1. About This Wiki
Welcome to EpicureanFriends, where we are dedicated to the study and promotion of the philosophy of Epicurus. This wiki is a work-in-progress, so if you don't find something you need, please check our list of frequently asked questions or ask in the forums.
2. About EpicureanFriends.com
EpicureanFriends was established in 2015 by a group of friends interested in the study of of Classical Epicurean Philosophy, freed from the intrusion of contemporary politics, Stoicism, Platonism, Humanism, Buddhism, Judeo-Christianism, and other "isms" with which many seek to combine it. Our ultimate goal is to implement Epicurus' instruction to Menoeceus: "Meditate therefore on these things and things akin to them night and day by yourself; and with a companion like to yourself, and never shall you be disturbed waking or asleep, but you shall live like a god among men. For a man who lives among immortal blessings is not like unto a mortal being."
Much more detail about how we work to maintain a constructive environment is contained in our Community Standards, our Not Neo-Epicurean, But Epicurean statement, and our Key Posting Policy statement, all of which you will find in this section of the wiki.
A major aspect of these community rules is that we prohibit the discussion of contemporary partisan political issues in our activities. The goal of EpicureanFriends is to focus identifying and understanding Epicurean philosophical doctrine, and we exclude all discussion of contemporary partisan politics, leaving such matters solely to our participants' personal discretion. This is not because we accept the contention of detractors that Epicurus taught extreme versions of "living unknown" or avoidance of "all" political action, but because our priority is a healthy community dedicated to Epicurean Philosophy, and discussion of divisive political issues would be a major obstacle to that goal.
2.1. Participation At EpicureanFriends.com
EpicureanFriends.com welcomes all who are sincerely interested in Epicurean Philosophy to read our public forums and make use of our public resources. All participants at EpicureanFriends have studied and been a part of other worldviews in the past, and it would be absurd to refuse engagement with those who hold views many of us ourselves once held. Our extensive discussion threads and resources are made public explicitly for the purpose of allowing people who do not consider themselves to be Epicurean to better understand the philosophy.
We are, however, an explicitly pro-Epicurean forum, and our goal is to construct a community of those who are supportive of of Classical Epicurean Philosophy. For that reason, full posting and participation privileges are reserved only to those who agree to our Community Standards, our Not Neo-Epicurean, But Epicurean statement, and our Key Posting Policy statement.
EpicureanFriends does not encourage eclecticism, and our forums are not the place for extended discussion of non-Epicurean viewpoints. Past threads on non-Epicurean philosphies include:
Please understand that there are many forums on the internet where other philosophies can be discussed and advocated at length. EpicureanFriends.com was founded to promote Epicurean philosophy, and we moderate the forum with that goal always in mind. We welcome to the forum all who are sincerely interested in the study of Epicurus and who wish to collaborate with the EpicureanFriends community.
3. The Epicurean Paradigm Shift
We recommend that at the very start of your study of Epicurus you come to grips with Epicurus' use of important philosophical terms in non-standard ways. Epicurus' description of words like "pleasure" was controversial even in his own time, and understanding the reasons for his views on basic terminology is essential to understanding his philosophy as a whole. The remaining works of Epicurus frequently do not explain the non-standard usage, so it is important to investigate this issue before presuming that apparent meanings of passages can be taken at face value by those familiar with twenty-first century usage.
Classical Epicurean Philosophy is a worldview that rejects many commonplace assumptions of other philosophies, including the prevailing views of "pleasure," "gods," "virtue," and even "good and evil." In Epicurean terms, pleasure embraces much more than sensory stimulation, "gods" exist but are not supernatural, and it is important to act "virtuously," but "virtue" is not desirable as an end it itself, but as a means of obtaining pleasure. Likewise, "Good" and "evil" are not abstract absolutes, but are ultimately evaluations based on sensations of pleasure and pain felt by real living things. "Practical Reason" is held to be essential for living wisely, but "dialectical logic" is rejected as misleading. It is a major goal of EpicureanFriends to explore Epicurean terminology in these and other areas so we can appreciate the philosophy as the ancient Epicureans understood it. For more on terminology and similar topics, check out our FAQ page. We also particularly recommend Episode 222 of the Lucetius Today Podcast where we discuss key terminology issues surrounding "happiness" and "pleasure" and "virtue."
In the ancient world, prevailing philosophic schools refused to accept Epicurus' unconventional viewpoints. As a result, those schools labeled Epicurus as a muddled thinker and an immoral reprobate. Those attitudes prevail even today, but what is more noteworthy is that even many who believe themselves to be Epicurus' friends misinterpret his views, often because they fail to incorporate Epicurus' rejection of conventional views even in such basic subjects as Pleasure.
