërtius. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers. Translated by C. D. Yonge, Project Gutenberg, 16 June 2018, see this link for the life of Pyrrho