Posts by Godfrey

Is there any information showing that the Menoeceus letter could have been written significantly earlier or later than the other two, reflecting a development in Epicurus' writing style?

Just to add a totally non scholarly two cents worth: when I encounter an ism, I tend to ask "what are the fixed ideas that this contains". When I think of a philosophy, or when I'm operating from inside of an ism, I tend to think more in terms of a living and dynamic set of ideas with which to engage.

Joshua are your smartphone pics handheld? Do you use any tripod or lens attachments? They look really crisp in addition to their other virtues.

Joshua your photos convey to me a sense of pleasure in your life on the road. In addition to being great photos! They make me want to take a road trip.

Charles, I watched Knives Out last night and found it to be a fun and lighthearted tale of wealth and murder. Maybe a little silly but I thoroughly enjoyed it; I know very little about Rian Johnson however. An added element of personal enjoyment was that I've got a neighbor who talks like Don Johnson's character and so I was chuckling to myself every time he showed up on screen. After the movie my wife confirmed that impression and we got another good laugh!

Happy Twentieth, all!

Rational Decisionmaking sounds rather Stoic; maybe something along the lines of "optimizing pleasure" would be a better replacement for hedonic calculus. Or "using pleasure for making decisions".

If it's not too trendy, Present Moment Physical Comfort Enhancement could become "mindfulness of pleasure".

Wow! That sounds great Elayne! My interior design is pretty much the opposite: walls and rafters painted white, and a couple of new skylights to add lots of light. Over time I anticipate it getting populated with a variety of as yet undetermined creations. I've got a gigantic drafting table that's been passed down for a couple of generations which will feature prominently as well.

Outside are a red door and a blue door, along with a west facing patio wall painted "golden buff" which catches the sunset quite nicely. All rather modern though.

Ping pong wise, I plan to keep half of the table vertical while it's in the garage so it will be a practice table. For games it can roll out onto the driveway/patio with both sides down, if that makes any sense. Although I normally play just for fun, I've got a friend who destroys me when we play; hopefully the practice time will help in addition to providing some fun breaks from other activities.

A good cup of loose leaf tea in the morning, with a square of delicious dark chocolate.

Sitting outside in the morning, either with said tea and chocolate or with some water, reading and noticing any birds, butterflies, squirrels, clouds, sun, breeze... or just the blue of the sky and the colors of the landscape.

Preparing and eating a big, tasty, healthy breakfast.

Going to the neighborhood YMCA to exercise: cardio some days, strength training others, followed by a stretch. Some days a walk along the beach replaces cardio in the Y; this is a vast improvement, but I'm currently benefiting from the increased intensity that I'm getting indoors.

Evenings, either stream a good show or movie with my wife or read a book on my own.

Sundays, a few hours of date time with my wife and perhaps some friends.

Each night before bed I go outside to look at the stars. As I live in the city this is a mixed bag: I often think of the line from a movie (Dan Aykroyd? Bill Murray?) "ah, look at the stars! There must be dozens of them!" A trip to the desert or mountains is overdue!

I keep thinking that I need to schedule more pleasures into my day and week, but after making this list I see I've got a good start. One pleasure that is forthcoming (and tantalizingly close) is the completion of a garage studio in which to enjoy a variety of creative endeavors and ping pong.

Concerning "thrillseeking", I just came across this quote from Jill Heinerth, a cave diver: "I'm actually risk averse... I think that it's important to be scared". This just illustrates to me an understanding of risk and a commitment to do the work necessary to minimize potential pain (or death) in order to achieve a potential pleasure.

The movie Free Solo is an illustration of this idea. It follows a world class rock climber as he prepares for and executes a climb of El Capitan without safety equipment. Watching the movie was enough of a "thrill" for me! But it effectively illustrates the subjectivity that goes into the hedonic calculus.

Cassius I was wondering the same thing about DeWitt's list; it seems like deriving "virtues" from the texts would involve interpretation of some sort. (Re the Skype calls, I keep hoping to make it, but an ongoing project is dragging on and Sunday mornings are my only time to catch up on sleep here on the west coast Hopefully I'll make it this week!)

Garden Dweller, life is the greatest good. That might be the closest thing to an absolute for any living thing and definitely enters into any decision. But two examples which I think illustrate the subjectivity of how to preserve life are:

- skydiving or other thrill seeking would be considered by some to be foolishly dangerous, by others to be as important as living

- for some people, living with a serious and extremely painful illness can be looked upon as another adventure or challenge and something to be endured, for others it's a reason to end life

Therefore it could be said that even the decision to live or die can be subordinate to the individual's weighing of pleasure and pain, moderated by a very large portion of prudence.

That's an excellent and incisive question Cassius.

