Bibliography, Quotations, Resources, Notes, Links, Research, Summaries (original) (raw)
Epicureanism
A Hypertext Notebook on Epicureanism: Containing a Reading Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Quotations, Links Contextual Information, Quotations, Philosophy, Resources, Reconnoitering, Research, and Miscellanies.
Bibliography Quotations Fiction Notes Chronology Key Ideas Best Reads
Research by Michael P. Garofalo
Green Way Research, Vancouver, Washington
Greek and Roman Hellenistic Philosophers (300 BCE - 200 CE)
Epicureans, Cyrenaics, Hedonists, Cynics, Skeptics, Stoics, Platonists, Aristotelians
Hedonism Virtues Ethics How to Live a Good Life Philosophy Equanimity Cyrenaics Utilitarianism
Key Epicurean and Hedonistic Ideas Pleasure Happiness Stoicism Main Index My Blog Posts
Touching Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting Senses Hands Feeling Somaesthetics
Gardening Taijiquan Qigong Walking Solitude Friendship Contemplation Reading
Cloud Hands Blog
Epicurus, 341-270 BCE
Epicureanism, Hedonism, Cyrenaics, Utilitarianism
Bibliography, Resources, Links
I favor ethical and lifestyle philosophies fromauthorswho emphasize viewpoints such as Epicureanism, hedonism, utilitarianism, liberalism, pragmatism, democracy, skepticism, practicality, empiricism, secularism, reasoning, liberty, humanism, Enlightenment, materialism, science, etc. I believe that most Hedonists and Epicureans support these viewpoints. Most hedonists are non-religious, anti-religious, or atheists, includingmyself. If you favor theocracy, conservatism, religious codes of conduct, revelation, absolutism, authoritarian societies, clerics, asceticism, supernaturalism, biblio-idolatry, body hating, believing without evidence, or Platonic-Christian idealism, then you will not find much material of interest to you on this webpage.
I began reading books on these subjects in 1961, received my B.A. degree in Philosophy in 1967, and have continued to read and study my entire life.
I can only use the English language in my philosophical studies. Therefore, there are few references below to books and articles in languages other than English. Many of the books listed below, written by serious scholars, researchers, and academics, include excellent bibliographies including many non-English books and articles. We also all need to thank those translators who have helped to reveal to us the thoughts of non-English writers of the past and present. You can read this hypertext document in many languages thanks to the Google Translator drop down menu at the top of this webpage.
There are many books on this webpage that I am currently reading, studying, or have read that are in my home library in Red Bluff, California (1998-2017).
Books in my current home library (2020) at the Valley Spirit Center in Vancouver, Washington, are coded "VSCL."
If you click on any underlined book title or any book image, the embedded link will take you to Amazon for purchasing that book. Please purchase some of these fine books.
Generally, this bibliography and links are arranged by the titles of the books or webpages; and sometimes around themes or persons.
To search by author or topics, press the Ctrl+F keys to open the search box in your favorite web browser.
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Advice from Wise Persons: How to Live a Good Life. Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo.
Aesthetic Movement in Art and Literature
Agnosticism, Religious Doubts, Atheism, Theological Fictions. Notes, recommended reading, and personal opinions of Mike Garofalo.
Anarchy, State and Utopia. By Robert Nozick. Basic Books, 1974, 2nd Edition, 2013. Index, bibliography, notes, 400 pages. ISBN: 978-0465051007. "Translated into 100 languages, winner of the National Book Award, and named one of the 100 Most Influential Books since World War II by the Times Literary Supplement, Anarchy, State and Utopia remains one of the most theoretically trenchant and philosophically rich defenses of economic liberalism to date, as well as a foundational text in classical libertarian thought." Professor Nozick argues for the primacy of the individual, individual rights and liberties, acceptance of inequality, restriction of intrusion by the State, and a minimalist government (i.e., military, police, and courts). Those who support the Tea Partyagenda would agree with many of Nozick's arguments. VSCL.
Ancient Scepticism. By Harald Thorsrud. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2009. Index, notes, references, bibliography, sources, 264 pages. Ancient Philosophy Series, Book 5. ISBN: 9780520260269. VSCL.
Appetites for Thought: Philosophers and Food. By Michel Onfray. Translated by Stephen Meucke and Donald Barry. Reaktion Books, 2015. 128 pages. ISBN: 9781780234458.
Aristippus of Cyrene (435 BCE � 356 BCE) was the founder of theCyrenaic school of Philosophy. The school was was located in the ancient Greco-Roman city of Cyrene; with the ruins of this ancient city lying in a lush valley in present day Libya. 'Aristippus was a pupil ofSocrates, but adopted a very different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity. Among his pupils was his daughterArete.' .... Cyrene lies in a lushvalley in theJebel Akhdar uplands in Libya. The city was named after aspring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated toApollo. It was also the seat of theCyrenaics, a famousschool of philosophy in the 3rd century BC, founded byAristippus, a disciple of Socrates. It was then nicknamed the "Athensof Africa." '
Aristippus of Cyrene. By Joshua J. Mark.
Aristippus of Cyrene. Diogenes La�rtius, Life of Aristippus, translated by Robert Drew Hicks (1925).
Aristotle (384�322 BCE) Information on Aristotle: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Aristotle. The Basic Works of Aristotle. Edited with an Introduction by Richard McKeon. New York, Random House, 1941. 1487 pages. VSCL.
Art and Experience in Classical Greece
The Art of Frugal Hedonism: A Guide to Spending Less While Enjoying Everything More. By Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb. Melliodora Pub., 2017, 256 pages.
The Art of Happiness.
Art in the Hellenistic Age
_Ataraxia_A lucid state of robust tranquility. A calm and tranquil state of mind cultivated by the Skeptics and Stoics.
Atheism Notes, recommended reading, and personal opinions of Mike Garofalo.
Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
Atoms, Pneuma, and Tranquillity: Epicurean and Stoic Themes in European Thought
Aurelius, Marcus. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 26 April 121 � 17 March 180 AD) wasRoman Emperor from 161 to 180. 'He ruled withLucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. He was the last of theFive Good Emperors, and is also considered one of the most importantStoicphilosophers. During his reign, theEmpiredefeated a revitalizedParthian Empire in the East: Aurelius' generalAvidius Cassius sacked the capitalCtesiphonin 164. In central Europe, Aurelius fought theMarcomanni,Quadi, andSarmatianswith success during theMarcomannic Wars, although the threat of theGermanic tribes began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately. Marcus Aurelius'Stoic tome_Meditations_, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration."
Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Awaken the Giant Within. By Anthony Robbins. Free Press, 1992. Index, 544 pages. ISBN: 98-0671791544. VSCL.
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Jeremy Bentham, 15 February 1748 - 6 June 1832, was a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer. "He is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism. He strongly endorsed acting on the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong." He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development ofwelfarism. He advocatedindividual andeconomic freedom, theseparation of church and state,freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He called for theabolition of slavery, the abolition of thedeath penalty, and the abolition ofphysical punishment, including that of children. He has also become known in recent years as an early advocate ofanimal rights. Though strongly in favour of the extension ofindividual legal rights, he opposed the idea ofnatural law andnatural rights, calling them "nonsense upon stilts". Bentham's students included his secretary and collaboratorJames Mill, the latter's son,John Stuart Mill, the legal philosopherJohn Austin, as well asRobert Owen, one of the founders ofutopian socialism." - Wikipedia
Bentham, Jeremy Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1789.
Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The Birth of Hedonism: The Cyrenaic Philosophers and Pleasure as a Way of Life. By Kurt Lampe. Princeton University Press, 2014. 304 pages. ISBN: 978-0691161136. VSCL.
The Birth of Pleasure. By Carol Gilligan. Vintage, Reprint edition, 2003. 272 pages. A discussion of love. ISBN: 9780679759430.
The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
Bohemian Manifesto: A Field Guide to Living on the Edge
Broadmindedness, Tolerance, Openess. Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
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The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Skepticism. Edited by Richard Bett. Cambridge University Press, 2010. 392 pages. ISBN: 978-0521697545.
The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle.
The Cambridge Companion to Epicureanism.
The Cambridge Companion to Lucretius. Edited by Stuart Gillespie. Cambridge University Press, 2007. 384 pages.
Carnal Philosophy: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Erotics
Cheerfulness Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Cloud Hands Blog. By Michael P. Garofalo. Over 2,500 indexed posts on well being, philosophy, Epicureanism, somaesthetics, taijiquan, qigong, walking, gardening, yoga, Taoism, hedonism, and spirituality. Over 1.4 million page views as of 9/23/2020.
The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good. By David J. Linden. Penguin Books, Reprint Edition 2012. 240 pages. ISBN: 9780143120759.
The Conquest of Happiness By Bertrand Russell. Introduction by Daniel Dennett. Liveright, 1930, 2013. 224 pages. ISBN: 9780871406736. VSCL.
The Consolations of Mortality: Making Sense of Death. By Andrew Stark. Yale University Press, 2016, 288 pages.
Cynicism. Wikipedia
The Cynic Philosophers: From Diogenes to Julian.Translated with an introduction by Robert Dobbin. New York, Penguin Classics, Reprint 2013. Notes, glossary, 352 pages. ISBN: 978-0141192222. VSCL.
