Posts by Don

Had supper at a taco place with a huge complex mural. Been there before, but didn't realize the Bull of Phalerus was featured in the corner.

Fascinating article! Thanks for posting. Still working through it. But this jumped out at me:

Quote

Perhaps the story to be written about near-death experiences is not that they prove consciousness is radically different from what we thought it was. Instead, it is that the process of dying is far stranger than scientists ever suspected. The spiritualists and parapsychologists are right to insist that something deeply weird is happening to people when they die, but they are wrong to assume it is happening in the next life rather than this one.

And the house was big enough for Memmius to consider tearing down and making into a villa, so there's that.

M. Tullius Cicero, Letters to his Friends, CXCVIII (F XIII, I)

Cicero Epistulae ad Familiares 13.1 (Memmius)

Welcome aboard, jlpendall

Matteng You went right where I was going. Here's my translation of the start of 10.133 (emphasis added):

[133] "Seeing that, whom do you consider is better or more powerful than one who holds pious beliefs concerning the gods; one who has absolutely no fears concerning death; one who has rationally determined the τέλος of one's natural state; and the one who grasps that, on the one hand, good things (namely pleasures) are both easily attained and easily secured, and, on the other hand, evil things (or pains) are either short in time or brief in suffering; someone who laughs at Fate which is introduced onto the stage of life by many as the mistress of all things? For that person, even though some things happen by necessity, some by chance, and some by our own power, for although necessity is beyond our control, they see that chance is unstable and there is no other master beyond themselves, so that praise and its opposite are inseparably connected to themselves."

To me. There's almost a "trichotomy of causes" (not a dichtomy of control) for Epicurus:

• things that happen by necessity
• things that happen by chance
• things that happen by our own power

This goes back to there being no divine plan. If something happens to us and we night to mull or obsess about it, we can look at whether we did something to cause it or was it really by chance or necessity. If something pleasurable or painful happened, we can try to do it or not in the future. If, on the other hand, what happened really was a chance accident, it really was just chance.

Thanks for the kind words, and respect and congratulations to all who made all those milestones possible! ... Which in a sense is everyone who's on the forum. Well played!

Quote from Adrastus

I also want to make the aesthetic choice to have it be a "Men's" group explicitly in the title in the same way the Boy Scouts allows girls if they really want to be there and fit in.

I would find it hard to square that circle. The Garden was famously open to everyone: friends, strangers; men, women; enslaved, free. That was one of the criticisms against it back in the day. Saying you want to explicitly create a "men's" group but would "allow" women "if they really want to be there and fit in" seems to go against the egalitarian nature of the Garden. I would find it hard to think of women who would want to join an explicitly "men's" group with that aim in its title. That said, if you want to create an Epicurean Men's Study Group, by all means, that's up to you and it could have its place. But I find the idea that women would be allowed if they fit in to be a little problematic.

The Boy Scouts example is actually a good example of why not to do this. In an article from 2024: "starting in February of 2025, the entire organization will become Scouting America to reflect its commitment to serving all genders in all programs." So the entire organization is now Scouting America to be more inclusive.

Welcome aboard, claire46 !

If you haven't read Dr. Emily Austin's book Living for Pleasure, I highly recommend it. We also have interviews with her posted to the forum.

Whenever anyone brings up the modern Stoics, this article from Dr. Austin always comes to mind:

Welcome aboard, Hyakinthos !

Not sure if someone has mentioned yet, but Emily Austin's Living for Pleasure is an excellent, modern introduction to the philosophy. You can also listen to our podcast interviews with her for more insight.

Quote from kochiekoch

Io Saturnalia! A little belatedly.

Io Saturnalia right back atcha!

Merry Christmas to all!

As Epicurus took an active role in the civic and religious festivals and rites of his day, we too can participate in our time's civic and religious festivals with a fresh Epicurean perspective.

