Posts by ReiWolfWoman

I’m still figuring out this quote function…

My undergrad course barely touched on Epicureanism and I actually learned more about it in a graduate rhetoric class where it was more respected. My undergrad professor was clearly a mix of Aristotelian and Kantian, so that’s what I wrote my final paper on. But it’s difficult to organize any intro course on philosophy because there’s too much to cover. My rhetoric professor in grad school attributed Epicurus with moderation, which I can understand but I don’t see it as his actual point - more like being (reasonable*) and “sensible” in its classical definition of awareness and affectedness of the senses.

*When I put words in parens it’s mainly because I can’t think of a better word but I know there is one.

Quote from Eikadistes

Quote from Cassius

ReiWolfWoman tells us:

My background in Epicurus is that I was first exposed to him in an undergrad philosophy class

I'm curious about others' experience with undergraduate Philosophy programs.

The program at Florida Gulf Coast University was built around Aristotle. One professor called him "the smartest person who ever lived". The senior thesis class at the college was inspired by Alasdair MacIntyre, a virtue ethicist and modern Aristotelian. Besides this, they offered supplemental surveys of existentialist and post-structuralist thinkers, and a section on Socratic rhetoric.

My last day before dropping out was funny. I'll never forget it: that last class featured a discussion about Georges Bataille (existentialist) masturbating in front of his mother's corpse. I don't remember how much that class cost per credit hour, but however much it was, it was too much.

The Garden was not mentioned once at any point in my formal education. I didn't receive a direction, or find anything that couldn't have been found in a public library or a bookstore. ... meanwhile, extended cousins in Rome shared with me that Epicuro was part of their childhood curriculum. I'm curious about others' experiences with Epicurean Philosophy in the education system.

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Quote from wbernys

Quote from Eikadistes

The Garden was not mentioned once at any point in my formal education.

Trust me Eikadistes that may be for the better.

I had a class on Ancient Greece and we talked about the philosophies of the time briefly. The professor was rather great aside from this but man he was really bad with Epicureanism. As you can imagine he was practically gushing over Stoicism (and to a lesser extent Plato) and defended them against accusations of being unemotional for an entire hour and 15 minutes class.

But when he got to Epicureanism he only spent like 20 minutes on it said and i quote (no exaggeration). "Epicureanism teaches that being on fire should be seen as no big deal because it's all just atoms in the end and that all pain is nothing because it's all just atoms and all things dissolve in the end. There's no point so just eat, drink, and be merry What a lovely philosophy". He also said Epicurus was an Atheist. Didn't mention anything about the desires, friendship, or dealing with the fears of death.

Hi All,

My interest in Epicurus was prompted by his physics, really. I was impressed by the (disregard) for the gods and (belief) in multiple causes for life. It seemed quite intuitive for me. As I read on, I found his approach to life mature and reasonable. It combined the (virtues) I found valuable with the pleasure I knew was part of the good life - all within reason. I’m most interested in dissecting the variations of determinism, chance and will. However, my interests in his philosophy are not limited - both physics and values, both self and society.

I found this forum looking up “Epicurean forum.”