Cyrenaics
The Cyrenaics
Cyrenaics Aristippus and the Pursuit of Pleasure
Cyrenaics Aristippus of Cyrene (435 BCE � 356 BCE) was the founder of theCyrenaic school of Philosophy. The school was was located in the ancient Greco-Roman city of Cyrene; with the ruins of this ancient city lying in a lush valley in present day Libya. 'Aristippus was a pupil ofSocrates, but adopted a very different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity. Among his pupils was his daughterArete.' .... Cyrene lies in a lushvalley in theJebel Akhdar uplands in Libya. The city was named after aspring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated toApollo. It was also the seat of theCyrenaics, a famousschool of philosophy in the 3rd century BC, founded byAristippus, a disciple of Socrates. It was then nicknamed the "Athensof Africa." '
Cyrenaics -The Birth of Hedonism: The Cyrenaic Philosophers and Pleasure as a Way of Life. By Kurt Lampe. Princeton University Press, 2014. 304 pages. ISBN: 978-0691161136.
Cyrenaics Handbook
The Cyrenaics on Pleasure, Happines, and Future Concern. By Tim O'Keefe.
Cyrenaics - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Cyrenaics Resources By Lucian of Samosata Wiki. Many ancient texts cited.
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Death is Nothing to Fear: Better Living through the Philosophy of Epicurus. By Hans Dimitriadis. Ebook, 2019, 142 pages.
Decadent Movement in Art and Literature
In Defence of Sensuality
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. By David Hume. Edited by Richard H. Popkin. Hackett Publishing Co., 1998. 162 pages.
Different Loving: The World of Sexual Dominance and Submission. By William Brame, Gloria Brame, and Jon Jacobs. Villard, 1996. 560 pages. ISBN: 9780679769569. VSCL.
Diogenes of Oinoandaand Epicurean Thought
Doctrines and Sayings of Epicurus
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Ecstatic Body Postures: An Alternate Reality Workbook. By Belinda Gore. Foreword by Felicitas Goodman. Santa Fe, New Mexico, Bear and Company, 1995. Endnotes, 284 pages. ISBN: 1879181223. VSCL.
Egoism: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Elemental Epicureanism Website. General resources, physics, canonics, ethics, 12 Elementals, 40 Doctrines.
Elemental Epicureanism.
Enlightened Pleasures: Eighteenth-Century France and the New Epicureanism
Epicurean Ethics in Horace: The Psychology of Satire. By Sergio Yona. Oxford University Press, 2018. 344 pages.
Epicurean Ethics: Katastematic Hedonism (Studies in the History of Philosophy)
Epicurean Simplicity
The Epicurean Tradition
Epicureanism.
Epicureanism - Wikipedia, 2015 " Only a few fragments and letters of Epicurus's 300 written works remain. Much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators. For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by _ataraxia_�peace and freedom from fear�and _aponia_�the absence of pain�and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are measures of what is good and evil; death is the end of both body and soul and should therefore not be feared; the gods neither reward nor punish humans; the universe is infinite and eternal; and events in the world are ultimately based on the motions and interactions ofatoms moving in empty space."
Epicureanism after Epicurus: The Influence of Epicurus on Western Thought. By Robert Hanrott.
Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity
Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction
Epicureans and Hedonists: Bibliography, Links, Quotations, Notes, Sayings, Pointers. Compiled by Mike Garofalo - Hypertext Notebooks.
Epicurus, 341 - 270 BCE. Founder of the Greek philosophical school of Epicureanism in Athens, Greece, at "The Garden."
Epicurus, 341 - 270 BCE. Founder of the Greek philosophical school of Epicureanism in Athens, Greece, at "The Garden."
Epicurus (341-270 BCE) Information on Epicurus: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Epicurus, 341-270 BCE History, biography, views of the Epircurean School. The Art of Happiness.
Epicurus Birthday, Celebration in Honor of Epicurus
EpicurusThe Sanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015. "Epicurus joined his father in Colophon, on the coast of what is now Turkey, in around 321 BCE. Here he studied philosophy under the tutelage of Nausiphanes, a Democritean philosopher with skeptical leanings. Ten years later, Epicurus moved to Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, and soon proceeded to Lampsacus on the nearby mainland; in both cities he taught and gathered followers before returning again to Athens in 307 BCE, where he remained until his death in 270, at the age of seventy-one. In Athens, he had purchased the property that became known as the �Garden� (later used as a name for his school itself) and began to develop his own school in earnest."
Epicurus and Epicurean PhilosophyCreated by Vincent Cook. A good list of online classical texts useful to Epicureans. Excellenthistorical summary. Good information on resources.
Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition
Epicurus and the Pleasant Life: A Philosophy of Nature. By Haris Dimitriadis. 1st Edition, 2017. 516 pages. ISBN: 978-9609384568. Also EBook format. VSCL.
Epicurus and the Singularity of Death: Defending Radical Epicureanism. By David B. Suits. Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. 232 pages.
Epicurus Blog: Moderation, Enjoyment of Life, Tranquility, Friendship, Lack of Fear. By Robert Hanrott.
Epicurus:The Art of Happiness.
Epicurus: Epicurus Ethical Theory: The Pleasures of Invulnerability.
Epicurus: The Epicurus Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonia.
Epicurus: The Essential EpicurusTranslated with an introduction by Eugene O'Connor. Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments. New York, Promethus Books, Great Books in Philosophy, 1993. 101 pages. ISBN: 0879758104. VSCL.
Equanimity: Quotations, Sayings, Poems, Notes. Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Equanimity. Wikipedia. The Greek stoics use the word _apatheia_whereas the Roman stoics used the Latin word aequanimitas.
The Essential EpicurusTranslated with an introduction by Eugene O'Connor. Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments. New York, Promethus Books, Great Books in Philosophy, 1993. 101 pages. ISBN: 0879758104. VSCL.
Ethical Egoism - Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Ethical Egoism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Ethical Egoism- Google Search
The Ethics of Philodemus
This webpage work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Created by Michael P. Garofalo, Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California, � 2016 CCA 4.0
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Facing Death: Epicurus and his Critics. Oxford, Clarendom Press, 2004.
Feelings, Sensation, Perception, The Five Senses Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Feldman, Fred, Ph.D. Utilitarianism, Hedonism, and Desert: Essays in Moral Philosophy, 1997. Pleasure and the Good Life: Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism, 2006.
A Few Days in Athens: The Friends of Epicurus Edition
A Few Days In Athens
Fiction, Fictional Characters, Hedonists in Fiction, Fictional Characters with a Epicurean Approach to Life
The Five Senses, Perception, Impressions, Feelings Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo.
The Four Agreements. By Don Miguel Ruiz. Amber-Allen Pub., 1997. 160 pages. ISBN: 978-1878424310.
Friendship: Quotations, Sayings, Wisdom, Poetry, Aphorisms, Virtues. Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Frequently Asked Questions about Epicureanism - With Answers
From Pain to Pleasure: The Proven Pathway to Happiness: Epicurean Happiness Guidance
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Gardening Over 3,500 quotations arranged by over 150 topics. Compiled by Mike Garofalo. Epicurus taught in Athens at "The Garden." At the entrance to his "Garden" was a sign with the words "Stranger, here you do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure." Gardening has provided me with many pleasures over my lifetime.
Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655)
Gassendi's Epicurus Epicurus: His Life and Works, 1660, by Petrus Gassendi. Gassendi's complete book on Epicurus in PDF Format.
Michael P. Garofalo (1946-) Biography My Views About Religion Sensory Pleasures How to Live a Good Life Main Index
Good Life and Virtues Website. Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo. From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
The Good Life: Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-Being. By Michael Bishop. Oxford University Press, 2015. 248 pages. ISBN: 978-019923113.
Great Freethinkers: Selected Quotations by Famous Skeptics and Nonconformists. Edited by James C. Sanford. Providence, Rhode Island, 2004. Biographical index, 250 pages. ISBN: 0974704229. VSCL.
The Greeks on Pleasure
A Guide to Rational Living. By Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper. Wilshire Book Company, 1975, 233 pages.
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The Hand, Touch, Feeling: Quotations, Bibliography, Resources, Links, Notes From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
Happiness(Eudaimonia)
Happiness: A History
Happiness: A Philosopher's Guide. By Frederic Lenoir. Translated by Andrew Brown. Melville House, 2015. 208 pages. ISBN: 978-1612194394.
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. By Jonathan Haidt. Basic Books, 2006. 320 pages. ISBN: 978-0465028023.
Hearing, Listening, Sounds, Silence. Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo. From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
Hedonism
Hedonism - International Encyclopedia of Ethics
Hedonism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Hedonism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Hedonism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Hedonism Handbook: Mastering The Lost Arts Of Leisure And Pleasure
The Hedonist Alternative: "Anti-Seneca" and Other Texts
A Hedonist ManifestoBy Michel Onfray. Translated by Joseph McClellan. Columbia University Press, 2015. 232 pages. Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture. ISBN: 978-0231171267. Michel Onfray is a French philosopher and public intellectual who founded and teaches at the free Popular University of Caen. He has written more than sixty books, many of them best sellers. E-book Kindle, VSCL.
Hedonistic Theories from Aristippus to Spencer.
Hedonistic Utilitarianism
The Hellenistic Philosophers: Volume 1, Translations of the Principal Sources with Philosophical Commentary.
Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings.
Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind.
Hellenistic Philosophy: Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics
History of Epicurean Philosophy by Vincent Cook
The Holy Barbarians. By Larry Lipton. New York, Julian Messner, Inc., 1959. 320 pages.
The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like. By Paul Bloom. W.W. Norton, 2011. 304 pages. ISBN: 9780393340006.
How to be an Epicurean: The Ancient Art of Living Well. By Catherine Wilson, Ph.D. New York, Basic Books, 2019. 293 pages, notes. VSCL.
How to Life a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons. Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo.
Hypertext Notebooks of Mike GarofaloSenses, Pleasure, Hedonism, Druids, Stoics, Touch, Tao Te Ching, Taijiquan, Qigong, Walking, Philosophy, Tai Chi Chuan, Poetry, etc. Mike Garofalo (1945-) and Karen Garofalo lived south (1998-2017) of the City of Red Bluff, in Tehama County, California. They lived in a rural area, surrounded by almond orchards, at the "Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove." [Both a real and a imaginary place.] Our home and gardens are located on the flat, clay/sand rockless soil, in the midland heart of the North Sacramento River Valley. Mike's writings are published under theGreen Way Research banner.
Advice Beauty Bibliography Blog Body-Mind Broad Minded Cheerfulness
Contemplation Desires Dharmapada Sutra Education Epicureanism Equanimity
Feeling Fitness Five Senses Friendship Gardening Generosity
Happiness Hedonism Hospitality Independence Kindness Learning Links
Meditation Memory Mindfulness Moderation Open Minded Paramitas
Patience Philosophy Play Pleasures Qigong Reading Self-Reliance
Sensory Pleasures Simplicity Solitude Somaesthetics Stoicism Taijiquan
Tao Te Ching Thinking Tolerance Touching Tranquility Vigor Vision
Walking Willpower Wisdom Wonder Zen Precepts
I
In Defense of Sensuality. By John Cowper Powys. V. Gollancz, 1931. 287 pages.
Intelligent Life Magazine - The Economist
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
Introduction to Virtue Ethics: Insights of the Ancient Greeks
J
Jefferson, Thomas(1743-1826) "I too am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us." (1819)
Jefferson, Thomas: Syllabus of the Doctrines of Epicurus (1819)
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Katastematic: A primarily internal condition, attitude, state of body-mind producing feelings of pleasure. The experience of pleasant feeling when the body is healthy, relatively pain or distress free, at ease, and you are comfortable in your skin.
"It would be a condition of no pleasure and no pain classifiable as kinetic, but it would by no means be a condition of no pleasure and no pain at all. It would in fact be a condition of pleasure arising from the simple, undisturbed, undistracted, awareness of oneself, and of one's openness to the world through specific sensory inputs, but without being currently engaged with any. It would be an active awareness of one's constitution as a particular sort of animal�a constitution for such sensory engagement. And, one would not be experiencing this pleasant awareness unless one's condition were one of normal healthiness and ongoing natural functioning: if one's condition were not such, one would be experiencing some disturbing movements in one's consciousness�unhealthy or disturbed and distorted functioning is just what does cause kinetic pain. Accordingly, to pleasure arising in this second set of circumstances for the arousal of pleasure, Epicurusgave the name "katastematic," drawing upon a Greek term for a condition or state, or for the constitution, of a thing. It is called "katastematic" not so to indicate a special kind of pleasure, any more than kinetic pleasures are a kind of pleasure, but rather so as to draw attention to the special circumstances of pleasure's arousal, on which it is conditioned, in the case of this pleasure. We would describe this pleasure as pleasure in the awareness of the healthy functioning of one's own natural constitution, physical and psychic."
- John M. Cooper, Pursuits of Wisdom, 2012, p. 234
"For Epicurus, the only criterion for deciding on one's way of life is what will work out best form the point of view on one's own pursuit of a continuous experience of katastematic pleasure, varied suitably so as to conform to one's own, perhaps somewhat idiosyncratic, preferences among sources of kinetic pleasure."
- John M. Cooper, Pursuits of Wisdom, 2012, p. 263
Kindness Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
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"Letter to Menoeceus" from Epicurus
Letters on Happiness: An Epicurean Dialogue. By Peter Saint-Andre. Monadnock Valley Press, 2013. 60 pages.
Life, Letters and Epicurean Philosophy of Ninon de L Enclos. Book Jungle, 2008. 272 pages. ISBN: 9781605979076.
Life's Little Instruction Book: 511 Suggestions, Observations, and Reminders on How to Live a Happy and Rewarding Life. By H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Thomas Nelson, Revised edition, 2000. 160 pages. ISBN: 1558538356.
A Life Worthy of the Gods: The Materialist Psychology of Epicurus. By David Konstan. Parmenides Publishing, 2008.
Locke, John (1602-1734) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia,Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Locke, like Epircurus, defended the empiricist view that knowledge comes from sensations and experience, and not the view of Plato or Descartes that true knowledge comes only from a rational intuition of forms or concepts not derived from experience.
Locke, John. Collected Works, E-book Kindle Version, 7 Works: Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Treatise on Government, Letter on Tolerance. VSCL.
Lucretius and Epicurus. By Clay Diskin. Cornell University Press, 1983.
Lucretius:The Nature of Things.
Titus Lucretius Carus (99 - 55 BCE) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,Wikipedia Encyclopedia,Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Lucretius: The Way Things Are: The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus
Lucretius: Titus Lucretius Carus, circa 99 BCE - 55 BCE., was aRoman poet and philosopher. "His only known work is the epic philosophical poem De rerum natura about the tenets and philosophy ofEpicureanism, and which is usually translated into English as On the Nature of Things. Very little is known about Lucretius's life; the only certain fact is that he was either a friend orclient ofGaius Memmius, to whom the poem was addressed and dedicated. De rerum natura was a considerable influence on theAugustan poets, particularlyVirgil (in his_Aeneid_and Georgics, and to a lesser extent on the Satires and Eclogues) and Horace. The work virtually disappeared during theMiddle Ages but was rediscovered in 1417 in amonasteryin GermanybyPoggio Bracciolini, and it played an important role both in the development of atomism (Lucretius was an important influence onPierre Gassendi) and the efforts of various figures of the Enlightenment era to construct a newChristian humanism." - Wikipedia.
Lucretius: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
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Marius the Epicurean: His Sensations and Ideas
The Methods of Ethics.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia. English philosopher, political economist, utilitarian proponent, and public servant.
John Stuart Mill. The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women, and Utilitarianism. Introduction by J. B. Schneewind, and commentary by Dale E. Miller. New York, Modern Library, 2002. 400 pages. ISBN: 9780375759185. VSCL.
Moderation Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists
Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists. By Benjamin Wiker and William A Dembski. IVP Academic, 2002, 329 pages. Christian Classics Bible Study. Fundamentalist Christians made their weak case for the "moral" decline in others not agreeing with their anti-scientific views.
The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values. By Sam Harris. New York, Free Press, 2010. Index, references, notes, 307 pages. ISBN: 9781439171226. VSCL.
The Morality of Happiness
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New Epicurean WebsiteArticles, Links, Bibliography, News, Discussion, History, Quotations, Comparisons, Resources
A New Guide to Rational Living.
Nicomachean Ethics
Nicomachean Ethics
Nietzsche, Frederick Wilhelm (1844 � 1900) - Wikipedia Nietzsche was a scholar of Greek and Latin, familiar with Greco-Roman culture and philosophy. Plagued by poor health all of his short life, he nevertheless wrote many essays and books. His style of writing is engaging, insightful, bold, persuasive, imaginative, and he has keen sense of the bourgeois German culture of the late 19th century. His thoughts and opinions can hold us spellbound at times. The Greek sense of excellence for a persons function in life, free thinking, high standards, enjoyment of life, dignity, will, no gods needed, heroes, work, courage ... sounds like the issues raised by Epircureans.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900) The Portable Nietzsche.
Frederick Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Nietzsche and Epicurean Philosophy. By A. H. J. Knight, Philosophy: Vol. 8, No. 32, October 1933, pp. 431-445.
Nietzsche, Rand, and the Ethics of the Great Task, by Peter Saint-Andre, 2009.
The Norms of Nature: Studies in Hellenistic Ethics
Notebooks of an Old Philosopher Notes by Mike Garofalo. Lot's ruminations and research on the senses, hands, body-mind arts, somaesthetics, and virtures. Part of the Hypertext Notebooks Series.
Novels, Plays, Characters with a Hedonistic Attitude or Philosophy
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Oikei�sis: self-preservation, belonging to oneself, orientation, affinity, familiar, home, family, things close to one's heart. A key term in Stoic developmental psychology. Also implies working on developing a better sense of interconnectedness with widening circles of beings.
On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy. By Carl R. Rogers. Introduction by Pete D. Kramer. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1961, 1995. Index, bibliography, 420 pages. ISBN: 039575531X. VSCL.
On Desire: Why We Want What We Want
One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey Research by Mike Garofalo in Neo-Paganism.
