Zac Benkendorf

CE-2

19 February 2015

When it comes to Stoicism and Hedonism, there are many differences between the two ways to look at life. You would think that someone who is a stoic would tell you to think about your choices in life while a hedonic would tell you to enjoy the pleasure in life, but they actually share a lot for being such different types of philosophy. First, I will talk about the differences between stoicism and hedonism. A huge difference to me is how material things in life are looked at with the two different philosophies. From the stoic outlook, using a quote, “And if you don't even take the things which are set before you, but are able even to reject them, then you will not only be a partner at the feasts of the gods, but also of their empire”(Epictetus), showing how from the stoic outlook to not desire material things in life, and that by doing this you are reaching a true point of happiness. As with the hedonic approach, “Life is wasted by delaying, and each one of us dies without enjoying leisure”(Epicurus), this to me says that waiting for things to come to you in life is a waste, that you should enjoy you life and the pleasures while you still can. So, when looked at side-by-side, stoics would say wait in life and avoid the material things, while hedonics would say just go enjoy life and get the most pleasure out of it. The next difference I think is how they look at life. From the stoic outlook, all you can change is your opinion on a matter, as for hedonics though, you should do whatever gives you the greatest pleasure with the least amount of pain. Now with the ways that stoicism and hedonism are alike. One way that I though that they were very alike was with they way they perceive death. I think from both, that they feel that you have no control over death, and to think about it is pointless. Another similarity would be the way they look at age. In both, they see an old man as more desirable then a young man. This can be seen, “since he secures in sure and thankful memory goods for which he was once scarcely confident of”, which to me means that the old man has good memories while the young man struggles through life. With these two different types of philosophy,