That Old Time Religion

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter explores Epicurus’ distinctive and controversial views about religious belief and observance. Given the central role of piety in Epicurus’ doctrinal texts, it might seem surprising that he has been both celebrated and reviled as an atheist. Epicurus argues that gods exist because humans share a common conception of divine existence—a “basic grasp” of a perfection around which we can orient our lives and values. This commitment to the “basic grasp,” however, leads him to stridently reject some common religious beliefs as impious and unscientific. Specifically, he argues that it is impious to think that the gods concern themselves with rewarding or punishing human beings, and he denies the existence of an afterlife. Epicurus also denies that the gods create, sustain, or destroy the universe, as the universe results from the regular and sometimes spontaneous interaction of atoms. This chapter explains the reasoning underlying Epicurus’ chief criticisms of popular religion and considers what kind of religious belief and practice might remain for an Epicurean.