Posts by Mousikos

This is my understanding of prolepseis (anticipations) as per https://newepicurean.com/resources/libr…s-and-feelings/

In what sense do you think it is not correct?

This is my personal outline and interpretation of Epicurean philosophy:

On the nature of reality

1. Nature, being the physical universe consisting of matter, energy, and void, is all that exists. The supernatural does not exist.

2. There are no gods, in the traditional religious sense of supernatural beings that interact with our universe.

3. The mind is an emergent function of the physical body, most importantly the brain. When the body dies and disintegrates, so does the mind. There is no afterlife in which the mind survives the death of the body.

On the nature of knowledge

4. Nature is knowable. We observe it using our senses. And we use our mind to order these observations and integrate them into knowledge.

5. Our feelings of pleasure and pain inform us as to what is beneficial and what is detrimental to us.

6. We are born with certain innate ideas, such as a sense of justice. These form a kind of genetically transmitted knowledge which is beneficial to our life.

7. We should test our mental conclusions against these three sources of knowledge, and adjust them accordingly.

On the nature of the good life

8. The goal of a good life is to achieve the greatest possible happiness.

9. To enhance happiness, we should pursue pleasure, and avoid pain.

10. It may at times be necessary to accept temporary pain in order to achieve greater pleasure later, or to avoid a pleasure in order to avoid a greater pain later.

11. We should not fear death, as in death we will no longer have sensations and feelings. So, we should make the most of this life.

12. There is no absolute morality, and each person should freely make their own hedonistic calculations. That said, because of the nature of knowledge, we can make general statements about which choices would bring greater pleasure and happiness to the majority of people.

13. Virtues are only good and worth pursuing insofar as they contribute to greater happiness through avoiding pain and offering pleasure. A choice is not virtuous if it does not lead to greater happiness.

14. In order to better understand pleasure and pain, we need to study nature. A better understanding of reality will help us achieve greater happiness.

Comments?

I must disagree with Philodemus here. There is a plenty of research showing the healing power of music, regardless of the absence or presence of words. Music heals because it speaks to our emotions, and this can have a positive effect on our physical body.

I'm not saying that music can replace philosophy, and if he was simply talking about the function of philosophy, as giving a deeper understanding, then I could agree.

Indeed. I do not see a difference between things that matter, things that are meaningful, and things that ultimately make me happier.

We should have someone do a TED talk on how Epicurean philosophy helps people live happier lives.

I think it is at least partly because Stoicism is riding on the coat tails on the one hand of CBT and as a way of distancing oneself from negative feelings, and on the other hand of traditional masculinity which has seen a rise in popularity in the face of an out of control social justice / political correctness movement which likes to demonize (especially white) maleness. Stoicism also has better name recognition.

I think Epicureanism suffers from a lack of name recognition, as well as a skewed understanding of what it is about. A hedonistic pursuit of the good life does not strongly invite people who are interested in philosophy. And pleasure seekers may not be all that interested in philosophy.

So I think we should try to reach out more broadly and let people, especially in non-religious communities, know what Epicurean Philosophy is about.

Thanks! I've been a member of the Epicurean Philosophy Facebook group for a while, but I feel I need to familiarize myself more in-depth with Epicurus' philosophy. So here I am.

I have a background in Christianity, initially Evangelical, and later Greek-Orthodox. As such I spent a number of years in Greece getting a degree in Theology. By the end of that tho, I had left the Church and started a personal journey, which ended in me eventually becoming an atheist upon reading Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion several years later. It did leave me with a passing knowledge of Greek and the basics of philosophy, which I hope may be useful here.

Now I am a primary school teacher by day, and an amateur musician in my free time (hence the nickname).