Just as the rejection of elemental "earth, air, wind, and fire" leads to a revolution in physical science, the rejection of conventional views of the best way to live, the meaning of death, and the nature of gods leads to a revolution in ethics.
For more detail, please see the following slideshow and associated discussion outline.
4. Major Doctrines Of Classical Epicurean Philosophy
In order to clarify the distinctive aspects of Classical Epicurean Philosophy, at EpicureanFriends.com we place special emphasis on a number of the most central aspects of Epicurean doctrine. These points include:
- Nothing Can Be Created From Nothing.
- The Universe Is Infinite In Size And Eternal In Time And Has No Gods Over It.
- The Nature of Gods Contains Nothing That Is Inconsistent With Incorruption And Blessedness
- Death Is Nothing To Us.
- There Is No Necessity To Live Under The Control Of Necessity.
- He Who Says "Nothing Can Be Known" Knows Nothing.
- All Sensations Are "True."
- Virtue Is Not Absolute Or An End In Itself - All Good And Evil Consists In Sensation.
- Pleasure is The Guide of Life.
- By "Pleasure" We Mean All Experience That Is Not Painful
- Life Is Desirable, But Unlimited Time Contains No Greater Pleasure Than Limited Time.
We also have a longer Foundations of Epicurean Philosophy document, written in progressive narrative form, which is based closely on the ancient texts.
5. Three Divisions of Epicurean Philosophy
Epicurean philosophy is generally divided into Physics, Canonics, and Ethics, and we organize our forums along similar lines. The following subsections incorporate the eleven areas of focus listed above into the larger context of the field of Epicurean Philosophy where they are found:
5.1. Physics
Epicurus erected his entire philosophy upon his understanding of the nature of the universe, including how it is composed of and governed by elemental particles moving through space. Click here for our Wiki entry on General Principles of Epicurean Physics. Click here for our Physics discussion forum.
5.2. Canonics
Canonics, often known as "epistemology," is closely related to physics. At the same time that we observe and derive our conclusions about the nature of the universe, we must examine what it means to "know" anything. What is truth? What is real? Is confidence in knowledge (or "certainty") possible? Click here for our wiki entry on General Principles of Epicurean Canonics and here for our Key Citations In Canonics that remain from the ancient world. Click here for our Canonics discussion forum.
5.3. Ethics
Ethics is the application of Physics and Canonics to determine the best way to live. Click here for our Epicurean Ethics page and here for our Ethics discussion forum.
6. History Of The Epicurean School
- Joshua's Timeline of Epicureanism From Classical Athens to Late Antiquity
- Twentier's Timeline of Ancient Epicurean History
7. Frequently Asked Questions
We have a FAQ to answer many of the questions that normally come up during study. If you have an account and find something missing, let us know and we'll add to it if your question is a common one.
8. Recommended Reading
We always recommend that readers consult the original works of Epicurus, and we maintain here a collection of Ancient Epicurean Texts, including Diogenes Laertus Book 10 (which contains all of Epicurus' Letters), Lucretius' De Rerum Natura, and many others.
For people who are brand new to Epicurus, we recommend that you start with the two books we recommend most: Epicurus and His Philosophy by Norman DeWitt, and Living For Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life by Emily Austin:
- The most sweeping, thorough, and innovative "textbook" of Epicurean philosophy available is Norman DeWitt's "Epicurus and His Philosophy." No other book presents the full sweep and detail of the philosophy as well as this one. The opening chapter of DeWitt's book can be read for free here, and an article ("Philosophy For The Millions") summarizing DeWitt's perspective is here.
- The most current and best general introduction to Epicurean ethics is Dr. Emily Austin's "Living For Pleasure." This is a very readable introduction to Epicurean ideas on how to live that is consistent with the general approach here at EpicureanFriends. Our 2023 interview with Dr. Austin on the Lucretius Today podcast is a good introduction to her book.
There are of course other goods books about Epicurus, and we maintain a section of our forum devoted to disssion of them here. A word of caution is appropriate: There are many different interpretations of Epicurus, and many of them "adulterated" with Stoic, Buddhist, Judeo-Christian, Platonic, or other philosophies and religions, according to the preferences of their authors. We recommend that those seeking to understand Epicurus start with Epicurus and His Philosophy and Living For Pleasure, and then review Diogenes Laertius Book Ten and Lucretius, before moving to other works. The DeWitt and Austin books provide a firm grounding in classical Epicureanism, and they point out where the reader can expect to find controversies elsewhere as to what Epicurus really taught.
