This is the first English translation of a compelling and highly original reading of Epicurus by Jean-Marie Guyau. This book has long been recognized as one of the best and most concerted attempts to explore one of the most important, yet controversial ancient philosophers whose thought, Guyau claims, remains vital to modern and contemporary culture. Throughout the text we are introduced to the origins of the philosophy of pleasure in Ancient Greece, with Guyau clearly demonstrating how this idea persists through the history of philosophy and how it is an essential trait in the Western tradition. With an introduction by Keith Ansell-Pearson and Federico Testa, which contextualizes the work of Guyau within the canon of French thought, and notes on both further reading and on Epicurean scholarship more generally, this translation also acts as a critical introduction to the philosophy of Guyau and Epicurus. This is a beautiful translation of a game-changing classic in Epicurean scholarship. A work of philosophy in its own right, Guyau exquisitely captures the illusive nature of an ethics of the "whole of life" and reveals its uniquely emancipatory potential. Finally, English readers can discover the magic of Guyau's prose that influenced many of the greatest thinkers of 19th materialism!