Onfray, Michel. Michel Onfray is a French philosopher and public intellectual who founded and teaches at the free Popular University of Caen. He has written more than sixty books, many of them best sellers. Books: Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, 2011. A Hedonist Manifesto: The Power to Exist, 2015.
Openness, Broadmindedness, Flexibility Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World
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Pain and Pleasure: A Study of Bodily Feelings. By Thomas Szasz. Syracuse University Press, 1988, 2nd Edition. 303 pages. ISBN: 978-0815602309.
Pater, Walter(1939-1894)
Perception, Sensations, Impressions, The Five Senses Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Peripatetic School. In 335 BCE, Aristotle began teaching in the area at theLyceum in Athens, Greece. Philosophers, many followers of Aristotle, continued to walk and meet at the Lyceum for many centuries, until around 200 CE. The school of Aristotle, the Aristotelians, followers of Aristotle's approach to developing a philosophy of life for yourself and expanding your knowledge.
Philodemus "Philodemus of Gadara (110 - 35 BCE). A Hellenistic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for his poetry preserved in the Greek Anthology, but since the 18th century, many writings of his have been discovered among the charred papyrus rolls at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The task of excavating and deciphering these rolls is difficult, and work continues to this day. The Ethics of Philodemus
A Philosopher's Notebooks by Mike Garofalo
The Philosophical Garden Website. Encountering Ideas in the Midst of the Natural World. This website has a particular focus on the ancient Greek philosophical tradition. Of special interest is the significance of Epicurean philosophy from antiquity to the present day.
Philosophy: An Introduction Through Literature
Philosophy as a Way of Life: Ancients and Moderns - Essays in Honor of Pierre Hadot
Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault
Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations: Ancient Philosophy for Modern Problems
Philosophy Talk: Community of Thinkers
Plato (427 - 347 BCE) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Plato. The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Including the Letters. Edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns. With an Introduction and Prefatory Notes. New York, Pantheon Books, 1961. Bollingen Series, LXXI. 14 different translators are used in this collection. Detailed index, 743 pages. LCN: 61-11758. VSCL.
Pleasure. By Alexander Lowen, M.D.. Bioenergetics Press, 2006. 258 pages. ISBN: 978-0974373720.
Pleasure: A Creative Approach to Life. By Alexander Lowen. Alexander Lowen Foundation, 2013. 270 pages. ISBN: 978-1938485107.
Pleasure and Desire: The Case of Hedonism Reviewed
Pleasure and the Good Life: Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism.
Pleasure in Ancient Greek Philosophy.By David Wolfsdorf. Cambridge University Press, 2013. Index, reading list, 299 pages. Key Themes in Ancient Philosophy Series. ISBN: 978-0521149754. VSCL.
The Pleasure Instinct: Why We Crave Adventure, Chocolate, Pheromones, and Music
The Pleasure Prescription: To Love, To Work and to Play - Life in the BalanceBy Paul Pearsall. Hunter House Publications, 1996. 280 pages. ISBN: 9780897932073.
Pleasures. Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Pleasures and Pains: A Theory of Qualitative Hedonism
Pleasures of the Brain.
Practical Ethics. By Peter Singer. Cambridge University Press, 3rd Edition, 2011. 356 pages. ISBN: 9780521707688. VSCL.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions. By Dan Ariely. Revised and expanded edition. Harper Perennial, 2010. 384 pages. ISBN: 978-0061353246. VSCL.
The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Second Edition: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson.
Principal Doctrines of Epicureanism
Psychological Egoism - Wikipedia
Psychological Egoism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Psychological Egoism - Google Search
The Psychology of Quality of Life: Hedonic Well-Being, Life Satisfaction, and Eudaimonia.
Pulling Onions. Over 866 quips, flip-flops, queries, yes sirs, sayings, observations, and remarks by Mike Garofalo.
Pursuits of Wisdom: Six Ways of Life in Ancient Philosophy from Socrates to Plotinus
Pyrrhonism: How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism.By Adrian Kuzminski. Lexington Books, 2010. 170 pages. ISBN: 978-0739125076.
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Rational Egoism- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Rational Egoism - Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Reasons and the Good
Religion and AtheismNotes, recommended reading, and personal opinions of Mike Garofalo.
Rendezvous with the Sensuous: Readings on Aesthetics
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The Science of Pleasure: Cosmos and Psyche in the Bourgeois World View
Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism. By Philip Miller and Molly Devon. Mystic Rose Books, 1995. 277 pages. ISBN: 9780964596009. VSCL.
Seasons, MonthsCompiled by Mike Garofalo.
Seeing, Vision, Perception, Looking. Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo. From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
Sensation, Perception, The Five Senses Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo.
A Sensual Soul. By Charles de Saint-Evremond. Translated by Kirk Watson. 116 pages. Kindle Digital: B0170AKDPO.
Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll: The Rise of American's 1960s Counterculture. By Robert Cottrell. Rowman and Littlefield Pubs., 2015. 452 pages. ISBN: 9781442246065.
Sexual Desire: A Philosophical Investigation
Sexual Pleasures, Carnal Alchemy, Tantrics, Sexually Experimental
Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness
The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies
The Sceptics. By R. J. Hankinson. London, Routledge, 1995. Arguments of the Philosopher's Series. General index, index of works cited, bibliography, notes, 376 pages. ISBN: 0415184460. Excellent introduction! Exposition and arguments of the ancient sceptics: Pyrrhonism and Melagarism. Detailed and authoritative survey of Greek and Hellenistic skeptics. VSCL.
The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life
Simplicity. Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues: The Uses of Philosophy in Everyday Life
Smelling, Scent. Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo. From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
Society of the Friends of EpicurusA variety of resources and shared experiences and ideas.
Socratic Logic: A Logic Text using Socratic Method, Platonic Questions, and Aristotelian Principles, Edition 3.1
Solitude - PleasuresQuotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Somatics, Somaesthetics, The Human Body. Notes, bibliography, guides, and research by Mike Garofalo.
Spinoza, the Epicurean: Authority and Utility in Materialism. By Dimitris Vardoulakis. Edinburgh University Press, 2020. 368 pages.
The Spirit of Gardening. Over 3,500 quotations arranged by over 150 topics. Compiled by Mike Garofalo. In the days of Epicurus, they met outside Athens in a garden and grove. Women, men, and slaves were admitted to this garden for discussions.
The Stoic and Epicurean Philosophers: The Complete Extant Writings of Epicurus, Epictetus, Lucretius, and Marcus Aurelius
Stoicism.By John Sellars. University of California Press, 2006. 219 pages. Ancient Philosophies Series, Book 1. ISBN: 978-0520249080.
Sweeping Changes: Discovering the Joy of Zen in Everyday Tasks by Gary Thorp
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
Symbolist Movement in Art and Literature
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Tantra: Bibliography, Links, Resources
Tantra: Hedonism in Indian Culture
Taoismand the Tao Te ChingCompilations and research by Mike Garofalo. A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter. Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization. Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.
Tasting, Flavors, Eating. Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo. From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
Tending the Epicurean Garden
- Hiram Crespo, Tending the Epicurean Garden, 2014,Summaryand Reviews
The Ten Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on Living the Good Life. By M.S. Soupios and Panos Mourdoukoutas. Charlottsville, Virginia, Hampton Roads Pub., 2009. 128 pages. Both authors are professors at Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus. ISBN: 9781571746054. VSCL.
The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics.
Thinking Critically.
Time and the Art of Living
Time, the Familiar Stranger
Touching, Feeling, Sensations, Hands. Quotes, Sayings, Facts, Information, and Charts compiled by Mike Garofalo. From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
The Tradition of Political Hedonism from Hobbes to J. S. Mill
Tranquility (Atraxia), Serenity, Peace of Mind: Quotations, sayings, poems, observations. Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life
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Utilitarianism -Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Utilitarianism. Jeremy Bentham, 15 February 1748 - 6 June 1832, was a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer. "He is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism. He strongly endorsed acting on the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong." He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development ofwelfarism. He advocatedindividual andeconomic freedom, theseparation of church and state,freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He called for theabolition of slavery, the abolition of thedeath penalty, and the abolition ofphysical punishment, including that of children. He has also become known in recent years as an early advocate ofanimal rights. Though strongly in favour of the extension ofindividual legal rights, he opposed the idea ofnatural law andnatural rights, calling them "nonsense upon stilts". Bentham's students included his secretary and collaboratorJames Mill, the latter's son,John Stuart Mill, the legal philosopherJohn Austin, as well asRobert Owen, one of the founders ofutopian socialism." - Wikipedia
Utilitarianism. Bentham, Jeremy Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1789.
Utilitarianism. Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Utilitarianism. The Cambridge Companion to Utilitarianism. By Ben Eggleston and Dale E. Miller. Cambridge University Press, 2014. 406 pages. ISBN: 9780521604819.
Utilitarianism, Hedonism, and Desert: Essays in Moral Philosophy.
Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia. English philosopher, political economist, utilitarian proponent, and public servant.
Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill. The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women, and Utilitarianism. Introduction by J. B. Schneewind, and commentary by Dale E. Miller. New York, Modern Library, 2002. 400 pages. ISBN: 9780375759185. VSCL.