The full list we recommend for students of Epicurus is as follows:
- "Epicurus and His Philosophy" by Norman DeWitt
- "Living For Pleasure" by Emily Austin
- The Biography of Epicurus by Diogenes Laertius. This includes the surviving letters of Epicurus, including those to Herodotus, Pythocles, and Menoeceus.
- "On The Nature of Things" - by Lucretius (a poetic abridgement of Epicurus' "On Nature")
- "Epicurus on Pleasure" - An article by Boris Nikolsky
- The chapters on Epicurus in Gosling and Taylor's "The Greeks On Pleasure."
- Cicero's "On Ends" - Torquatus Section
- Cicero's "On The Nature of the Gods" - Velleius Section
- The Inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda - Martin Ferguson Smith translation
- A Few Days In Athens" - Frances Wright - with the criticisms referenced here.
- Lucian of Samosata - Lucian mentions Epicurus in a number of articles, but among the best are Alexander the Oracle-Monger, Hermotimus, and others listed here.
- Philodemus "On Methods of Inference" (De Lacy version, including his appendix on the history of the Epicurean Canon)
- Lucretius and the Transformation of Greek Wisdom by David Sedley, an in depth exploration of how Lucretius interpreted Epicurus
- The Sculpted Word by Bernard Frischer, a study of Epicurean bronzes and marbles from the ancient world.
- Haris Dimitriadis' "Epicurus' And The Pleasant Life"
- Consider also the following essays/lectures/letters:
- The Letter of Cosma Raimondi
- Norman DeWitt's "Philosophy For The Millions"
- John Tyndall's Belfast Address
- An essay on Lucretius from George Santayana's Three Philosophical Poets
- Prof. Ian Johnston's Lecture on Lucretius
- Lucy Hutchinson's Letter to the Earl of Anglesey, disavowing her very early translation of Lucretius
Here is a "library" page at NewEpicurean.com with links to where many additional translations are available for free on the internet.
Discussion of this FAQ entry at EpicureanFriends.com is here.
9. The Lucretius Today Podcast
In our Lucretius Today podcast we discuss the Epicurean texts in detail each week. Starting with Episode One in 2020 we went verse by verse through Lucretius' poem, and since then we have covered many other important Epicurean texts. Episodes of special note include Lucretius Today Interviews Dr. Emily Austin, Letter to Menoeceus, The Canon, Reason, and Nature, Epicurus and His Philosophy: The New Hedonism, and especially Episode 200 (our anniversary episode discussing our past and future plans for the podcast). We have a page dedicated to a selection of Quotes used in the podcast, and the best place to familiarize yourself with the episode topics is here.
10. Articles Section
We curate a number of selected Articles written by participants at EpicureanFriends which discuss Epicurus from the perspective of Classical Epicurean Philosophy.
11. Youtube Page
We have a selection of useful videos produced over the years. Of special note are our Seven Steps With Epicurus slideshow and our Foundations of Epicurean Philosophy presentation.
12. Special Resources Page
Our Special Resources Page provides a variety of informative items prepared by our forum members. Included is our page of Regional Maps of the Greco-Roman World
13. Image Gallery
Our Images section provides a collection of images, graphics, and memes by EpicureanFriends forum members. A special selection of our Featured Images is here.
14. Personal Outlines of Epicurean Philosophy
As suggested by Epicurus to Herodotus, and as in the example Thomas Jefferson left to us in his personal writings, one of the best ways to internalize Epicurean Philosophy is to write it out in outline forum. See our resources here for sample outlines that help you navigate this site, and work with others who have posted for us their own outlines here.
15. Self Study Courses
Currently we have a Quiz Section. In the future we hope to offer you organized programs in the form of an Epicurean Week and an Epicurean Seven Week Program.
16. Zoom Meetings
Those who register an account and establish a pattern of productive participation will be invited to our First Monday Meet And Greet meeting, which we conduct on the first Monday of each month. Those who continue thereafter to participate productively will eventually be invited to become “Established Members,” and to join our Wednesday night Zoom study groups and our monthly Twentieth Meeting, and participate in sections of our discussion forum which are limited to Established Members. If you'd like to know how we conduct our meetings and what to expect, check here.
17. Site Map
Our site map has a listing of all major sections of this site. If you have questions, please feel free to ask any member of our Moderator Team.
