Recent Activities
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Cassius
April 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM Replied to the thread The “Absence of Pain” Problem.PostAnother thing I'd add is that the cup analogy is just that - an "analogy" - as would be the ideal of all experience being pleasure. I think there's a tendency for us all to be thinking in terms of "explain to me exactly what I must do to enter the… -
Don
April 14, 2025 at 5:32 PM Replied to the thread The “Absence of Pain” Problem.Post[…]
Well stated! -
Rolf
April 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM Posted the thread The “Absence of Pain” Problem.ThreadHey folks!
I reached out to Cassius recently asking about the “absence of pain” problem. I’m fairly new to both this forum and epicurean philosophy as a whole, so I wasn’t sure about posting publicly, but Cassius kindly welcomed me to do so, so… -
Godfrey
April 14, 2025 at 12:19 PM Replied to the thread Article on Lucretius and "Death is Nothing to Us".PostI'm giving it a spin, as well. -
Kalosyni
April 14, 2025 at 10:44 AM Posted the thread April 20, 2025 - Twentieth Gathering Agenda.Thread
Coming up soon...April 20th Gathering!
Agenda:- Welcome and Greetings
- Opening Reading - commemoration of Epicurus and Metrodorus with a reading from Lucretius - presented by Kalosyni
- Monthly notable Epicureans - Philonides of Lampsacus and Leontion -
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Don
April 14, 2025 at 8:55 AM Posted the thread How much did things cost in the ancient Roman Empire?.Thread -
Rolf
April 14, 2025 at 7:50 AM Has solved the quiz Basic Epicurean Canonics.Quiz -
Don
April 14, 2025 at 7:49 AM Replied to the thread Article on Lucretius and "Death is Nothing to Us".PostOkay, as an experiment, I've added Epicurist as the translation of ΕΠΙΚΟΥΡΕΙΟΣ on my avatar. Just trying it on for size.
I had the thought that I kind of like the parallel with "scientist." Epicurist philosophy? Epicuric philosophy? I realize this… -
Rolf
April 14, 2025 at 7:49 AM Has solved the quiz Norman DeWitt's Epicurus and His Philosophy.Quiz -
Rolf
April 14, 2025 at 7:47 AM Has solved the quiz Basic Epicurean Ethics.Quiz -
Cassius
April 14, 2025 at 4:09 AM Replied to the thread Happy Birthday General Thread.PostHappy Birthday to MaiTaiNye! Learn more about MaiTaiNye and say happy birthday on MaiTaiNye's timeline: MaiTaiNye -
Cassius
April 13, 2025 at 7:19 PM Posted the thread Welcome Rafaelec.ThreadWelcome Rafaelec !
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… -
Don
April 13, 2025 at 2:54 PM Replied to the thread Article on Lucretius and "Death is Nothing to Us".PostEpicurist also echoes ΕΠΙΚΟΥΡΕΙΟΣ (Epikoureios) more than Epicurean to my eyes/ears.
And Latin Ĕpĭcūrēus
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/epicurist
PS. I'm not actually actively advocating for using "Epicurist" as an alternative to "Epicurean." Just pointing… -
Joshua
April 13, 2025 at 1:06 PM Replied to the thread Article on Lucretius and "Death is Nothing to Us".PostI see that usage frequently on the Stoicism subreddit, I'm guessing that it is used in a translation or book in circulation among them.
Looking at Google's Ngram viewer, most of the texts that use "epicurist" in the 19th century seem to be in Dutch. -
Godfrey
April 13, 2025 at 12:51 PM Replied to the thread Article on Lucretius and "Death is Nothing to Us".PostI haven't yet read the article, but the term "Epicurist" is interesting in that it seems to avoid being confused with the foodie implications. It co-opts the co-opting of "Epicurean." -
Joshua
April 13, 2025 at 12:47 PM Replied to the thread Episode 276 - Memory And Plato's Argument For Recollection.PostWhile recording this episode we discussed Plato's view on learning and recollection, as described by Cicero here in section XXIV;
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I made a connection between this passage and books about "Near-death experiences" - books like Heaven is for Real, which… -
Don
April 13, 2025 at 10:21 AM Replied to the thread Article on Lucretius and "Death is Nothing to Us".Post[…]
I'm curious to read the whole article, but I saw this quote above and found it intriguing.
1. I never thought of the word "Epicurist" but it's certainly more compact than "student of Epicurean philosophy."
2. I was initially reluctant to endorse that… -
Cassius
PostApril 13, 2025 at 9:48 AM Patrikios check here: RE: Prolepsis / Anticipations As Epicurus' Answer to the MENO Problem -
Patrikios
PostApril 13, 2025 at 9:45 AM As was mentioned in section XXIV, is the topic of learning vs recollection discussed elsewhere within this forum?
