Posts by Kalosyni

Then the next question is how much time to invest in each category? But this will be different for each person, depending on how important they feel it is to know details, as well as if they enjoy the study of science.

For myself, I'm thinking something like this, regarding how much time to invest:

Natural Science - 20% (My reasoning is that every modern person went to school (and many of us went to college) and so we are already familiar with important aspects of science and physics. It actually might make sense to spend some time reviewing the modern understanding of the physics of atoms, etc, if we want accurate details on which to base our materialist view).

Canonics - 20% (I am still currently in the process of trying to understand Epicurean canonics, and this section would also include how to make inferences.)

Ethics - 60% (Vain is the word of the philosopher which does not heal any suffering of man. (...and does not lead to a good life). This is where the importance is at, for me.)

And, this is all relevant to creating teaching materials, because each person could put more or less importance on each category...thereby creating a very different outline for study.

I made this chart to illustrate an estimation of the breakdown of the extant texts into the catagories of Ethics, Canonics, and Natural Science. Are these percentages correct? Or would there be a better estimation of the breakdown?

Quote from Julia

Kalosyni Your ever-changing avatar pictures are all very pretty!

Thanks! I need to try to go at least a month now without changing it, lol

Quote from Julia

It might be worthwhile shifting more activity towards building/growing the wiki and other more organised knowledge bases.

Yes, and your idea of creating a list of narrations/audio is a good one .

I very much enjoy this reading by Joshua...there is so much here on the forum that it may not have been noticed:

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RE: New Audio Version of Torquatus' Presentation of Epicurean Ethics - Read By Joshua

We are very pleased to be able to present to you, here at the end of 2021, one of the best and most helpful audio presentations of an ancient Epicurean text available anywhere.

youtu.be/ZVGgP55_wUY


The "Torquatus" narrative of Epicurean Philosophy found in Book One of Cicero's "On Ends" is probably the most detailed and important summaries of Epicurean Ethics that survives from the ancient world. In important respects it is more detailed and clear than even Epicurus' own "Letter to Menoeceus."…

Cassius

December 28, 2021 at 7:54 PM

Happy Summer Solstice!

The following post is a reposting from last night's zoom thread:

Thinking that perhaps my "prolepsis" of the phrase "canon of truth" is incorrect, especially if it is really refering not to "truth" but to aletheia:

Aletheia is variously translated as "unconcealedness", "disclosure", "revealing", or "unclosedness". The literal meaning of the word ἀ–λήθεια is "the state of not being hidden; the state of being evident." It also means factuality or reality.

Source: Wikipedia

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So the canon is not the method of how we get to "that which is true" but how we get to "that which is revealed"... am I wrong in this?

Happy Twentieth Everyone!

...and Happy Summer Solstice!

I just now edited my post above (post number 2) to create more clarity.

This article by Thompson is somewhat typical of pop-psychology / self-help articles, which aim to bring up tips for living well.

And so it brings in a feeling of eclecticism, for example when it mentions Sam Harris, and further ideas.

Overall there is a chance that it may end up causing someone misunderstand some of the deeper details of Epicurean philosophy.

And this struck me as an odd thing to think, unless you were sick on your deathbed:

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In Epicurean terms, the desire to live also falls on this spectrum. Tomorrow can be thought of as an Extravagant desire. We would welcome it and enjoy it if it comes, but it’s not Essential. All our tomorrows are extravagances.

So that gives an idea of not to be concerned about the future, and it seems contradictory a few paragraphs further down by saying you will consider yourself like a future friend.

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Secondly, to avoid suffering and seek pleasure for ourselves in the future.
This means balancing things that might be enjoyable in the moment with the suffering that might bring down the line. You can almost think of your future self like a friend, and think of how your actions might affect them.

And also the part which talks about "needs" has some issues that muddy up the waters. I may have more to say on that later.

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Edit note: Edited this greatly to increase clarity at 4:32pm ET.

I've now listened to an audio recording of Humphries' translation a number of times (by Charlton Griffin), and have gotten much more acclimated to it. (Perhaps it is now my favorite version). In Book 2 at the section which starts out: "Much poorer men are every bit as happy,", and a few lines from there in the audio version I thought I heard him say "beaver's heat departs no sooner..." but just today when reading the printed version I see it actually says "fever's heat". (Just some idle musings of summertime, and which was an lol !)

HollyGraves Welcome to the forum!

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I just think it should be somehow specific, ...

Julia Let me know if there is something you'd like to see in a theme (describe some specific images), and I could create it.

Julia the new theme that Cassius made is the third in the drop-down list (unless there is some kind of restricted setting)...let us know if you still don't see it.

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PS: I keep thinking we should have some original artwork somehow…not that I'd be able to do it... ......... somehow specific, instead of generic (stock photos, by their very nature, are all somehow generic

I totally agree, and as far as I currently understand, Cassius has mentioned that he prefers a clean and simple "default" page for everyone who is not signed into the forum, and he mentioned that once someone becomes a member then they can choose a different theme. I've been working on some fun Epicurean themes, and I know they are not quite up to the best quality yet (low resolution images and in need of better design layout)...but will be working to improve them within the next two weeks, plus maybe will add a few new options).

Thinking now that this could make a good "First Monday" discussion topic.

Here is a very good article:

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/06/15/nx-s1-5006168/guilty-pleasure-meaning-brain-science

Not sure if this translator is useful, or has already been mentioned:

Akhos Morphology

Quote from Julia

using Dark Reader (a browser plugin)

Thanks for posting about how to use that to adjust to dark mode.

I am on a tablet that is running android, so I would need to see if there is an app for that.

I changed the black background to a blue-gray background (it has a mix of blue, gray, and black) and the theme name is:

"Ambiance Simple Blue-Gray Dark":

New theme:

"Ambiance Blue Plain Black"

Let me know if I should make the black background slightly less black (a ting of gray).

Quote from Cassius

new theme on request of Martin - it is labeled A-Default-Widescreen.

It's the same as the current default theme (Inspire) but it will go to 100% page width no matter how wide your screen might be - so there should be little if any background image visible to the right or left side of the screen.

It shows a narrow border of gray on my tablet, but it is wider format than the default theme.

(*edit)

Welcome to the forum David!

You may like this short "powerpoint" presentation (if you haven't already seen it):

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Seven Steps With Epicurus - A Slide Presentation

epicureanfriends.com/wcf/attachment/3636/

As part of our collaborative work toward an "Epicurean Week" we have come up with a series of "power-point" slides which introduce the philosophy in seven simple steps. The formulation here may change over time as we fine tune this as part of our course materials. This will eventually be expanded into a "7 Weeks with Epicurus". Questions and comments are welcome. Click here for the presentation or you can just click on the graphic above to begin the…

Cassius

April 4, 2023 at 9:31 AM

Quote from David

One particular point that is nagging me a little just now is how energy is (directly or by implication) dealt with in the physics.

Martin maybe can help?