FREE ESSAY ON FREEDOM, ACCORDING TO EPICETUS

FREEDOM, ACCORDING TO EPICETUS

Freedom, according to Epictetus
In the Handbook of Epictetus, freedom is used, or described in a very vague term. In
example thirty-four, Epictetus describes freedom in terms of your desires. He states that
when you encounter pleasure, you should not be overcome by it. He also says you should
think of how you feel when the pleasure is over. He says after the pleasure you might
regret it, and then how would you feel? 
Epictetus describes freedom, by saying freedom is not being under the power of another
person. Freedom also means you own your passions and desires. In other words, if you are
free, you will never set yourself up to be hurt by another human being. So, in the
example, if you never feel pleasure, or never give into your desires you are not only
free, but you will never get hurt. In my opinion, every human being is going to give into
pleasure for the simple fact that humans enjoy pleasure, and are not strong enough to
never give in to our desires. Humans would drift through life basically lifeless.
Pleasure and desires are what we live for. If we were to go through life never feeling
pleasure, what kind of world would this be? 
Epictetus might respond to this a very simple way. He might say this world would be a
wonderful place, because no humans would ever have their feelings hurt. If you never have
your feelings hurt, you can not treasure the good feelings. So, again, people would drift
through life as zombies, never knowing what giving in to their desires feels like. Many
people would go crazy. After all, is it not better to have loved and get hurt, than to
have never loved at all? If humans never love, than they are not giving in to their
desires either. Epictetus is basically asking something that is impossible. Humans must
give in to their desires, and feel pleasure in order to go on in this world.