Following my current thinking to its conclusion, the only virtue I would recognize is prudence. DeWitt lists several virtues in EAHP. The dictionary definition of virtue is "high moral standard". The definition of morality is principles of right and wrong and/or good and bad behavior. As I understand it, in a universe of atoms and void there is no objective morality. Prudence then becomes the mother of all morality as it is necessary for making good choices.

Getting from the mother to a list of children involves, it seems, subjecting various potential candidates to the Canon as well as to hedonic calculus. In order for something to pass the hedonic calculus as being worthy of being labeled a virtue, it would need to have a pleasurable result in all cases. Self preservation didn't survive this process, in my mind.

As for labeling other things as virtues, I haven't yet gone through this process as I'm just figuring it out. Which is a reason why Garden Dweller's initial question is an excellent question!

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By self preservation, one might include avoiding high risk activities, seeking preventative healthcare, practing good diet and exercise, and learning ways to extend one's health and lifespan ?

Self preservation taken to its extreme might look something like Oblomovitis! On a more sensible level it would lead to "freedom from bodily pain and mental disturbance". Also, there is the consideration of intensity of pleasure v the length of pleasure: a longer life isn't necessarily better than a shorter but more pleasurable life.

To me, there's a point where pursuing good health, fitness, and keeping up with the latest health info goes from good sense to obsession, and I confess I tend to cross that line all too frequently. EP keeps reminding me to focus on enjoyment, while being aware of the hedonic calculus. My interpretation of the hedonic calculus contains a factor of self preservation, but mainly because the nature of the calculus is maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.

So I would say self preservation isn't an Epicurean virtue, but it is quite sensible. And what it entails is entirely subjective.

Great work Joshua! You could get a side gig reading audio books.

All three voices sound great. The dramatic/Shakespearean voice is harder for me to follow.

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... some initial advice with explanation of why this approach can at times be counterproductive.

Understanding the basic ideas actually IS practical: I would think and act much differently if I was focused on "avoiding pain" rather than "maximizing pleasure"!

Here's the link to Elayne's post:

On Pain, Pleasure, and Happiness Second Draft

Wynnho, your post sounds very ascetic to me. This is a value judgement on my part: what you describe may be pleasurable to you, and that is the most important thing.

The reason I mention ascetic is that many academics interpret Epicurean philosophy as being ascetic or something approaching it. But here the general feeling is that that interpretation is a gross misrepresentation of the philosophy. Elayne wrote a piece on pleasure that's posted elsewhere on this forum (I think under Articles, I'll try to find it and copy the link in this thread) which I think is a good summation of Epicurean pleasure as many of us view it.

I personally enjoy minimalism as both a lifestyle choice and a design expression, although I tend more toward Alvar Aalto than Mies van der Rohe. While Bang and Olufson has a sense of perfection, traditional Japanese design has a richness to it. And the richness, to me, is where the pleasure lies.

It sounds like you've got some great systems in place which bring you pleasure and contentment. It also sounds like you're looking to bring more joy into your life. In my life I have tended to err on the side of duty (for lack of a better word at the moment) at the expense of pleasure, and discovering this philosophy has been a godsend (pardon the expression) in terms of putting me on a better path. One of the first things that I put into practice was a hedonic calculus: in any given circumstance, project, etc., how can I get the most pleasure without causing myself a bunch of stress?

As I read your post I kept thinking of the book Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee. It contains a plethora of tips for bringing joy into your life. She also has a blog, I think it's called The Aesthetics of Joy. To my knowledge she's not an Epicurean, but then Epicureans don't have exclusive access to pleasure!

Also worthwhile is Hiram Crespo's book Tending the Epicurean Garden. He includes lots of ideas for a hedonic regimen which you might find useful.

Yes, that's the one! And your wording is much better.

https://www.academia.edu/26175858/Intro…ent_Materialism

This turned up in my email this morning; it may add some context to her latest book. This is the intro to a previous book of hers.

I've only had a chance to read a bit of it. A couple of notes:

- page 3: Gassendi stripped Epicurus of anti-providentialism, mortality of the soul, multiple worlds and a priori knowledge and in so doing laid the foundation for British empiricism. It sounds to me like he also laid the foundation for the destruction of the philosophy!

- page 5: "pain... is an unqualified evil". Followed by a decent description of Epicurean pleasure, except for her inclusion of the word "should". At first blush this seems to get to the heart of our disagreement with her: shoulds and unqualifieds imply Ideas, not a material universe.

Cassius, I liked Hiram's post in the most positive and encouraging way. You've created a remarkable amount of valuable content which could add a lot to the discussion. But taking that next step probably involves a lot of additional work and could be opening a can of worms; I respect your hedonic calculus in the matter!

Peter St Andre's note on his translation seems to follow Elli's thinking. I find the implication appealing but must rely on the wisdom of others in translation issues. In that regard, many thanks to Elli, Joshua and others who contribute to refining our understanding of the texts!