“From whence Socrates would infer, that learning is nothing more than recollection; and this topic he explains more accurately, in the… -
Kalosyni
ThreadApril 13, 2025 at 9:13 AM Today it just occured to me that an in-person group could be started with this: "Introduction to Epicureanism: Through the Eyes of Lucretius" - and that the poetry of Lucretius may be a good way for people to "dip their toes" into Epicurean philosophy.… -
ScottW
PostApril 13, 2025 at 8:52 AM Apologies if this is discussed in the podcast - I'll try to listen and catch up! There is a discussion on this topic in Plato's Laws, Book X. I asked Grok to summarize the chapter and it identified some key points:
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Plato leads into his argument with… -
Kalosyni
April 13, 2025 at 8:18 AM Posted the thread Article on Lucretius and "Death is Nothing to Us".ThreadI was searching for where in Lucretius he talks about impermanence (Google AI says in Book 3) and happened on this introductory level article regarding " death is nothing to us ", which contains excerpts from Luctretius:
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Bryan
April 12, 2025 at 11:57 PM Replied to the thread Philonides of Laodicea - Main Biography.PostThis inscription is in praise of Dicaearchus (brother of our Philōnídēs). Their father, also mentioned here, was also named Philōnídēs.
https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/241869
It says the family is from Laodicea on-the-sea "Λαοδικέα τῶν ποτὶ θαλάσσαι." -
Bryan
April 12, 2025 at 7:59 PM Replied to the thread Antiochus Epiphanes - Main Biography.PostAntiochus IV Epiphanes is famously mentioned in the Christian Bible and alluded to in the Tanakh. Our man Philōnídēs of Laodíkeia certainly interacted with him closely and was, in general, a long-standing friend of the Seleucid royal family.
To read a bit… -
Cassius
April 12, 2025 at 4:25 PM Replied to the thread References on Motion in Lucretius and Diogenes Laertius.PostI hope Bryan won't mind but I think we need to add here a comment he just made on his wall:
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To which I posted this reply:
This is a topic I've been thinking a lot about as a result of going through Matthew Stewart's book. Apparently there were several… -
Joshua
April 12, 2025 at 4:16 PM Replied to the thread References on Motion in Lucretius and Diogenes Laertius.Post[…]
Exactly, and to put it in Aristotelian terms the atoms are 'originitive of motion'.
The word Lucretius uses in that passage is ponderibus[que]. Ponderibus is the dative and ablatative plural of pondus. -
Cassius
April 12, 2025 at 1:47 PM Posted the thread References on Motion in Lucretius and Diogenes Laertius.ThreadAs to examining the issue of "weight" more closely, Joshua has pointed out in Lucretius Today 275 that "gravitas" seems to be the word used by Lucretius for "weight," and Don pointed out this as to the Greek:
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Here is another section from Lucretius… -
Bryan
April 11, 2025 at 7:41 PM Replied to the thread Philonides of Laodicea - Main Biography.PostWikipedia says Philōnídēs is from "Laodicea in Syria" but P.Herc. 1044, fr. 45 says that, after leaving Athens:
"… during Philōnídēs’ voyage to Syria – having detoured homeward, he was planning to return into Caria (εἰς Καρία[ν]), so that he might not be… -
Bryan
PostApril 11, 2025 at 3:28 PM Thank you, TauPhi. The author is surprisingly honest about his structure: "it will perhaps be best to underrate the originality of Epicurus here rather than exaggerate it; so I shall assume, merely for the sake of argument, that Diodorus comes first." … -
TauPhi
PostApril 11, 2025 at 11:10 AM Relevant to our last Wednesday meeting. Quick (only 4 pages) but interesting read about Diodorus Cronus.
(pages 131-135)
https://archive.org/details/two-st…ge/n67/mode/2up -
Cassius
April 11, 2025 at 11:01 AM Replied to the thread Was Bruno An Epicurean Or A Pantheist?.PostSelecting out something of particular interest in that large wall of text, I'd like to verify if THIS is accurate, as it is an explicit criticism of Epicurean views of the universe:- On Materialism in De immenso et innumerabilibus (On the Immense and
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Cassius
April 11, 2025 at 10:48 AM Posted the thread Was Bruno An Epicurean Or A Pantheist?.ThreadThere are many good things to be said about Giordano Bruno, while at the same time keeping clear about philosophical differences, especially as to "pantheism."