May Christmas/Yule/Solstice give us an opportunity to reflect on the presence of light in the world; to bring us joy in the hope that darkness is a passing thing, no matter how long the night; and to give us the encouragement to bring pleasure to and to experience pleasure in our little corner of the world while we can.

Although not directly related to the topic at hand, I found this excellent summary of Dr. Austin's perspective on Epicurus' philosophy in an article I didn't remember her writing:

How to live like an Epicurean | Psyche Guides

Forget shallow hedonism. Follow this philosophy for wondrous, unexpected joys and resilience against inevitable misfortune

psyche.co

This forum and the podcast get great shout-outs, too!

My reason for bringing it up here is that she brings up in several spots the fact that people often miss the joy and pleasure they have readily at hand. Epicurus calls us to recognize the pleasure we already have in daily life and to cultivate pleasure here and now to store up memories for future recall. Any tool that makes us slow down and appreciate the pleasure we have now seems to me to be beneficial.

Granted, Epicureans reject the underlying Buddhist motive of mindfulness meditation, to realize anatta. We are not "no thing." Okay, maybe at the atomic level, there is no sweet, no color, etc. But we don't live at the atomic level. We live at the level of compound things and need a way to negotiate that world. Any practice, even those from the "enemy camp" that can be retrofit and retooled to run better and more practically for the use of slowing down, paying attention to what we're feeling here and now, and teaching us how to appreciate the joys in front of our eyes and how to avoid future pains is worth taking a look at.

Quote from Patrikios

Meditate Οn Τhese Things: Epicurus’s Letter to Menoikeus - A New Translation with Commentary © 2021 by Don Boozer]

LOL it's still weird - but rewarding - to see my work quoted and referred to. I'm glad it continues to be of service.

Fwiw, here's my translation of that section:

The steady contemplation of these things equips one to know how to decide all choice and rejection for the health of the body and for the tranquility of the mind, that is for our physical and our mental existence, since this is the goal of a blessed life. For the sake of this, we do everything in order to neither be in bodily or mental pain nor to be in fear or dread; and so, when once this has come into being around us, it sets free all of the calamity, distress, and suffering of the mind, seeing that the living being has no need to go in search of something that is lacking for the good of our mental and physical existence. For it is then that we need pleasure, if we were to be in pain from the pleasure not being present; but if we were to not be in pain, we no longer desire or beg for pleasure. And this is why we say pleasure is the foundation and fulfillment of the blessed life.

Quote from Daniel188

For example, let's look at meditation practices (popular ones associated with Eastern doctrines). We have practices like focusing on the breath, sitting quietly, body scanning, etc. These are good methods for relaxation, but beyond relaxation, they don't really offer much.

Quote from Cassius

choosing what you focus on.

Quote from Cassius

I tend to focus on the specific statement in Diogenes Laeetius that the wise man will fell his emotions more deeply than will others.

I would offer that one of the aims is this kind of meditation practice is to pay attention to the feelings of your body. I'll admit the Buddhist practice is to notice those feelings then let them pass; however, becoming more attuned to what your body is telling you rather than ignoring or lying to oneself is in line with an Epicurean life. Training oneself to tune into your body's feelings is the first step in deciding what really causes you pain and pleasure.

Quote from Daniel188

I will try to get this book. Thank you.

It available on Internet Archive

Epicurus And His Philosophy : Epicurus : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Epicurus And His Philosophy

archive.org

Quote from Joshua

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Live-Lati…e/dp/0374284520

This book has a chapter on Lucretius and his use of Latin.

Long live Latin : the pleasures of a useless language | WorldCat.org

Gardini shares his deep love for Latin and encourages us to engage with a civilization that has never ceased to exist, because it's here with us now, whether…

search.worldcat.org

It seems Felix would be a good Latin translation of Μακάριος (makarios) "blessed, fortunate'

Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, fēlix

Quote from D Campbell

De Rerum Natura (which I love so far)

Just curious: Which translation are you reading?

Welcome aboard!