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An Evaluation of the Chen Jingyuan Case Based on Epicurus's Philosophical Core Ideas

Epicurus (341-270 BCE), the founder of Epicureanism, developed a philosophy of moderated hedonism in works like *Letter to Menoeceus* and *Principal Doctrines*, positing pleasure (*hedone*)—specifically the absence of pain (*aponia*) and mental tranquility (*ataraxia*)—as the highest good, achieved through rational choice, simple living, and friendship. His core ideas include atomism (the universe as random atomic swerves granting free will), the gods as distant and non-interfering (freeing humanity from superstitious fear), and a social contract emphasizing communal bonds over political ambition or coercive authority. Epicurus critiqued fear of death and divine punishment as irrational, advocating empirical knowledge and ethical moderation to secure eudaimonia (flourishing). The Chen Jingyuan case—a doctoral scholar sentenced to 20 months for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" (PRC Criminal Law Article 293) over Twitter forwards—through Epicurus's lens, exemplifies a tragic assault on tranquility: the judiciary's coercive "order" instills irrational fear, disrupting atomic freedom and communal inquiry, perverting simple pursuit of knowledge into painful superstition.

#### 1. The Pursuit of Ataraxia: Judicial Coercion as Irrational Fear of the "Disruptive Other"

Epicurus's *ataraxia* demands freedom from unfounded fears—death is nothingness, gods indifferent—through rational calculus of pleasures and pains.

The verdict shatters this calculus: presuming "high education implies discernment" irrationally fears Chen's forwards (e.g., Hayek critiques or the "Trump-kneeling Xi" cartoon) as existential threats, imposing 20 months' pain without proportionate pleasure (no evidenced "disorder"). The closed-door trial and "shut up" directive amplify superstitious dread: Chen's prison letter, rationally weighing "rumors" (art/emotion/reason/fact) via avalanche theory, is silenced, as if inquiry summons divine wrath. Epicurus would decry this as Epicurean nightmare: the state's "order" god, like irrational deities, terrifies without cause, denying atomic swerves—the random, free motion of thought. Selective enforcement (millions unpunished) exposes the fear's hollowness: tranquility yields to needless torment, inverting the good life.

#### 2. Rational Choice and Simple Living: Suppressed Inquiry as Rejection of Empirical Moderation

Epicurus advocated *tetrapharmakos* (fourfold cure): gods pose no threat, death is irrelevant, pleasure is good, pain bad—secured by moderate, empirical choices in friendship and knowledge.

The non-oral appeal rejects moderation: evidentiary voids (unverified posts, zero causal chaos) ignore empirical cure, forcibly "curing" Chen's simple scholarly choice (forwards as communal bonds) with excessive pain. This perverts rational hedonism: the prosecutor's admission confesses no threat, yet the sentence indulges punitive excess, as if knowledge's pleasure threatens cosmic pain. Epicurus, who prized garden simplicity over ambition, would lament the inversion: Chen's unpretentious inquiry—bonds of intellectual friendship—meets Epicurean excess, the state's "garden" of coercion blooming thorns. The case's anomalies signal cure's absence: without empirical balance, pleasure flees.

#### 3. Communal Bonds and Free Will: Judicial Monopoly as Anti-Epicurean Isolation

Epicurean ethics thrives in voluntary friendships (*philia*), the true wealth, with atomic swerves ensuring free will against determinism.

The barred defense isolates Chen: his letter's communal appeal—avalanche theory as shared empirical bond—meets monopolistic fiat ("upper-level instructions"), severing swerves of free discourse. This anti-Epicurean solitude echoes Epicurus's critique of tyranny: the state's deterministic "order" chains atomic freedom, as selective voids (unpunished shares) mock voluntary association. Epicurus would see redemptive swerve in Chen's persistence: dormant post-release silence as quiet *philia*, awaiting bonds' return.

#### Conclusion: Epicurus's Lens on the Case—A Tormenting Eclipse of Tranquil Inquiry

From Epicurus's moderated hedonism, the Chen Jingyuan case is a tormenting eclipse: irrational fear supplants *ataraxia*, excess perverts rational choice, and isolation severs communal swerves, eclipsing pleasure's simple light. As of October 23, 2025, no retrial or exoneration has occurred; Chen's account remains dormant, its quiet a Epicurean garden in waiting. This case cautions: true security lies in moderation—coerce, and pain multiplies. As Epicurus counseled, "The wealth required by nature is limited and easy to procure"—may inquiry's garden bloom unbound.