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  • LAMAR__44 April 6, 2026 at 12:22 AM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    I’ve heard of emergence before, particularly in debates about how the mind arises from the physical. When describing emergence, are you referring to weak/reductive emergence? Where we can map a phenomenon down to its constituent parts, such as a wave…

  • Cassius April 5, 2026 at 8:04 PM

    Post
    My first reaction would be 'both' - given that the context seems to be that he is considering things for which we are responsible , and everything that you're listing seems to be at least somewhat arising from our own choices.

  • Cassius April 5, 2026 at 8:02 PM

    Reaction (Post)
    […]

    Cassius

    So, are theses “certain acquired states” describing each individual person/animal unique makeup or personality; or does this also include consideration of a person’s attitude, emotional state, or focused intentions?

  • Cassius April 5, 2026 at 8:00 PM

    Reacted with Like to wbernys’s post in the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Reaction (Post)
    […]

    I also heavily lean towards saying yes as well. In large part because Philodemus himself seems to list Making Friends itself as a virtue.

    (… it is impossible for one to live pleasurably) without living prudently and honourably and justly,10 and also…

  • Cassius April 5, 2026 at 7:59 PM

    Reacted with Thanks to Don’s post in the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Reaction (Post)
    I think we're understandably butting up against a Greek vs English issue here.

    Granted αρετη is translated as "excellence" in English; however, it's not an adjective like "excellent" as in "Our friendship is excellent."

    αρετη can be variously translated…

  • Cassius April 5, 2026 at 7:58 PM

    Reacted with Thanks to TauPhi’s post in the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Reaction (Post)
    I see virtue as excellence in something that is desirable. For me being virtuous means achieving excellence in something desirable. Friendship is pivotal in Epicurean philosophy so I completely agree with the statement that friendship is a virtue. Like…

  • Don April 5, 2026 at 7:33 PM

    Reacted with Like to wbernys’s post in the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Reaction (Post)
    […]

    I also heavily lean towards saying yes as well. In large part because Philodemus himself seems to list Making Friends itself as a virtue.

    (… it is impossible for one to live pleasurably) without living prudently and honourably and justly,10 and also…

  • wbernys April 5, 2026 at 7:00 PM

    Reacted with Like to Cassius’s post in the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Reaction (Post)
    So regardless of the rest of the implications, one of the basic questions is apparently: Did Epicurus number friendship as being among the virtues? (Or considered under the category name "virtue.")

    I am inclined to agree with the excerpts Don posted to…

  • wbernys April 5, 2026 at 6:52 PM

    Replied to the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Post
    […]

    I also heavily lean towards saying yes as well. In large part because Philodemus himself seems to list Making Friends itself as a virtue.

    (… it is impossible for one to live pleasurably) without living prudently and honourably and justly,10 and also…

  • Patrikios April 5, 2026 at 6:52 PM

    Reacted with Thanks to Eikadistes’s post in the thread New "TWENTIERS" Website.
    Reaction (Post)
    I took a swing at To the Comrades by Philódēmos (P.Herc. 1005). Don did a great job here, and besides our attempts, I'm not familiar with any publications that contain the bulk in English. I'll continue polishing my attempt at a translation for what…

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    2. Episode 328 - EATAQ 10 - The Platonist View - No Truth Through The Senses, But Only Through Of Dialectic And Rhetoric - Not Yet Recorded 2

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    2. Sunday April 5, 2026 - Zoom Meeting - Lucretius Book Review - Starting Book One Line 305 1

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    2. Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"? 7

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    2. Welcome Lamar! 4

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    4. Martin

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    2. Q & A with "A Few Days in Athens" research article author

      • Kalosyni
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    2. How "Epicurean" is Diogenes of Oenoanda? 3

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    2. Discussion of Blog Article - "Reality Does Not Require Being Eternally The Same" 21

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    2. Use Of The Term "Metaphysics" In Discussing Epicurus 8

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    4. Julia

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    2. Connecting Thought With Atoms - Emergence, Downward Causation (From The Macroscopic To The Atomic), and Epicurus 1

      • Cassius
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      March 29, 2026 at 4:27 PM

    2. Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence 5

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      • April 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM
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    4. Joshua

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    2. Updated FAQ Entry: Why Should I Care About Epicurean Physics When So Much Science Has Changed In The Last 2000 Years?

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    2. "And With These We Especially Do Battle, And Rebuke Them, As Well As Hating Them For A Disposition Which Follows Their Disordered Congenital Nature...." 2

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      April 5, 2026 at 8:04 PM

    2. Sunday March 29, 2026 - Zoom Meeting - Lucretius Book Review - This Week: A Quick Look At Sedley's "Epicurean Anti-Reductionism" 2

      • Cassius
      • March 29, 2026 at 12:19 PM
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    4. Cassius

      March 29, 2026 at 12:19 PM

    2. Is Motion A Property or an Event / Accident / Quality of Atoms?

      • Cassius
      • March 26, 2026 at 10:20 AM
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    2. Article - David Sedley - 1988 - "Epicurean Anti-Reductionism" 10

      • Cassius
      • March 27, 2026 at 4:58 PM
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    4. Cassius

      March 27, 2026 at 4:58 PM

    2. The Size Of Atoms (And Their Differences)

      • Cassius
      • March 26, 2026 at 7:02 AM
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    2. The Weight Of Atoms (Are All The Same Weight?)

