Metaphysics

Letter to Herodotus

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Epicurus

c. 300 BC

The Letter to Herodotus is Epicurus's systematic summary of his natural philosophy — an atomistic account of the universe intended to free the mind from superstitious fear. Drawing on the earlier atomism of Democritus and Leucippus, Epicurus argues that all things are composed of atoms moving through the void, that the soul is itself material and dissolves at death, and that the cosmos is infinite and contains innumerable worlds. But the Letter's purpose is therapeutic as much as scientific: understanding nature on its own terms removes the dread of divine punishment, the terror of death, and the anxiety of the unknown. Knowledge of atoms and the void is, for Epicurus, a direct path to peace of mind.