Utilitarianism, On Liberty and Other Essays (Oxford World's Classics)
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Virtue Ethics By Mike Garofalo.
Virtues and the Good Life Website. Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo. From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo.
Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin
VSCL = Valley Spirit Center Library, Red Bluff, California, Library of Michael P. Garofalo
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The Way Of The Good Hedonist
What Is Ancient Philosophy?
What Is Good and Why: The Ethics of Well-Being
What Is This Thing Called Happiness?
Willpower, Determination, Grit Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Wisdom of Catius' Cat. Comics by Cassius Amicus.
The Wisdom of Pleasures: "The School of Voluptuousness" and "The Art of Enjoyment."
Without God: Science, Belief, Morality and the Meaning of Life. By Zachary Broom. Independently Published, 2019, 346 pages.
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Yang Zhu's Garden of Pleasure: The Philosophy of Individuality. Edited by Rosemary Brant. Astrolog Pub., 2006. 128 pages. ISBN: 9789654942065.
Yang Zhu, Master Yang, Chinese Philosopher, Yang Zi, 440�360 BCE. Ethical Egoist, hedonist, Epicurean. "Each for himself" or "wei wo."
Yang Zhu - Ancient History Encyclopedia
Yangism "Yangism has been described as a form of psychological and ethical egoism. The Yangist philosophers believed in the importance of maintaining self-interest through "keeping one's nature intact, protecting one's uniqueness, and not letting the body be tied by other things." Disagreeing with the Confucian virtues of li (propriety), ren (humaneness), and yi (righteousness) and the Legalist virtue of fa (law), the Yangists saw wei wo, or "everything for myself," as the only virtue necessary for self-cultivation. Individual pleasure is considered desirable, like in hedonism, but not at the expense of the health of individual. The Yangists saw individual well-being as the prime purpose of life, and considered anything that hindered that well-being immoral and unnecessary."
The Year of Pleasures: A Novel
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Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu, Zhuang Zhou, Master Chuang, Kwang-dze) 369�286 BCE Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Epicurean, Hedonistic, Cyrenaic, Free Thought, Skeptical, Liberal, Secular, Humanistic, and Utilitarian Thinkers A Chronology
Aristippus of Cyrene (435�356 BCE) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Yang Zhu (440-360 BCE) Information: Ancient History Encyclopedia,Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Aristotle (384�322 BCE) Information:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Epicurus (341-270 BCE) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Titus Lucretius Carus (99-55 BCE) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,Wikipedia Encyclopedia,Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Sextus Empiricus (160-210 CE) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Al-Ma'arri (973-1057) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1678) Information:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Margaret Lucas Cavendish (1623-1673) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia
Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
John Locke (1602-1734) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia,Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Anne Ninon de l'Enclos (1620-1705) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) Information:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Jean Meslier (1664-1729) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709-1751) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
David Hume (1711-1776) Information:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Baron D'Holbach (1723-1789) Information:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Karl Marx (1818-1883) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Frederick Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844�1900) Information
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
John Dewey (1859-1952) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia,Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Carl Rogers (1902-1987) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Albert Ellis (1913-2007) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Jos� Saramago (1922-2010) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Hugh Hefner (1926-) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Woody Allen (1935-) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Richard Dawkins (1941-) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Michel Onfray (1959-) Information:Wikipedia Encyclopedia
I share many of the philosophical and non-religious views so persuasively and emphatically expressed byDan Barker, Jeremy Bentham, Luther Burbank,
Andr� Comte-Sponville, Richard Dawkins,Daniel Dennett, John Dewey, Albert Ellis, Epicurus, A.C. Grayling, Sam Harris,Christopher Hitchens, Baron d'Holbach,David Hume, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Ingersoll,Paul Kurtz,Corliss Lamont, Bill Maher, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Paine, Madalyn Murray O'Hair,Michel Onfray, Ayn Rand, Richard Rorty, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, Friedrich Schleirmacher, Baruch Spinoza,George Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Catherine Wilson, and many otherintelligent, hard working, courageous, forthright, dynamic, honest, fulfilled, and wise persons. These free-thinkers give me hope! Many, but not all, favored Epicurean and Hedonistic viewpoints. These persons often had different political and social viewpoints. Most had negative views about the usefulness of religion. Most favored science, logic and mathematics, reason, atomistic and evolutionary theories.
Aristippus, from Cyrene, Libya
(435 BCE � 356 BCE)
Hedonismand Epicureanism in Fictional Works
Also: Stoics, Cynics, Cyrenaics, Skeptics, Aristotelians in Fiction
Novels, Plays, Television, Movies, Stories, Fables, Poems
Novels
Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huys, 1884. Epicurean.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, 1957. Aristotelian.
Brave New World by Aldos Huxley, 1932.
Epicurean by Thomas Moore, 1857. Epicurean.
A Few Days in Athens, 1805
Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire, 1857.
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1926.
Hedonism by Donne Raffat, 2014
History of a Pleasure Seeker by Richard Mason, 2012.
Justine by the Marquis de Sade.
Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, 1929.
Marius the Epicurean by Walter Pater, 1885. Epicurean.
Picture of Dorian Grayby Oscar Wilde, 1890.
Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, 1926.
Snowdrops by A. D. Miller.
The Sun Also Risesby Ernest Hemingway, 1926.
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Ulysses by James Joyce, 1922. Epicurean.
Characters in Fictional Works or Television Programs or Motion Pictures
Essays on Hedonism in Literature or Film
Feeling Like a Stoic: Doris Lessing
Advice Beauty Bibliography Blog Body-Mind Broad Minded Cheerfulness
Contemplation Desires Dharmapada Sutra Education Epicureanism Equanimity
Feeling Fitness Five Senses Friendship Gardening Generosity
Happiness Hedonism Hospitality Independence Kindness Learning Links
Meditation Memory Mindfulness Moderation Open Minded Paramitas
Patience Philosophy Play Pleasures Qigong Reading Self-Reliance
Sensory Pleasures Simplicity Solitude Somaesthetics Stoicism Taijiquan
Tao Te Ching Thinking Tolerance Touching Tranquility Vigor Vision
Walking Willpower Wisdom Wonder Zen Precepts
RecommendedReading List
Epicureanism, Hedonism, Aristotelian, Egoism, Utilitarian
Although the focus of this webpage is on the Epicureans and Hedonists, and the majority of the books and essays listed in the above bibliographyare about Epicureanism and/or Hedonism, I have also included books and articles about the other Hellenistic philosophies that Hedonists or Epicureans were familiar with and even admired. Since the above bibliography is somewhat comprehensive, and includes books that I have not as yet read, I thought it might be beneficial to others if I gave some suggestions as to some of the "best" books that I have read on the subject of Hedonism and Epicureanism and related subjects. Persons just beginning to explore the Hedonists might find the following books useful to them.
These paperbound books are also available in hardbound format, and in digital formats for ebook readers, and from numerous used book sellers. There are books in languages other than English about Epicureanism, but I have limited access to them, and I can only read with English.
Here are a few recommendations for good books to read about Hedonism or Epicureanism:
Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity
How to be an Epicurean: The Ancient Art of Living Well. By Catherine Wilson, Ph.D. New York, Basic Books, 2019. 293 pages, notes. I think that Professor Catherine Wilson has a through understanding of Epicurean history and philosophy. She provides many key insights into how to we might reflect on our lives today, using Epicurean ideas and principles. Her writing is clear, balanced, and uplifting. This a good account for lay readers of an Epicurean response to many important contemporary issues. VSCL.
A Hedonist Manifesto By Michel Onfray. Translated and with a good introduction by Joseph McClellan. Columbia University Press, 2015. 232 pages. Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture. ISBN: 978-0231171267. Michel Onfray (1959-) is a French philosopher and public intellectual who founded and teaches at the free Popular University of Caen. He has written more than sixty books in French, many of them best sellers. His writing style is rich with comparisons and philosophical references, contemporary in scope, and for the advanced and knowledgeable reader. Generally, he does not use of obtuse philosophical jargon like you might encounter in Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Foucault, or Sartre. I find his critical and skeptical thinking quite insightful and convincing. He discusses art, bioethics, the body, politics, and intellectual history. The book begins with a detailed discussion of his very negative experiences in a Catholic Salesian orphanage, and his uncaring mother. He exposes the the philosophical underpinnings of non-Hedonistic or anti-Hedonist views. He is an articulate atheist in the French tradition. He is excellent in criticism; however, I don't find is presentation of the positive values of Hedonism very rich with examples and details─maybe that is found in his other books. There are some of his lifestyle recommendations that I personally don't favor, just as preferences, not based on ethical objections. His distain for America seems lopsided. He favors individual changes, small communities, minimalist government, a libertarian utilitarianism. Unfortunately, only two of his books have been translated into English. I have the E-book Kindle version, VSCL.
Epicurus and the Pleasant Life: A Philosophy of Nature. By Haris Dimitriadis. 1st Edition, 2017. 516 pages. ISBN: 978-9609384568. VSCL.
The Art of Happiness.
