Discuss the philosophy of Epicureanism and Stoicism.

What will be an ideal response?

Epicureanism is based on the theory of Epicurus, who believed that fear, particularly fear of death, was responsible for all human misery and that the gods played no part in human affairs. All things, he argued, are driven by the random movement of atoms swirling through space. Thus, life can be enjoyed with complete serenity, and pleasure is the object of human life. He argued that pleasure of the soul was attained through the quiet contemplation of philosophy. He stressed clarity and simplicity of thought and “sober reasoning.” Most Romans rejected Epicureanism because they associated it with self-indulgence and debauchery.
Stoicism, a hardheaded, practical philosophy that had developed in the Athenian stoa during the late fourth and early third centuries BCE, was far more popular. By submitting one’s emotions to the practice of reason, one could achieve “tranquility of mind.” In the first century CE, as the population of Rome approached 1 million and the Empire expanded almost unimaginably, the rational detachment and practical commonsense principles of Stoicism appealed to a citizenry confronting a host of problems related to the sheer size of the city.