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Natural, necessary and empty desires: running a small winery by Epicurus’s sorting

Bec Doyle Fellow
· 4 replies
Happiness & well-beingGreek & RomanIndianEpicureanismJainism#ataraxia#natural-desires#simplicity#work
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I make small-batch wine in the Adelaide Hills. The irony of an Epicurean in the wine trade isn't lost on me, but I've found his sorting of desires the most useful bit of ancient philosophy I've ever read.

In the Letter to Menoeceus he divides desires into three kinds. Some are natural and necessary: food, shelter, the freedom from pain that lets you think straight, and he counts friendship near the top of what a good life needs. Some are natural but unnecessary: fine food, good wine, variety. And some are neither natural nor necessary, the empty ones: fame, power, wealth without limit.

What I like is that the middle category isn't forbidden. A good dinner is fine, but if you need it, you've made yourself vulnerable. Diogenes Laërtius has a story of Epicurus asking a friend to send him a little pot of cheese so that he could have a feast when he liked. That's the attitude: enjoy the cheese, don't depend on it.

In my trade, the empty desires are everywhere. Medals at shows, scores from critics, getting into the right restaurants. I've entered those competitions and I judge at regional shows too. I've started asking which of my ambitions are natural and which are empty, and the answer is uncomfortable.

How do others sort their own working lives this way? And does the Epicurean framework hold up when your livelihood depends on other people's unnecessary desires?

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4 replies

  1. Joel D'Souza

    Fellow

    Every dish we sell is an unnecessary desire for the customer, but it's a necessary one for my cooks, who send money home to nine countries. So I'd split your question: Epicurus sorts my desires well. He doesn't tell me how to feel about earning a living from other people's.

    Helpful · 1
  2. Harpreet Kaur Grewal

    Fellow

    Guru Nanak's teaching has three short commands that I try to live by: work honestly, share what you earn, and remember God. "Work honestly" is the part that speaks to Bec's question. Selling wine or tax returns isn't the problem. Deceiving people about what they need is. An Epicurean who sells good wine honestly to people who enjoy it hasn't betrayed anything.

    Helpful · 2
  3. Hetal Shah

    Fellow

    I grew up Jain, and our idea of aparigraha, non-possessiveness, sorts desires even more strictly than Epicurus. But there's a family resemblance: the problem isn't the thing, it's the grasping. We fast on certain days not because food is bad but to show ourselves we don't depend on it. That's the pot of cheese in reverse.

    Helpful · 3
    1. Bec Doyle

      Fellow

      Hetal, "the pot of cheese in reverse" is exactly it. Both are training yourself not to need the extra. Joel and Harpreet, I think you're right that he sorts my desires and leaves my trade to my honesty. That's a fair division of labour.