"Remember that you are mortal, and you have a limited time to live, and in devoting yourself to discussion of the nature of time and eternity you have seen things that have been, are now, and are to come."
Western Hemisphere Zoom. This Sunday, May 25, at 12:30 PM EDT, we will have another zoom meeting at a time more convenient for our non-USA participants. This week we will combine general discussion with review of the question "What Would Epicurus Say About the Search For 'Meaning' In Life?" For more details check here.
How Would You Live If You Were Certain That There Are No Supernatural Gods And No Life After Death?
Epicurus taught a complete worldview that constitutes a revolutionary paradigm as to the nature of the universe, the nature of thought and truth, and the nature of the best life. Classical Epicurean Philosophy rejects many conventional assumptions of other philosophies, including the prevailing interpretation of words such as "pleasure," "gods," "virtue," and even "good and evil."
In Epicurean terms, "Pleasure" embraces much more than sensory stimulation. "Gods" exist but are not supernatural. It is important to act "virtuously" if we seek to be happy, but "virtue" is not desirable as an end it itself - only as a means of obtaining Pleasure. Likewise, "Good" and "Evil" are not abstract absolutes, but are ultimately evaluations based on sensations of pleasure and pain felt by real living things. "Practical Reason" is held to be essential for living wisely, but is distinguished from "dialectical logic," which is rejected as misleading.
It is a major goal of EpicureanFriends to explore Epicurean terminology in these and other areas so that we can understand the philosophy as Epicurus taught it himself. For more on terminology issues, watch our slideshow video "The Epicurean Paradigm Shift," the text of which is here. Also see the Epicurean Paradigm Shift section of our wiki. Check out our FAQ page as well. We also particularly recommend Episode 222 of the Lucetius Today Podcast, where we discuss key terminology issues surrounding "happiness," "pleasure," and "virtue."
It is interesting to think about what Lucretius had in mind in Book One of “On The Nature of Things” when he spoke about Epicurus "yearning to be the first to burst through the close-set bolts upon…
The following video is a compilation of paraphrased Epicurean quotations organized as a single presentation covering most of the main points of the philosophy. For discussion of this video please go…
In Episode 197 of the Lucretius Today Podcast, on October 19, 2023, we were privileged to speak with Dr. Marcelo Boeri, co-author with Javier Aoiz of Theory and Practice In Epicurean Political…
In Episode 166 the Lucretius Today podcasters interviewed Dr. David Glidden, professor emeritus from the University of California - Riverside, about his articles "Epicurean Prolepsis" and "Epicurean…
In Episodes 156 and 157, the Lucretius Today podcasters interviewed Dr. Emily Austin, author of 2022's "Living For Pleasure." You can access the original podcasts and show discussions in the…
Here is a listing of ten key steps of Epicurean reasoning. There is nothing magic about this grouping but it's an effort to combine a manageable set of key points with important citations supporting…
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