Pursuits of Wisdom: Six Ways of Life in Ancient Philosophy from Socrates to Plotinus
Happiness: A History
Lucretius: The Way Things Are: The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus
RandomNotes, Comments, and Comparisons
Epicureanism, Egoism, Utilitarianism, Hedonism
By Mike Garofalo
1. Time and Pleasures
The pleasures and satisfaction we derive from activities or objects changes over time. Since we change from infants to children to teenagers to young adults to adults to older adults to seniors to the aged ... the objects of our desires also change. Some objects which provided pleasure in our 20's may provide little or no pleasure, or pain, in our 70's. Our capacity for pleasures changes over time. Our interests and hobbies which once provided excitement, pleasure or satisfaction may cease, fade away, and be of little or no interest decades later.
2. Celebration in Honor of Epicurus
On February 4th we honor the memory ofEpicurus (341-270 BCE), the founder (Hegemon) of the school of philosophy in Athens, Greece, that we now call "Epicureanism." His school was called "The Garden" (Ho Kepos).
His followers celebrated together in his honor on the 10th of Gamelion. Gamelion was a lunar period of the Attic Calendar used by the ancient Athenian Greeks. Gamelion was the period in January or February, each Winter, occurring after a full moon. Consequently, the celebration of the life and philosophy of Epicurus was a moveable feast. Vincent Cookreports that Epicurus was born on February 4th.
I am content to use February 4th for the purpose of a special celebration in honor of Epicurus. It is another way to keep the memory of Epicurus alive in our day and age. So, we Friends of Epicurus celebrate and enjoy ourselves, and renew our commitment to the Epircurean cause. Epicurus would have encouraged us to: enjoy wholesome pleasures, be cheerful, have peace of mind (ataraxia), be uplifted by our decent friendships, practice kind speech (suavity), find beauty and factuality in the natural world, respect our bodies and our senses, flourish as human beings (eudaimonia), cultivate wisdom through good conversation, reasoning and reading, live peacefully and productively, and let go of superstitions and false beliefs. We tip our hats to the founder and master!
- Blog Post in my Cloud Hands Blog: In Honor of Epicurus
3. Don't Draw Attention to Oneself
"The most well-known Epicurean verse, which epitomizes his philosophy, is "lathe biōsas λάθε βιώσας "(Plutarchus De latenter vivendo 1128c; Flavius Philostratus Vita Apollonii 8.28.12), meaning "live secretly", "get through life without drawing attention to yourself", i. e. live without pursuing glory or wealth or power, but anonymously, enjoying little things like food, the company of friends, etc."
Staying behind the scenes, not drawing attention to oneself, modesty, humility, simple living, and non-assertiveness are often cited as characteristics of the Sage by Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching, e.g., Chapter 2, Chapter 22.
"So the Sage embraces the One and become a model for the world
Without showing himself, he shines forth
Without promoting himself, he is distinguished
Without claiming reward, he gains endless merit
Without seeking glory, his glory endures"
- Tao Te Ching,Chapter 22, Translation by Jonathan Star
- Blog post in my Cloud Hands Blog, including Thomas Jefferson's summary of key Epicurean doctrines.
Epicureanism,Hedonism, Cyrenaics, Utilitarianism, Pleasures
Quotations, Sayings, Aphorisms, Clich�s, Quips, Quotes, Wisdom, Poetry
Quotations
�I do not live for what the world thinks of me, but for what I think of myself.�
- Jack London
�Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.�
- Epicurus
�For all knowledge and wonder (which is the seed of knowledge) is an impression of pleasure in itself.�
- Francis Bacon
�It is with this movement, with the passage and dissolution of impressions, images, sensations, that analysis leaves off�that continual vanishing away, that strange, perpetual weaving and unweaving of ourselves.�
- Walter Pater
"A single copy of _De rerum natura_was located by the apostolic secretary and dedicated manuscript-hunter Poggio Bracciolini, in Germany in 1417, but it took twelve years to copy, and Lucretius was hardly read or cited before 1450. The first printed edition appeared in Brescia in 1473."
- Catherine Wilson
�Of the thousands who have paid homage to virtue, barely one has thought to inspect the pedestal on which it stands.�
- Frances Wright
�What Adam Smith took from David Hume�s demonstration of the limits of reason, the absurdity of superstition, and the primacy of the passions was not a lesson of Buddhist-Stoical indifference but something more like a sense of Epicurean intensity�if we are living in the material world, then let us make it our material.�
- Adam Gopnik
�Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?�
- Epicurus
"Don't fear the gods,
Don't worry about death;
What is good is easy to get, and
What is terrible is easy to endure.�
- Epicurus
�As you say of yourself, I too am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us.
- Thomas Jefferson, Letters, 1890
�If you wish to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires.�
- Epicurus
�All Hellenistic schools seem to define wisdom in approximately the same terms: first and foremost, as a state of perfect peace of mind. From this viewpoint, philosophy appears as a remedy for human worries, anguish, and misery brought about, for the Cynics, by social constraints and conventions; for the Epicureans, by the quest for false pleasures; for the Stoics, by the pursuit of pleasure and egoistic self-interest; and for the Skeptics, by false opinions. Whether or not they laid claim to the Socratic heritage, all Hellenistic philosophers agreed with Socrates that human beings are plunged in misery, anguish, and evil because they exist in ignorance. Evil is to be found not within things, but in the value judgments with people bring to bear upon things. People can therefore be cured of their ills only if they are persuaded to change their value judgments, and in this sense all these philosophies wanted to be therapeutic.�
- Pierre Hadot, What Is Ancient Philosophy?
�Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.�
- Epicurus
�Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.�
- Epicurus
�It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.�
- Epicurus
"Positivism is a philosophical theory which states that "positive" knowledge is exclusively derived from experience of natural phenomena and their properties and relations. Thus, information derived from sensory experience, as interpreted through reason and logic, forms the exclusive source of all certain knowledge."
- Auguste Comte
"Around the same time, the Epicurean injunction to "live in obscurity" was beginning to gain popularity as well.[139]In 1685, Sir William Temple (1628�1699) abandoned a promising career as a diplomat and instead retired to his garden, devoting himself to writing essays on Epicurus's moral teachings.[139]That same year, John Dryden translated the celebrated lines from Book II of Lucretius's On the Nature of Things: "'Tis pleasant, safely to behold from shore / The rowling ship, and hear the Tempest roar."[139]Meanwhile, John Locke (1632�1704) adapted Gassendi's modified version of Epicurus's epistemology, which became highly influential on English empiricism.[139]Many thinkers with sympathies towards the Enlightenment endorsed Epicureanism as an admirable moral philosophy.[139] Thomas Jefferson (1743�1826), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, declared in 1819, "I too am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us."[139]
The German philosopher Karl Marx (1818�1883), whose ideas are basis of Marxism, was profoundly influenced as a young man by the teachings of Epicurus[141] and his doctoral thesis was a Hegelian dialectical analysis of the differences between the natural philosophies of Democritus and Epicurus.[142]Marx viewed Democritus as a rationalist skeptic, whose epistemology was inherently contradictory, but saw Epicurus as a dogmatic empiricist, whose worldview is internally consistent and practically applicable.[143]The British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809�1892) praised "the sober majesties / of settled, sweet, Epicurean life" in his 1868 poem "Lucretius".[139] Epicurus's ethical teachings also had an indirect impact on the philosophy of Utilitarianism in England during the nineteenth century.[139]"
- Wikipedia
"In an age which has produced much agonizing over how to reconcile the life of the mind with a materialist physics, we are likely to feel an immediate affinity with an earlier theorist who combined the project of explaining human psychology with a commitment to the claim that �the totality of things is bodies and void� (Epistula ad Herodotum 39). In common with the vast majority of modern psychologists and philosophers of mind, Epicurus was committed to atomistic materialism � and indeed, unlike that of most modern psychologists and philosophers, his commitment actually extended to arguing for the truth of that position. It was not a thesis which he accepted merely on authority. Like that of Aristotle in the generation before him, Epicurus� psychology needs to be seen as part of an attempt to provide a complete natural philosophy. At least part of what he has to say about the psuchē is directly intended to show that his atomic theory is capable of explaining such complex natural phenomena as perception, thought and action. All of what he has to say is intended to be consistent with that physical theory."
- Stephen Everson
"Philosophy, as long as a drop of blood shall pulse in its world-subduing and absolutely free heart, will never grow tired of answering it adversaries with the cry of Epicurus: 'The truly impious man is not he who denies the gods worshipped by the multitude, but he who affirms of the gods what the multitude believes abou them.'
- Karl Marx, Foreword to his 1841 dissertation.
"Sir William Temple (1628-1699) saw his retirement from political life to his country estate at Moor Park as following the example of the Greek philosopher Epicurus. In his essay of 1685 "Upon the Gardens of Epicurus" Temple wrote of "the sweetness and satisfaction of this retreat, where since my resolution taken of never entering again into any public employments, I have passed five years without once going to town". As a result of his introducing the term sharawadgi in this essay, Temple is considered the originator of the English landscape garden movement."
- Wikipedia
Key Ideas, Concepts, Adages, Phrases, Doctrines, or Principles for Epicureanism
PD = "The �Principal Doctrines� (also sometimes translated under the title �Sovran Maxims�) are a collection of forty quotes from the writings of Epicurus that serve as a handy summary of his ethical theory:
1. Pleasure is a primary criterion for making choices and taking actions. Happiness is a function of good health and pleasant experiences for as long as possible.
