- Epicureanfriends.com (original) (raw)

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“That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”
—Henry David Thoreau

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From the Rackham edition intro - this is interesting - I have read the slashing and burning attack on Stoicism in the latter parts of On Ends - so what explains the discrepancy, and what was Cicero's true opinion?
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Thank you for posting this Matteng! This is not something I recall running into recently, and I think it will serve as a very good thing for us to review. I haven't yet had a chance to read the full article, but I see that the full work being referenced…

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Happy Birthday to sanantoniogarden! Learn more about sanantoniogarden and say happy birthday on sanantoniogarden's timeline: sanantoniogarden

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Maybe disagreement is a little strong ;)
I had to go back and see where we discussed this previously (Nothing dies on the internet ^^) and found one of our threads:
RE: Fundamental Issues In Hedonism So, I do agree with you that everything is contextual. I…

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Don
From Aioz and Boeri:
“The normative or regulative function of the Epicurean political model is embodied in the preconception of the just.”
[I’m nearly ¼ through the book. So, much more to wade through.]

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Just a note on personal “context”: Epicurean philosophy offers – to me – well-prescribed guardrails against my innate Cyrenaic instincts, and a cogent, practical countervailing philosophy vis-a-vis my Kantian/Stoic upbringing/programming. A late…

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@ Cassius : With regard to the gods, I agree (but there remains the idealist-versus-realist question…). With regard to pleasure=absence of pain, that formula is somewhat dependent on the context of Epicurean philosophy (in which there is no…

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LOL :D Don't get me started on "living being," but that's a topic for another thread.

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Which leads to the question: Do we stop trying, or do we simply define our terms as we think best, such as "believe that a god is a living being blessed and imperishable" or "by pleasure we mean the absence of pain."
I think Epicurus is with you, and…

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I disagree (not what I generally mean – even without much reflection). And I disagree that there is (or can be) some non-contextual definition of “happiness” that can be applied except in the most abstract of cases. The same for “pleasure”…

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Cute comment by Cicero:
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I am setting up this thread in preparation for devoting one or more episodes of the Lucretius Today podcast to the sections of this work devoted to attacking Epicurus. I'd like to add here quotes that are relevant either to Epicurus directly or to issues…

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Episode 259 - Epicurean Ethics Reexamined (Based on Excerpts From Cicero's "Tusculum Disputations")
First of a multipart series to go through the Epicurean Section of this work - excerpts to be posted below:

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Episode 258 - The Epicurean View of Divination (Including References to Cicero's Discussion of the Epicurean Position In His "On Divination"
This will be a single episode to go through the Epicurean Section of this work - excerpts to be posted below:
This…

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Episode 257 - The Epicurean View of Fate (Including References to Cicero's Discussion of the Epicurean Position In His "On Fate"
This will be a single episode to go through the Epicurean Section of this work - excerpts to be posted below:
[18] If the form…

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Welcome to Episode 256 of Lucretius Today. This is a podcast dedicated to the poet Lucretius, who wrote "On The Nature of Things," the most complete presentation of Epicurean philosophy left to us from the ancient world.
Each week we walk you through the…

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Welcome viokane !
There is one last step to complete your registration:
All new registrants must post a response to this message here in this welcome thread (we do this in order to minimize spam registrations).
You must post your response within 72…

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I hesitated to weigh in on this thread, but let's dive in...
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These are exactly the reasons I personally dislike using the word "happiness" itself. In modern Western culture, this is what happiness means for most people: a fizzy, effervescent…

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I would say that the decision to seek "meaning" rather than happiness is directly related to buying in, or being browbeaten, into thinking that pleasure and happiness are disreputable goals. The ancients didn't talk about "meaning" because they…

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The word "happiness" needs to be defined...because it is both the transitory feeling that arises when human needs are met/fulfilled, and also the feeling of being okay with (or satisfied with) how one's life is unfolding.
We need to feel that there are…

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I definitely agree with that as to transcendence, and as to "abstractions" I have used that formulation myself.
i write to talk about the meaning of "abstractions" probably not being clear enough would explanation. Mental pleasure is certainly…

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So, what do we have here? An author talking about metaphysical speculations, Christian beliefs, and the so desired(and abstract) "meaning".
"Meaning" is a funny thing. As the author says, we should pursuit it instead of "happiness". The question is: why…

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I think I've mentioned this before in this thread, but to update:
The apparent innate ability in psychological experiments of babies and animals to identify fairness seems to me to be connected with the idea that there is a prolepsis of justice or just…

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An interesting article on scientific studies of corruption in the English-language edition of El Pais. (I’ve been lately reading a few non-US news outlets, to get away from any “suffocation” from strictly local views.)
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Yes, there is a certain point at which you are dead, and the neurons stop firing.
Regarding the word "death" - first of all we see death in movies but often times it isn't depicted realistically --sometimes the person either dies peacefully or suddenly or…

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On re-reading this whole thread, I have some (possibly disjointed) thoughts:

  1. Maybe we should allow all the meaning possibilities of δίκαιος, and allow our translation/understanding to rest on context (such as “justice” or “civilized behavior” or
    …

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While I certainly am interested in the latest science, I wouldn't want us to go in that direction primarily. We need to understand where Epicurus was going because his view of death is going to relate to his view of life and how to spend it, as well…

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"Clinically dead".
So, not dead then. It still surprises me that our use of language concerning something as important as death is so reckless.

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Yes I definitely think that's the primary take-home point of the whole thing, as per what is said in the letter to Menoeceus:
Become accustomed to the belief that death is nothing to us. For all good and evil consists in sensation, but
death is
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Hello forum members!
Coming up next week is our monthly Twentieth Gathering!
Agenda: Welcome and greetings, commemoration short reading for Epicurus and Metrodorus, short presentation on this month's highlighted famous Epicureans, discussion of popular…

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Oh no! We missed you.
Last night you said something really good about the nature of justice and also quoted Thomas Jefferson...wondering if you have written anything or can write on that? I think it is an important topic. (We do have this sub-forum).

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My phone battery died mid-call, sorry to have missed the end!

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The story of Michael Marullus drowning in a river with a copy of Lucretius in his pocket will be familiar to many here. I learned recently that one of France's preeminent poets (Pierre de Ronsard) wrote an epitaph in his honor. It took me ages to track…

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Following up on my comment in post 16 above, I see that there are a couple of translations in the list that Kalosyni cited that seem to me to make more sentence (especially in the last portion) than the dominant version that we usually see. These two…

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Tonight we resumed discussion of Usener's Epicurea and began discussion of the section On Nature. Next week will be the 20th, so on 11/27, for those who can make Thanksgiving Eve, we will pick up with section 2.2 On Films (images) on page 220 of the PDF.

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I haven't had time to go through these yet but I will. Thanks for the work Eikadistes!
In the meantime I glanced at the page and here's a general comment:
2 Death in no way exists for us; for that which has dissolved lacks perception; and that which lacks…

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I originally posted this reference for last week's episode, but we deferred it til this week as it is more appropriate here in the closing:
Diogenes of Oinoanda Fragment 20:
[So it is obvious that wrong-doers, given that they do not fear the penalties…

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Welcome to Episode 255 of Lucretius Today. This is a podcast dedicated to the poet Lucretius, who wrote "On The Nature of Things," the most complete presentation of Epicurean philosophy left to us from the ancient world.
Each week we walk you through the…

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Very good Eikadistes !
Clerical note; The footnotes are out of their running starting at VS45, where footnote 10 is repeated from VS44. Everything after that is one off.
Good work!

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In recognition of members who have created Epicurean philosophy reference, study, or teaching materials such as documents, articles, YouTube videos, pamphlets, books, social media materials,…

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