Understanding Epicurus takes considerable effort, but not because the doctrines are difficult - they're not! The problem is that Epicurean philosophy has been heavily criticized for more than two thousand years, and most of the articles and commentary that have been produced over that time are by people who are critical of it and have no desire to present the philosophy clearly and fully. The only book-length work that even attempts to do so is Norman DeWitt's "Epicurus and His
Here You Will Do Well To Tarry - Here Our Highest Good Is Pleasure!
Welcome Friends of Epicurus! Please note two ongoing projects:
For the last several months we have had on-line group discussions of Norman DeWitt's Epicurus and His Philosophy. Our last discussion was Saturday September 1 at 6 pm Eastern time in the USA, and the topic was Chapter 11 - "Soul, Sensation, and Mind." Please check this scheduling thread for confirmation of the next time and date for Chapter 12. The link to the online chat forum is here. Discussion outlines are posted in this section of the forum, and the outline for Chapter 12 will be posted here.
There is also a great need for an authoritative online free edition of Lucretius' On The Nature of Things. At our Wiki page, we have two public domain versions (Munro and Bailey) and we are currently working on adding the 1743 Daniel Browne edition, which has the Latin text on the facing page of the original. In order to allow the reader to crosscheck the English translation, we are cross-referencing each translation the equivalent passage in the Latin text. Once we are complete we will have three good translations for passage-by-passage comparison, which is probably the most helpful way to tease the deeper meaning out of the more difficult sections.
If you have time to help in either of these projects, please let us know by posting in the appropriate forum thread.
EpicureanFriends is the place for friendly discussion of the philosophy of Epicurus. Our goal is to host a warm group of people who are studying and learning about Epicurean philosophy as a way of life, not as a matter of history or for purely academic reasons.
Navigate This Website In One Of Three Ways: (1) View detailed discussion in our Forums arranged by Topic, starting with our General Forum. (2) View our Dashboard, which is the best place to return on future visits for the latest postings. (3) View short comments by individual users in a Facebook-style Timeline.
If you have come across Epicurean philosophy in the past but been confused by commentators who assert - incorrectly - that Epicurus advocated an ascetic or passive lifestyle, you'll want to check out our table of Major Issues In Understanding Epicurean Philosophy. We're glad to help with your study of Epicurus - just ask in the forums! In the meantime, here is the advice of Thomas Jefferson on living an active Epicurean life:
For a brief introduction to the views that are discussed on this website, check the video below. We hope you will also review our Community Standards / Terms of Use for registering as a participant here, which also discusses the major characteristics of Epicurean Philosophy:
A Feature of Our Forum - Follow The Advice Of Epicurus: Outline Your Understanding Of Philosophy
Epicurus' Letter to Herodotus: "Those who have made some advance in the survey of the entire system ought to fix in their minds under the principal headings an elementary outline of the whole treatment of the subject. For a comprehensive view is often required, the details but seldom. ... For it is impossible to gather up the results of continuous diligent study of the entirety of things unless we can embrace in short formulas and hold in mind all that might have been accurately expressed even to the minutest detail."
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Featured Files From The EpicureanFriends FileBase
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…One of the abilities of the EpicureanFriends.com forum software is that it handles the publishing of longer "Articles" that can then be tagged and featured for various uses around the site, such as on the home page, where they will receive greater attention than standard Forum posts. This feature is intended to be reserved for articles of a longer and more enduring significance than regular forum posts, such as those featured at present, which focus on significant academic
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This chart is a work in progress! It is currently hosted at a Google Docs page to make editing easier. Feel free to make comments and suggestions in the Forum thread associated with this article. Click on this link to go to the chart: Reference: Comparison Chart of Epicurean and Stoic Views
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…My title for this article may be melodramatic for effect, but it is essentially the theme of Boris Nikolsky's article "Epicurus On Pleasure" available here in our Files Section. The effect I am hoping for is only this: that all fans of Epicurus who want to understand the meaning of the term "ataraxia" read this article in full. The article is thorough and well-documented, and in turn it is based on the even more though "The Greeks on Pleasure" by Gosling & Taylor. I hope I have now
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“It is observed too that in his treatise On the Ethical End he writes in these terms : “I know not how to conceive the good, apart from the pleasures of taste, of sex, of sound, and the pleasures of beautiful form.”
– Diogenes Laertius, Book X
There are many challenges in interpreting Epicurean philosophy relate to the proper interpretation of Epicurus’ view of pleasure as the goal of life. When Epicureans used the term “pleasure,” did they mean “pleasure” as ordinary
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