Here's what Grok says about whether Bruno was an Epicurean or a Pantheist:
Giordano Bruno… -
Cassius
April 11, 2025 at 10:31 AM Posted the thread Epicurus vs. Pantheism (Spinoza Et Al.) - General.ThreadThis is to start the subforum and open a thread on the distinctions and differences between Epicurus and "Pantheism," which is a wide topic but often identified with Spinoza. One reason for posting this now is that in reading Matthew Stewart's "Nature's… -
Cassius
April 11, 2025 at 9:56 AM Posted the thread Who Was The Most Recent Explicitly Epicurean Philosopher?.ThreadWe've had lots of threads in the past about people who were Epicurean-adjacent or somewhat Epicurean, but I thought I'd ask the AI engines: "Who was the last philosopher who explicitly followed Epicurus?" to see if it produced any unexpected names. The… -
Cassius
April 11, 2025 at 7:02 AM Posted the thread Episode 276 - Memory And Plato's Argument For Recollection.ThreadWelcome to Episode 276 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… -
Cassius
April 11, 2025 at 6:30 AM Posted the thread Welcome G9USRC.ThreadWelcome g9usrc
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 hours,… -
Cassius
April 11, 2025 at 4:13 AM Replied to the thread Happy Birthday General Thread.PostHappy Birthday to wtegrbf! Learn more about wtegrbf and say happy birthday on wtegrbf's timeline: wtegrbf -
Don
April 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM Replied to the thread Alternative Translation of VS 78.Postὁ γενναῖος περὶ σοφίαν καὶ φιλίαν μάλιστα γίγνεται, ὧν τὸ μέν ἐστι νοητον ἀγαθόν, τὸ δὲ ἀθάνατον.
"One who is noble in mind (ὁ γενναῖος) most of all depends upon wisdom (σοφίαν) and friendship (φιλίαν) — one is a good perceptible… -
Cassius
April 10, 2025 at 5:09 PM Replied to the thread Alternative Translation of VS 78.PostThat's a good question and apparently subject of dispute, but I'd go with literally nothing but pleasure itself as being good in itself, and everything else, including prudence and friendship, being intstrumental, and not the same as pleasure itself.
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Matteng
April 10, 2025 at 4:43 PM Posted the thread The powerful chain / necklace of Prudence/Honour/Justice.ThreadThe powerful chain of living prudence - honour - justice
It has the power to create the pleasant life, eudaimonia.
~Prudence/ reason -> Choice and Avoidance -> Connection with honour (choosing your values) and with justice ( reflecting/ choosing your… -
Matteng
April 10, 2025 at 4:37 PM Replied to the thread Alternative Translation of VS 78.PostWhy is friendship immortal ? My thoughts:
It is meant to be divine. Divine are the gods with 2 aspects: they are blessed and incorrupticle. With blessed I think the highest good/ goal is meant => Pleasure.
Conclusion: Prudence is an instrumental good but… -
Cassius
April 10, 2025 at 11:56 AM Replied to the thread Elihu Palmer - "Principles of Nature" Et al..PostPalmer on the origin of motion (eternal, a property of matter)
Motion As A Property Of Elemental Bodies - Eternal and Not Caused By An Outside Force -
Cassius
ThreadApril 10, 2025 at 11:53 AM The following is Chapter 24 of Elihu Palmer's "Principles of Nature" from 1806. If I read this correctly, here he endorses motion as an eternal quality of matter, and he does not look for some cause of motion outside of matter, as did some of the other… -
Cassius
April 10, 2025 at 10:55 AM Posted the thread Sermon On Natural Religion - By "A Natural Man" - Likely Thomas Young.ThreadHere's a PDF of the original document from Archive.org -- I can't as yet find the full transcript - if anyone locates a text version, please post a link in this thread.
https://archive.org/details/bim_ei…n_1771/mode/2up
One of the things about this which… -
Cassius
PostApril 10, 2025 at 10:15 AM Episode 275 of the Lucretius Today Podcast is now available. Today's episode is entitled: "Does Motion Prove The Existence of God and The Divinity Of the Soul?"
[media]https://www.spreaker.com/episode/65526682/media -
Kalosyni
April 10, 2025 at 8:48 AM Replied to the thread sanantoniogarden's outline.PostVery nice sanantoniogarden
This part brings up some questions:
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"moderate expectations" - this sounds like telling yourself not to expect too much which would be a different sentiment compared to something like "live within your means".
"neither too… -
sanantoniogarden
April 9, 2025 at 8:37 PM Posted the thread sanantoniogarden's outline.ThreadMy Epicurean Outline
1. The universe is material. Nothing supernatural occurs in it.
- Matter consists of arrangements of particles and these particles move in space
- Gods do not exist as the many believe them to exist
Gods do not create, hate, love,… -
sanantoniogarden
April 9, 2025 at 8:12 PM Has solved the quiz Basic Epicurean Canonics.Quiz -
AxA
April 9, 2025 at 5:36 PM Replied to the thread April 7, 2025 - First Monday Epicurean Philosophy Zoom - Agenda.PostOnce again the uniquely tangible reality of pleasure and pain make them much more reliable guides than any concept we can think of!
It's something so "childlike" and basic, it's surprising more philosophies don't make more use of it.
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Cassius
April 17, 2024 at 2:04 PM Today our Telegram Channel was updated - you can reach it here: https://t.me/EpicureanFriendsOfficial
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Cassius
June 8, 2024 at 8:18 PM Today we changed the default theme style to "Inspire Blue." If you have any issues with site colors or simply want to go from light to dark, check the "Change Style" button at the bottom of each page.
