Posts by Martin

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TauPhi's comment on the big bang theory is correct.

This may be a related snippet of the "story" (but tentatively, the timing does not match):

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a certain Theotimus, convinced that he had composed infamous letters, addressed to some of the women who frequented his gardens, was condemned to lose his life.

from Charles' thread on the article on Epicureanism in Diderot's encyclopedia:

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(Diderot) Denis - "Epicureism, or Epicurism", Vol. 5 of The Encyclopedia

EPICUREISM or EPICURISM, noun. m. ( History of Philosophy .) The Elean sect gave birth to the Epicurean sect . Never has philosophy been less heard and more slandered than that of Epicurus . This philosopher was accused of atheism, although he admitted the existence of the gods, that he frequented the temples, and that he had no reluctance to prostrate himself to the feet of the altars. He was regarded as the apologist for debauchery, he whose life was a continual practice of all the virtues,…

Charles

April 13, 2020 at 8:55 PM

I recall another snippet indicating that someone (probably Theotimus) was sentenced to death because he was found guilty of slander. However, the search did not reveal that other snippet on epicureanfriends.com.

There are a lot of "Error! Bookmark not defined" notifications on the first pages.

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Why does Diogenes of Oenoanda want to help those who are "well-constituted"? Doesn't that mean helping those who don't need help? Shouldn't he want to help those who are badly constituted? Or does he want to help the rich to lead good lives, such that their examples might spread, and their wealth/power not be abused?

I guess that "well-constituted" refers to people who are still willing to learn and adapt as they see fit if they encounter ideas which are new for them or which they have neglected in the past.

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Likewise, energy and forces are best thought of as falling under "atoms" since as Epicurus meant the term it was simply indivisible particle

Energy is not indivisible except for transition energies between states of matter. Likewise, forces are not indivisible either. It is good to be aware that forces at a distance (fields) and energy are not covered by Epicurus' and would need to be added as new items to update Epicurean physics.

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Does this all have to do with Planck units?

Yes, in particular with the Planck length.

If someone wants a meaning for one's life, they are free to create it.

I thought about meaning of life during adolescence and the subsequent years because I read and heard from others about it but never felt that need for a meaning of life, so for me personally, there is no such crisis. However, as Nietzsche anticipated, the meaning crisis might be relevant for many people.

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that there is a smallest unit of length

A smallest unit of length has so far only been suggested but its existence is not proven. Epicurus did not claim the existence of a smallest unit of length either, possibly later Epicureans did that. A smallest unit of length (in terms of an exact number instead of something vague like quantum indeterminacy) would create big conceptual problems, both in Epicurus' metaphysics and in modern physics.

We should read Elli's claims as analogies, and not as identical ideas to modern science. The text would be a lot more complicated and less impressive if it was formulated in every sentence as analogy. Similarly, scientists mostly refer to reality instead of models because it would make their papers even less intelligible if they would explicitly include the model character of their theories in every sentence.

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Beetlemoses imagines how it may happen: