Ethics - How To Live

NEW UPDATES! Check out our updated "Guide to Getting Started" with helpful tips on beginning your study of Epicurean Philosophy! We now have a "Website Overview" for navigation with clickable links, and an updated "Forum Map Flow Chart" for navigation to key sections of our forum!

LATEST LUCRETIUS TODAY PODCAST: Episode 310 - "Neither Happiness Nor Virtue Are Binary States"

Welcome to the EpicureanFriends Forums! -- Please be sure that all posts conform to our policies for posting as linked at our Terms of Use page. -----Scroll down to navigate through the forum. ----- You can also: Search by Forum Tags / Search by Forum Shortcuts / Read Featured Threads / Return to Main Forum Board. Not sure where to post? Read our guidance on where to post. To see reference material (and more) visit our Website Navigation Page.

List Of Frequently Used Forums

Ethics - General Discussion

In this section we discuss Epicurean Ethics and how to live as an Epicurean in a world where there are no supernatural gods and no life after death.

Threads: 113

Posts: 1.4k

Last Posts: 'Their God Is The Belly" / "The Root of All Good Is The Pleasure Of The Stomach" And Similar Attributions

Joshua December 11, 2025 at 12:07 AM

Hypotheticals: Would An Epicurean Hook Himself Up To An "Experience Machine" or a "Pleasure Machine"?

kochiekoch December 6, 2025 at 2:41 PM

Pleasure Is The Guide of Life

Threads: 14

Posts: 246

Last Posts: Comparing The Pleasure of A Great Physicist Making A Discovery To The Pleasure of A Lion Eating A Lamb

Cassius September 14, 2025 at 6:09 AM

A List of Pleasures Specifically Endorsed By Epicurus

Cassius September 9, 2025 at 11:48 AM

Absence of Pain - By Pleasure We Mean All Experience That Is Not Painful

Threads: 30

Posts: 194

Last Posts: The Absence of Sin

Don April 22, 2025 at 8:03 AM

The "Lacking Nothing Of Their Natural Severity" Reference in the Letter to Idomeneus

Cassius February 9, 2025 at 8:56 PM

Emotion In Epicurean Philosophy

Threads: 1

Posts: 13

Last Posts: Stoic view of passions / patheia vs the Epicurean view

Kalosyni November 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM

"Good" and "Evil" Consist Only in Sensation

Threads: 47

Posts: 306

Last Posts: Venus and Mars - "Good" vs. "Evil"?

Cassius June 23, 2025 at 3:27 PM

A List of Objections To Epicurus From A Modern Christian - Hyde's "From Epicurus To Christ"

Bryan February 1, 2025 at 6:10 PM

Only Two Feelings - Pleasure and Pain - The Term Pleasure Includes Tranquility, Meaningfulness, Katastematic, Kinetic, Etc.

The Term Pleasure Includes Bodily as well as Mental Pleasures Such As Tranquility, Meaningfulness, Katastematic, Kinetic, Etc. Likewise The Term Pain Includes All Bodily and Mental Pains.

Threads: 35

Posts: 654

Last Posts: Confusion: "The feelings are only two"

Rolf May 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM

The “Absence of Pain” Problem

Al-Hakiim von Grof April 29, 2025 at 9:41 PM

Pain Is Manageable - It Is Short If Intense, Endurable If Long, And Terminable By Death

Threads: 2

Posts: 27

Last Posts: Does The Wise Man Groan and Cry Out When On The Rack / Under Torture / In Extreme Pain?

Cassius July 1, 2025 at 8:50 AM

What is terrible is easy to endure

Kalosyni October 18, 2024 at 9:11 AM

Life Is Desirable, But Unlimited Time Contains No Greater Pleasure Than Limited Time

Threads: 6

Posts: 30

Last Posts: David Sedley's "Epicurean vs Cyreniac Happiness"

Cassius February 26, 2025 at 3:29 PM

Key CItations - The Limit of Quantity of Pleasure Is Reached When All Pain Is Eliminated

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 12:20 PM

Happiness and its Relationship to Pleasure

Threads: 7

Posts: 73

Last Posts: Happiness As Not Requiring Complete Absence of Pain

Cassius December 4, 2025 at 11:30 AM

Epicurean Philosophy In Relation To Gulags and the Rack

Pacatus April 30, 2025 at 1:46 PM

Choice And Avoidance ("Natural And Necessary"; "Natural and Unnecessary", Etc.)

VS 63 and why we do not pursue only "necessary" desires.

Threads: 12

Posts: 244

Last Posts: Latest Thoughts On Natural and Necessary Classification of Desires - Adding A FAQ entry

Kalosyni December 1, 2025 at 8:09 AM

Searching out the motives for all choice and avoidance

Kalosyni September 2, 2025 at 1:08 PM

To Live Unknown or To Engage With Society

Threads: 12

Posts: 79

Last Posts: What "Live Unknown" means to me (Lathe Biosas)

TauPhi October 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM

Articles concerning Epicurus and political involvement

sanantoniogarden July 1, 2025 at 2:29 PM

Virtue - Rejection of Absolute Virtue - Virtue As A Means for Pleasure, Not an End in Itself

Threads: 16

Posts: 61

Last Posts: What is Virtue and what aspects of Virtue does an Epicurean cultivate?

Matteng August 29, 2025 at 4:09 PM

Key Citations On Confidence

Don March 13, 2024 at 10:41 PM

Friendship

Threads: 16

Posts: 129

Last Posts: Friendship discussion (moved from 20th conversation)

Pacatus April 29, 2025 at 6:02 PM

Gleaning Information About Epicurean Friendship From Cicero's "On Friendship"

Cassius February 2, 2025 at 7:21 AM

Courage

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Justice

Threads: 30

Posts: 291

Last Posts: Toward A Better Understanding of Epicurean Justice And Injustice (With Examples of "Just" and "Unjust")

Pacatus November 20, 2024 at 4:35 PM

Justice & Corruption

Pacatus November 14, 2024 at 4:23 PM

Prudence

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Honesty

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Gratitude

Threads: 3

Posts: 4

Last Posts: Positive psychology article of the science of gratitude

Don November 27, 2024 at 8:27 PM

Key Citations On Gratitude

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 11:41 AM

Benevolence

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Confidence and "Faith"

Threads: 1

Posts: 19

Last Posts: "Faith" And Confidence In Epicurean Philosophy

Pacatus August 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM

Temperance

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Consideration - Considerateness

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Hope For The Future

Threads: 1

Posts: 1

Last Posts: Key Citations On Hope

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 12:14 PM

Living In The Present

Threads: 1

Posts: 1

Last Posts: Key Citations On Living In The Present

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 12:15 PM

Remembering Past Pleasures

Threads: 1

Posts: 5

Last Posts: The Art of Remembering

Don March 31, 2024 at 8:57 PM

The Tetrapharmakon

Threads: 5

Posts: 121

Last Posts: Diving Deep Into The History of The Tetrapharmakon / Tetrapharmakos

Patrikios November 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM

P.Herc. 1005 from Les Epicuriens (A First Draft Translation)

Bryan May 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM

Epicurean Life Strategies for Modern Times

For discussion of daily life as an Epicurean.

Threads: 105

Posts: 1k

Last Posts: Epicurean strategies for dealing with bad habits and urges.

Patrikios November 30, 2025 at 9:39 AM

Should Epicureans Celebrate Something Else Instead of Celebrating Halloween?

Don November 1, 2025 at 4:37 PM

Answering the "Quest For Meaning" In Epicurean Terms

Threads: 6

Posts: 84

Last Posts: The "meaning crisis" trend. How do you answer it as an Epicurean philosopher?

Sam_Qwerty July 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM

An Anti-Epicurean Article - "The Meaning of Life Is Not Happiness" (For Future Reference)

Pacatus November 19, 2024 at 12:17 PM

Creating Joy Through Pleasure

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Health And Diet

Threads: 18

Posts: 153

Last Posts: Food, desire, and pleasure: What role should food take in an Epicurean lifestyle?

Pacatus November 26, 2025 at 6:09 PM

On Unhealthy Social Media Use / If Epicurus Were Alive Today, Would He Use A Smartphone?

Sam_Qwerty July 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM

Dealing with Emotions of Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Sadness

Threads: 22

Posts: 115

Last Posts: Special Emphasis On "Emotions" In Lucretius Today Podcast / Tusculan Disputations - Should Everyone Aspire To Emulate Mr. Spock?

Cassius June 29, 2025 at 3:39 PM

BASIC-ph Model of Coping

Kalosyni April 23, 2025 at 6:57 PM

Dealing With Death, Dying, And Old Age

Threads: 23

Posts: 213

Last Posts: Dignitas founder Ludwig Minelli, dies by assisted suicide aged 92

Kalosyni December 4, 2025 at 9:13 AM

Fear and/or grief concerning the death of others

Kalosyni August 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM

Stress, Time Management, and Personal Productivity

Threads: 7

Posts: 23

Last Posts: Minimalism to remove stress caused by too much stuff

Joshua May 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM

Box Breathing and Prolepsis

kochiekoch December 2, 2024 at 9:32 AM

Material Goods and Money Management

Threads: 3

Posts: 32

Last Posts: Natural Wealth and Natural Goods in Epicureanism

Don August 14, 2022 at 9:04 AM

Philodemus' "On Property Management"

Cassius July 21, 2022 at 11:56 AM

Self-Sufficiency - Including Gardening, Farming, Agriculture

Threads: 4

Posts: 60

Last Posts: Interesting website that connects people to work-stay vacations - farms

sanantoniogarden July 1, 2025 at 5:10 PM

Dealing With Electric Grid Disruption

Julia May 13, 2024 at 4:22 AM

Romantic Love, Relationships, and Marriage

Threads: 24

Posts: 195

Last Posts: An Epicurean Understanding of Valentine's Day: Love, Romance, and Free-will

Kalosyni February 13, 2025 at 8:28 AM

Article "Asexuality and Epicureanism" by Max DuBoff on blog of the American Philosophical Association

Martin December 20, 2024 at 8:30 PM

Parenting and Childhood Education

No! Epicurus was not uneducated: the real philistines are those who ask us to go on studying till old age the subjects that we ought to be ashamed not to have learned as children.

Threads: 2

Posts: 3

Last Posts: Recreate an Ancient Scroll - For kids (and crafters)

Kalosyni October 21, 2023 at 11:39 AM

Epicurean Philosophy for Parents

Cassius February 22, 2021 at 9:14 AM

Finding Things At EpicureanFriends.com

Here is a list of suggested search strategies:

Website Overview page - clickable links arrranged by cards.
Forum Main Page - list of forums and subforums arranged by topic. Threads are posted according to relevant topics. The "Uncategorized subforum" contains threads which do not fall into any existing topic (also contains older "unfiled" threads which will soon be moved).
Search Tool - icon is located on the top right of every page. Note that the search box asks you what section of the forum you'd like to search. If you don't know, select "Everywhere."
Search By Key Tags - curated to show frequently-searched topics.
Full Tag List - an alphabetical list of all tags.

Welcome To EpicureanFriends.com!

"Remember that you are mortal, and you have a limited time to live, and in devoting yourself to discussion of the nature of time and eternity you have seen things that have been, are now, and are to come."

Finding Things At EpicureanFriends.com

Here is a list of suggested search strategies: