‘All I want is to have my peace of mind” is the refrain of a popular song originally sung by Boston in 1976 and covered by Stryper in 2009. At least a half-dozen other songs are titled “Peace of Mind.” Is it possible to achieve peace of mind? The Ancient Greeks called it ataraxia, and the Epicureans said yes. Summing up the views of Epicurus, A.C. Grayling writes in “The History of Philosophy” (2019): “The happy life is the life of ataraxia, and one achieves it through philosophical understanding of the true nature of things,...

Source: Wall Street Journal August 31, 2020 23:15 UTC