This argument was a type favoured by the ancient Greek skeptics, and may have been wrongly attributed to Epicurus by Lactantius, who, from his Christian perspective, regarded Epicurus as an atheist.

The originator of the problem of evil is often cited as the Greek philosopher Epicurus, and his argument may be schematized as follows:

Epicurus himself did not leave any written form of this argument.

The Riddle of Epicurus, or Problem of evil, is a famous argument against the existence of an all-powerful and providential God or gods.

This type of trilemma argument ( God is omnipotent, God is good, but Evil exists ) was one favoured by the ancient Greek skeptics, and this argument may have been wrongly attributed to Epicurus by Lactantius, who, from his Christian perspective, regarded Epicurus as an atheist.

Epicurus ' philosophy is based on the theory that all good and bad derive from the sensations of pleasure and pain.

Although Epicurus has been commonly misunderstood to advocate the rampant pursuit of pleasure, he was actually after the absence of pain ( both physical and mental, i. e., suffering )-a state of satiation and tranquility that was free of the fear of death and the retribution of the gods.

For Epicurus the sovereign good was pleasure, and Descartes says that in fact this is not in contradiction with Zeno's teaching, because virtue produces a spiritual pleasure, that is better than bodily pleasure.

Following Aristippus — about whom very little is known — Epicurus believed that pleasure is the greatest good.

Epicurus ' materialist theories that the gods were physical beings composed of atoms who were unconcerned with human affairs and had not created the universe, and his general teaching that one's own pleasure, rather than service to God, was the greatest good were essentially irreconcilable with Christian teachings.

Hence, Epicurus advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one's lifetime, yet doing so moderately in order to avoid the suffering incurred by overindulgence in such pleasure.

* Epicurus, Greek philosopher, author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and retirement ( b. 341 BC )

Plethon derides Aristotle for discussing unimportant matters such as shellfish and embryos while failing to credit God with creating the universe, for believing the heavens are composed of a fifth element, and for his view that contemplation was the greatest pleasure ; the latter aligned him with Epicurus, Plethon argued, and he attributed this same pleasure-seeking to monks, whom he accused of laziness.

Epicurus and his followers defined the highest pleasure as the absence of suffering and pleasure itself as " freedom from pain in the body and freedom from turmoil in the soul ".

According to Cicero ( or rather his character Torquatus ) Epicurus also believed that pleasure was the chief good and pain the chief evil.

And even Epicurus who argues that the eudaimon life is the life of pleasure maintains that the life of pleasure coincides with the life of virtue.

Epicurus identified eudaimonia with the life of pleasure.

Epicurus identifies the eudaimon life with the life of pleasure.

But it is important to notice that Epicurus does not advocate that one pursue any and every pleasure.

Epicurus ' doctrine can be considered eudaimonist since Epicurus argues that a life of pleasure will coincide with a life of virtue.

Epicurus ’ basic doctrine is that a life of virtue is the life which generates the most amount of pleasure, and it is for this reason that we ought to be virtuous.

So whereas Aristotle would not say that one ought to aim for virtue in order to attain pleasure, Epicurus would endorse this claim.

Specifically, Epicurus pointed out that troubles entailed by maintaining an extravagant lifestyle tend to outweigh the pleasure of partaking in it.

This has led some philosophers to think that for Epicurus free will was caused directly by chance.

A further principle of conservation was stated by Epicurus ( 341 – 270 BCE ) who, describing the nature of the universe, wrote that " the totality of things was always such as it is now, and always will be ".

He left behind him a son named Epicurus, and a daughter, whom Epicurus, in his will, entrusted to the guardianship of Amynomachus and Timocrates of Potamus, to be brought up under the joint care of themselves and Hermarchus, and provided for out of the property which he left behind him.

Sedgwick had chosen to follow the philosophy of Epicurus whom, with his followers, Dante put in hell ; ;

Entering the University of Leiden he took his degree in philosophy in 1689, with a dissertation De distinctione mentis a corpore ( on the difference of the mind from the body ), in which he attacked the doctrines of Epicurus, Thomas Hobbes and Spinoza.

Marx's doctoral thesis concerned the atomism of Epicurus and Democritus, which ( along with stoicism ) is considered the foundation of materialist philosophy.

The opinion of the crowd is, Epicurus claims, that the gods " send great evils to the wicked and great blessings to the righteous who model themselves after the gods ," whereas Epicurus believes the gods, in reality, do not concern themselves at all with human beings.

Epicurus emphasized the senses in his epistemology, and his Principle of Multiple Explanations (" if several theories are consistent with the observed data, retain them all ") is an early contribution to the philosophy of science.

This triad, as well as the egalitarianism of Epicurus, was carried forward into the American freedom movement and Declaration of Independence, by the American founding father, Thomas Jefferson, as " all men are created equal " and endowed with certain " inalienable rights ," such as " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

According to Diskin Clay, Epicurus himself established a custom of celebrating his birthday annually with common meals, befitting his stature as hero ctistes ( or founding hero ) of the Garden.

Epicurus the Sage is a two-part comic book by William Messner-Loebs and Sam Kieth portraying Epicurus as " the only sane philosopher " by anachronistically bringing him together with many other well-known Greek philosophers.

With many propagators including Democritus, Epicurus, Aristotle and their followers, this theory seems to have some contact with modern theories of what vision really is, but it remained only speculation lacking any experimental foundation.

Epicurus is generally credited with first expounding the problem of evil, and it is sometimes called " the Epicurean paradox " or " the riddle of Epicurus ":

Therefore, according to Epicurus, with whom a person eats is of greater importance than what is eaten.

Epicurus seems to have had a strong sense of social contract, with justice and law being rooted in mutual agreement and advantage, as evidenced by these lines, among others, from his Principal Doctrines ( see also Epicurean ethics );

The biographies of the former begin with Anaximander, and end with Clitomachus, Theophrastus and Chrysippus ; the latter begins with Pythagoras, and ends with Epicurus.

On this matter, gives evidence that Machiavelli may have seen himself as having learned something from Democritus, Epicurus and classical materialism, which was however not associated with political realism, or even any interest in politics.

One important difference between Epicurus ’ eudaimonism and that of Plato and Aristotle is that for the latter virtue is a constituent of eudaimonia, whereas Epicurus makes virtue a means to happiness.

By contrast, Epicurus holds that virtue is the means to achieve happiness.

Rather, according to Epicurus, virtue is only instrumentally related to happiness.