"The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain. When such pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together." PD #3
2. Intense pleasures sometimes have unpleasant and unhealthy consequences. Use caution with intense pleasures. Think of long-term consequences of intense pleasures. Don't ruin your health or overall well being because of seeking or enjoying intense pleasures. Intense pleasures or pains often do not last very long.
"No pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves." PD #8
3. Desires can be based on false, groundless, empty ideals. Be practical and efficient about what you want or desire. What is necessary for a calm, peaceful, satisfying life? If you live simply and more down to earth, what is needed can be rather easily procured. What do you really need rather than what you imagine you might enjoy?
"Of our desires some are natural and necessary, others are natural but not necessary; and others are neither natural nor necessary, but are due to groundless opinion." PD #29
"Those natural desires which entail no pain when unsatisfied, though pursued with an intense effort, are also due to groundless opinion; and it is not because of their own nature they are not got rid of but because of man's groundless opinions." PD #30
"The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity." PD #15
4. Go unnoticed. Mind your own business. Be content with a simple, quiet, private, unnoticed life. Stay clear of public and political notoriety. Don't seek fame.
"Some men want fame and status, thinking that they would thus make themselves secure against other men. If the life of such men really were secure, they have attained a natural good; if, however, it is insecure, they have not attained the end which by nature's own prompting they originally sought." PD #7
5. Cultivate friendships. Sharing pleasant and convivial social relations can enhance your life. Make, cultivate and keep good friends.
"Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is friendship." PD #27
6. Death ends your consciousness, soul, and being. There is no afterlife as a non-material spirit. When you are dead, there is nothing to fear. Upon our death our bodies disintegrate, our material (atomic) nature dissipates and disperses, we disappear, our bodies and minds (souls) are gone. Dead persons show no evidence of consciousness, awareness or thinking. Ghosts are an invention of the imagination and fear.
"Death is nothing to us; for that which has been dissolved into its elements experiences no sensations, and that which has no sensation is nothing to us." PD #2
7. Common religion is primarily useless superstition and childish nonsense. Gods would have no interest in managing human affairs, or rewarding or punishing humans, or creating worlds. Fear not the gods.
"A blessed and indestructible being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply weakness." PD #1
8. Pain, discomfort, worry, anxiety, hunger, and fear are to be avoided and prevented.
"Continuous bodily pain does not last long; instead, pain, if extreme, is present a very short time, and even that degree of pain which slightly exceeds bodily pleasure does not last for many days at once. Diseases of long duration allow an excess of bodily pleasure over pain." PD #4
PD = Principal Doctrinesof Epicurus, Sovran Maxims, #1-#40
How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons
Principal Doctrines of Epircureanism
5. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly. Whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for instance, the man is not able to live wisely, though he lives honorably and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life.
6. In order to obtain protection from other men, any means for attaining this end is a natural good.
9. If every pleasure had been capable of accumulation, not only over time but also over the entire body or at least over the principal parts of our nature, then pleasures would never differ from one another.
10. If the things that produce the pleasures of profligate men really freed them from fears of the mind concerning celestial and atmospheric phenomena, the fear of death, and the fear of pain; if, further, they taught them to limit their desires, we should never have any fault to find with such persons, for they would then be filled with pleasures from every source and would never have pain of body or mind, which is what is bad.
11. If we had never been troubled by celestial and atmospheric phenomena, nor by fears about death, nor by our ignorance of the limits of pains and desires, we should have had no need of natural science.
12. It is impossible for someone to dispel his fears about the most important matters if he doesn't know the nature of the universe but still gives some credence to myths. So without the study of nature there is no enjoyment of pure pleasure.
13. There is no advantage to obtaining protection from other men so long as we are alarmed by events above or below the earth or in general by whatever happens in the boundless universe.
14. Protection from other men, secured to some extent by the power to expel and by material prosperity, in its purest form comes from a quiet life withdrawn from the multitude.
16. Chance seldom interferes with the wise man; his greatest and highest interests have been, are, and will be, directed by reason throughout his whole life.
17. The just man is most free from disturbance, while the unjust is full of the utmost disturbance.
18. Bodily pleasure does not increase when the pain of want has been removed; after that it only admits of variation. The limit of mental pleasure, however, is reached when we reflect on these bodily pleasures and their related emotions, which used to cause the mind the greatest alarms.
19. Unlimited time and limited time afford an equal amount of pleasure, if we measure the limits of that pleasure by reason.
20. The flesh receives as unlimited the limits of pleasure; and to provide it requires unlimited time. But the mind, intellectually grasping what the end and limit of the flesh is, and banishing the terrors of the future, procures a complete and perfect life, and we have no longer any need of unlimited time. Nevertheless the mind does not shun pleasure, and even when circumstances make death imminent, the mind does not lack enjoyment of the best life.
21. He who understands the limits of life knows that it is easy to obtain that which removes the pain of want and makes the whole of life complete and perfect. Thus he has no longer any need of things which involve struggle.
22. We must consider both the ultimate end and all clear sensory evidence, to which we refer our opinions; for otherwise everything will be full of uncertainty and confusion.
23. If you fight against all your sensations, you will have no standard to which to refer, and thus no means of judging even those sensations which you claim are false.
24. If you reject absolutely any single sensation without stopping to distinguish between opinion about things awaiting confirmation and that which is already confirmed to be present, whether in sensation or in feelings or in any application of intellect to the presentations, you will confuse the rest of your sensations by your groundless opinion and so you will reject every standard of truth. If in your ideas based upon opinion you hastily affirm as true all that awaits confirmation as well as that which does not, you will not avoid error, as you will be maintaining the entire basis for doubt in every judgment between correct and incorrect opinion.
25. If you do not on every occasion refer each of your actions to the ultimate end prescribed by nature, but instead of this in the act of choice or avoidance turn to some other end, your actions will not be consistent with your theories.
26. All desires that do not lead to pain when they remain unsatisfied are unnecessary, but the desire is easily got rid of, when the thing desired is difficult to obtain or the desires seem likely to produce harm.
27. Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is friendship.
28. The same conviction which inspires confidence that nothing we have to fear is eternal or even of long duration, also enables us to see that in the limited evils of this life nothing enhances our security so much as friendship.
29. Of our desires some are natural and necessary, others are natural but not necessary; and others are neither natural nor necessary, but are due to groundless opinion.
30. Those natural desires which entail no pain when unsatisfied, though pursued with an intense effort, are also due to groundless opinion; and it is not because of their own nature they are not got rid of but because of man's groundless opinions.
31. Natural justice is a pledge of reciprocal benefit, to prevent one man from harming or being harmed by another.
32. Those animals which are incapable of making binding agreements with one another not to inflict nor suffer harm are without either justice or injustice; and likewise for those peoples who either could not or would not form binding agreements not to inflict nor suffer harm.
33. There never was such a thing as absolute justice, but only agreements made in mutual dealings among men in whatever places at various times providing against the infliction or suffering of harm.
34. Injustice is not an evil in itself, but only in consequence of the fear which is associated with the apprehension of being discovered by those appointed to punish such actions.
35. It is impossible for a man who secretly violates the terms of the agreement not to harm or be harmed to feel confident that he will remain undiscovered, even if he has already escaped ten thousand times; for until his death he is never sure that he will not be detected.
36. In general justice is the same for all, for it is something found mutually beneficial in men's dealings, but in its application to particular places or other circumstances the same thing is not necessarily just for everyone.
37. Among the things held to be just by law, whatever is proved to be of advantage in men's dealings has the stamp of justice, whether or not it be the same for all; but if a man makes a law and it does not prove to be mutually advantageous, then this is no longer just. And if what is mutually advantageous varies and only for a time corresponds to our concept of justice, nevertheless for that time it is just for those who do not trouble themselves about empty words, but look simply at the facts.
38. Where without any change in circumstances the things held to be just by law are seen not to correspond with the concept of justice in actual practice, such laws are not really just; but wherever the laws have ceased to be advantageous because of a change in circumstances, in that case the laws were for that time just when they were advantageous for the mutual dealings of the citizens, and subsequently ceased to be just when they were no longer advantageous.
39. The man who best knows how to meet external threats makes into one family all the creatures he can; and those he can not, he at any rate does not treat as aliens; and where he finds even this impossible, he avoids all dealings, and, so far as is advantageous, excludes them from his life.
40. Those who possess the power to defend themselves against threats by their neighbors, being thus in possession of the surest guarantee of security, live the most pleasant life with one another; and their enjoyment of the fullest intimacy is such that if one of them dies prematurely, the others do not lament his death as though it called for pity."
- Principal Doctrines of Epicurus
How to Live a Good Life: Advice fom Wise Persons
"Letter to Menoeceus" from Epicurus
"Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more. Therefore, both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom, the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come. So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it.
