Epicurus vs Joyless Philosophy.

Socrates famously said that an unexamined life is not worth living. I find the statement elitist, dismissive and more importantly, joyless. He clearly tried to hem and lock people with his philosophy!

To me, happiness is core purpose of human life and possibly of life in general. What you find happiness in is entirely up to you. If you get your kicks from stubbing cigarettes on foam pillows at 3 am, who is Socrates to tell you that your life is worthless?

I’d rather go with Epicurus, who instead of defining whether a certain life is worth living or not, defined happiness. He said that happiness is ‘friends, freedom and an analysed life’. He gives you enough room and a varied set of parameters to navigate your core purpose. You can, of course, add sex, cricket and sex! to the mix as you see fit.

Joyless philosophy is for joyless people. Avoid them both at all costs.

PS: Zico over Socrates any day!