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How did Epicureanism influence later ethical theories based on pleasure?

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Marble bust of Pythagoras, the ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher, showing a bearded man with a head covering and calm expression. — History of ethics Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, portrait bust.

Epicureanism significantly influenced later ethical theories by establishing a framework that identified pleasure as the ultimate good and pain as the ultimate evil. While often misunderstood as a pursuit of coarse physical indulgence, Epicureanism actually emphasized the "refined" pleasures of the mind and the attainment of tranquillity through the removal of unsatisfied wants.1

This focus on pleasure as a foundational principle served as a key precursor to modern utilitarianism. In the 17th and 18th centuries, thinkers like Pierre Gassendi revived Epicurean thought, while others, such as Jeremy Bentham, transformed the Epicurean emphasis on pleasure into a systematic "moral arithmetic". Bentham and later John Stuart Mill expanded these concepts into a comprehensive ethical and legislative theory, where the goal shifted from individual tranquillity to the "greatest happiness for the greatest number".123

By framing ethics around the calculation of utility—where actions are judged by their tendency to produce pleasure or prevent pain—Epicureanism provided the essential conceptual roots for the utilitarian movement that dominated much of 19th-century moral philosophy.213