Those things which without ceasing I have declared unto you, do them, and exercise yourself in them, holding them to be the elements of right life. First believe that God is a living being immortal and blessed, according to the notion of a god indicated by the common sense of mankind; and so believing, you shall not affirm of him anything that is foreign to his immortality or that is repugnant to his blessedness. Believe about him whatever may uphold both his blessedness and his immortality. For there are gods, and the knowledge of them is manifest; but they are not such as the multitude believe, seeing that men do not steadfastly maintain the notions they form respecting them. Not the man who denies the gods worshipped by the multitude, but he who affirms of the gods what the multitude believes about them is truly impious. For the utterances of the multitude about the gods are not true preconceptions but false assumptions; hence it is that the greatest evils happen to the wicked and the greatest blessings happen to the good from the hand of the gods, seeing that they are always favorable to their own good qualities and take pleasure in men like themselves, but reject as alien whatever is not of their kind.
Accustom yourself to believing that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply the capacity for sensation, and death is the privation of all sentience; therefore a correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life a limitless time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terrors for him who has thoroughly understood that there are no terrors for him in ceasing to live. Foolish, therefore, is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will pain when it comes, but because it pains in the prospect. Whatever causes no annoyance when it is present, causes only a groundless pain in the expectation. Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. It is nothing, then, either to the living or to the dead, for with the living it is not and the dead exist no longer.
But in the world, at one time men shun death as the greatest of all evils, and at another time choose it as a respite from the evils in life. The wise man does not deprecate life nor does he fear the cessation of life. The thought of life is no offense to him, nor is the cessation of life regarded as an evil. And even as men choose of food not merely and simply the larger portion, but the more pleasant, so the wise seek to enjoy the time which is most pleasant and not merely that which is longest. And he who admonishes the young to live well and the old to make a good end speaks foolishly, not merely because of the desirability of life, but because the same exercise at once teaches to live well and to die well. Much worse is he who says that it were good not to be born, but when once one is born to pass quickly through the gates of Hades. For if he truly believes this, why does he not depart from life? It would be easy for him to do so once he were firmly convinced. If he speaks only in jest, his words are foolishness as those who hear him do not believe.
We must remember that the future is neither wholly ours nor wholly not ours, so that neither must we count upon it as quite certain to come nor despair of it as quite certain not to come.
We must also reflect that of desires some are natural, others are groundless; and that of the natural some are necessary as well as natural, and some natural only. And of the necessary desires some are necessary if we are to be happy, some if the body is to be rid of uneasiness, some if we are even to live. He who has a clear and certain understanding of these things will direct every preference and aversion toward securing health of body and tranquillity of mind, seeing that this is the sum and end of a blessed life. For the end of all our actions is to be free from pain and fear, and, when once we have attained all this, the tempest of the soul is laid; seeing that the living creature has no need to go in search of something that is lacking, nor to look for anything else by which the good of the soul and of the body will be fulfilled. When we are pained because of the absence of pleasure, then, and then only, do we feel the need of pleasure. Wherefore we call pleasure the alpha and omega of a blessed life. Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is the starting-point of every choice and of every aversion, and to it we come back, inasmuch as we make feeling the rule by which to judge of every good thing.
And since pleasure is our first and native good, for that reason we do not choose every pleasure whatsoever, but will often pass over many pleasures when a greater annoyance ensues from them. And often we consider pains superior to pleasures when submission to the pains for a long time brings us as a consequence a greater pleasure. While therefore all pleasure because it is naturally akin to us is good, not all pleasure is should be chosen, just as all pain is an evil and yet not all pain is to be shunned. It is, however, by measuring one against another, and by looking at the conveniences and inconveniences, that all these matters must be judged. Sometimes we treat the good as an evil, and the evil, on the contrary, as a good.
Again, we regard independence of outward things as a great good, not so as in all cases to use little, but so as to be contented with little if we have not much, being honestly persuaded that they have the sweetest enjoyment of luxury who stand least in need of it, and that whatever is natural is easily procured and only the vain and worthless hard to win. Plain fare gives as much pleasure as a costly diet, when once the pain of want has been removed, while bread and water confer the highest possible pleasure when they are brought to hungry lips. To habituate one's self, therefore, to simple and inexpensive diet supplies all that is needful for health, and enables a man to meet the necessary requirements of life without shrinking, and it places us in a better condition when we approach at intervals a costly fare and renders us fearless of fortune.
When we say, then, that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice, or willful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not an unbroken succession of drinking-bouts and of revelry, not sexual lust, not the enjoyment of the fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul. Of all this the beginning and the greatest good is wisdom. Therefore wisdom is a more precious thing even than philosophy; from it spring all the other virtues, for it teaches that we cannot live pleasantly without living wisely, honorably, and justly; nor live wisely, honorably, and justly without living pleasantly. For the virtues have grown into one with a pleasant life, and a pleasant life is inseparable from them.
Who, then, is superior in your judgment to such a man? He holds a holy belief concerning the gods, and is altogether free from the fear of death. He has diligently considered the end fixed by nature, and understands how easily the limit of good things can be reached and attained, and how either the duration or the intensity of evils is but slight. Fate, which some introduce as sovereign over all things, he scorns, affirming rather that some things happen of necessity, others by chance, others through our own agency. For he sees that necessity destroys responsibility and that chance is inconstant; whereas our own actions are autonomous, and it is to them that praise and blame naturally attach. It were better, indeed, to accept the legends of the gods than to bow beneath that yoke of destiny which the natural philosophers have imposed. The one holds out some faint hope that we may escape if we honor the gods, while the necessity of the naturalists is deaf to all entreaties. Nor does he hold chance to be a god, as the world in general does, for in the acts of a god there is no disorder; nor to be a cause, though an uncertain one, for he believes that no good or evil is dispensed by chance to men so as to make life blessed, though it supplies the starting-point of great good and great evil. He believes that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool. It is better, in short, that what is well judged in action should not owe its successful issue to the aid of chance.
Exercise yourself in these and related precepts day and night, both by yourself and with one who is like-minded; then never, either in waking or in dream, will you be disturbed, but will live as a god among men. For man loses all semblance of mortality by living in the midst of immortal blessings." [Translator unknown.]
How to Live a Good Life: Advice fom Wise Persons
"The following are ten basic ethical tenets of Epicureanism � how should we live? What is the goal of living? How should we pursue that goal?
1. Don�t be concerned about �gods� � supernatural beings do not exist, and even if there are any �perfect� higher beings they are not concerned with mankind. The only way to dismiss superstition and fear from life is to live intelligently, and therefore confidently, and this requires that we study the world around us (and science) and employ the faculties of observation given us by Nature (the Epicurean Canon of Truth).
2. Pleasurable living is the ultimate goal of life set by nature. We can do this by filling our lives with good things, avoiding pain, studying nature and striving for safety and independence. This implies avoiding people who are disagreeable and who cause you fear, anxiety or displeasure.
3. Even if you are not able to rid yourself of all pain and anxiety, pleasurable living is possible. Strong pain generally lasts a short time, and even of it lasts a long time, it is generally mild. This implies that in difficult times one should try to be patient, for most bad things pass.
4. It is possible for us to attain the maximum pleasure if we pursue it intelligently. This implies thinking, not just about yourself, but about the interests and pleasure of others as well.
5. No pleasure is bad in itself, but some pleasures bring more pain than the pleasure justifies. And no single pleasure should be pursued to the point where it consumes our lives, because if it did so there would never be any room for any other pleasures. This implies moderation in all things.
6. �Virtue� is simply the name we give to the necessary tools by which pleasurable living can be attained. It is not possible to live pleasurably without these tools, nor is it possible to employ these tools properly without living pleasurably.
7. Men can live wisely and pursue pleasure intelligently because they are free agents and their actions are not wholly determined by outside force.
8. If we live wisely we will see that our most important tool of happiness and security is friendship with people of like mind, attitude and loyalty.
9. The only true foundation of Justice is mutually advantageous agreement among intelligent beings to neither do or receive harm from each other. This implies putting the emphasis on compromise where necessary, peace of mind, and the avoidance of unnecessary antagonism and the stress it brings.
10. While there is no such thing as absolute or universal justice or injustice, the justice we can enjoy is founded on mutually advantageous agreements. This implies that relationships that change over time and become less mutually advantageous can be considered no longer just."
Epicurus Today Blog: Moderation, Enjoyment of Life, Tranquility, Friendship, Lack of Fear. By Robert Hanrott. 2016
How to Live a Good Life: Advice fom Wise Persons
Criticisms of Epicureanism
Christian and Muslim and Jewish Church Fathers, past and present, attack Epicurean doctrines and viewpoints. They insist on the authority of their scriptures, hate atheists and infidels, preach belief in immortal souls, encourage fearing God, reject scientific methods, deny evolutionary theory, condemn pleasure seeking, etc., etc.. They have harassed, tortured, and killed those who don't believe in their anti-Epicurean doctrines. Most of their attacks are low brow, exaggerations, slander, lies, and inventions.
I found a summary of Cicero's criticisms of Epicurean philosophy by Catherine Wilson in "Epicureanism and the Origins of Modernity, p. 12.
"Cicerotook issue with the image of the anti-providential universe of Epicurus, insisting that the world's beauty and order bespoke a divine origin, and he attacked the doctrine of pleasure as one unworthy of the dignity of man and countered the Epicurean theory of justice with one based on objective laws of nature an an innate social justice. ...
Research by
Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Michael P. Garofalo, A Brief Biography
Green Way Research, Vancouver, Washington
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