      • Cassius
      • March 26, 2026 at 6:58 AM
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    2. Explaining The Relationship Between Properties / Qualities of Atoms and Emergent Qualities of Things Formed From Atoms 3

      • Cassius
      • March 26, 2026 at 9:27 AM
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    4. Cassius

      March 26, 2026 at 9:27 AM

    2. Welcome J.Tycherne! 4

      • Cassius
      • March 27, 2026 at 2:08 AM
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    4. wbernys

      March 27, 2026 at 2:08 AM

    2. Revisiting Issues of The Use of AI in Epicurean Philosophy 40

      • Cassius
      • April 2, 2026 at 8:37 PM
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Recent Articles (All Articles Sorted By Date)

The Major Doctrines Of Classical Epicurean Philosophy

This page presents a summary of Classical Epicurean Philosophy . For additional citations to Epicurean texts, click here.


Nothing From Nothing

Nothing Can Be Created From Nothing

Working solely with the science available two thousand years ago, Epicurus observed that nothing ever arises from nothing, and nothing is ever completely destroyed to nothing. From this Epicurus deduced the existence of atoms - elemental particles moving through empty space from which over time all things are made…
Cassius
May 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM

A Gate To Be Burst: "Absence of Pain"

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 gates of nature." What kind of gates was he talking about? Who bolted them? How do those gates keep us from Nature?

I can't be sure which gates Lucretius had in mind, but I can suggest one "gate" that is particularly in need of bursting, as it stands directly in the way of a better understanding…
Cassius
February 12, 2024 at 1:26 PM
1

Interview With Dr. David Glidden: "Epicurean Prolepsis"

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 Thinking.
Cassius
January 11, 2024 at 8:22 AM
0

Recent Files From the EpicureanFriends.com Filebase

  1. David Sedley - "Epicurean Anti-Reductionism" - 1988

    • Cassius
    • March 30, 2026 at 2:44 PM
    New Epicurean philosophy, although grounded in atomism, cannot be understood as a purely reductionist system.
    • Like 2
    • 27 Downloads

  2. "The Inferential Foundations of Epicurean Ethics" - Article By David Sedley

    • Cassius
    • January 23, 2026 at 11:29 AM
    David Sedley compares Epicurus' arguments in favor of atomism in physics with his arguments in favor of pleasure as the focus of ethics.
    • Like 1
    • 41 Downloads

  3. Antiochus IV Epiphanes And Jerusalem

    • Cassius
    • December 17, 2025 at 7:30 AM
    A collection of information about what is known of the Epicurean background of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
    • Love 1
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  4. Bernier - Gassendi's Three Discourses on Happiness, Virtue, and Liberty

    • Cassius
    • November 22, 2025 at 5:37 PM
    This book is focused on Epicurean philosophy and explaining it in context with other philosophers.
    • Like 1
    • 10 Downloads

Recent Level 3 User Timeline Entries (Click Here To View All Or Post)

All Blog Entries

New
Cassius' Blog
This post is also available on Substack.

One of the deepest and most consequential divisions in the history of philosophy runs not between optimism and pessimism, or between free will and determinism,…


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Cassius
March 31, 2026 at 10:24 AM
1
Cassius' Blog

There are as many opinions about happiness as there are people. Everyone has their own idea of what happiness is or should be. Some say that we should look to religion for happiness. Others say that

…


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Cassius
December 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
0
Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece
E.S. XXXVI (36) The life of Epicurus, when compared with that of other philosophers, seems almost legendary thanks to the calmness and self-sufficiency that distinguished him.

-----

In Mytilene, where…


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Elli
December 16, 2025 at 2:56 AM
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1
Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece
An Analysis of a Father’s Death Sentence Against His Own Son - Torquatus and the Roman Recasting of Epicurean Philosophy.

Titus Manlius Torquatus, as portrayed in Cicero’s De Finibus, appears as a…


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Elli
November 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM
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Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece
The Uncertainty of Science and the Certainty of Faith

By Dimitris Altas, cardiologist and member of the Analysis and Experiential Application Team of Epicurean Philosophy Today [(…


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Elli
May 24, 2025 at 3:47 AM
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3
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Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece
"Epicurean Philosophy and the Deception of Modern Globalist Ideologues", by Elli Pensa



When you write a book and reference Epicurean philosophy as if it were nothing more than…“stones, bricks,…


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Elli
May 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
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0
Cassius' Blog
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…


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Cassius
February 11, 2024 at 6:20 AM
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1
Featured
Cassius' Blog
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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Cassius
November 28, 2022 at 8:10 AM
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Cassius' Blog
Several conversations lately have led me to want to produce a new article on what I would contend are some of the most important take-aways from the teachings of Epicurus. These are the points with…


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Cassius
April 20, 2021 at 10:58 AM
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Cassius' Blog
Friends, recent discussions have prompted me to finally get around to clarifying my own take on Epicurean Philosophy, which I have named "Hedonic Pragmatics"-- a new philosophy that is still closely…


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Elayne
November 22, 2020 at 10:52 AM
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Cassius' Blog
JC:


Hi Cassius. I'm sorry to badger you about this again, but I'm still trying to get my head around the pleasure principle. From my reading, all scholars agree that Epicurus divides pleasure into…


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Cassius
September 26, 2019 at 4:06 PM
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Cassius' Blog
Not "absence of pain" as a full statement of the goal of life, but “the Feelings are two, pleasure and pain” and “Pleasure is the beginning and the end of a happy life.”

Brief: The feelings are only…


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Elayne
July 15, 2019 at 7:31 PM
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Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece

Epicurean Philosophy or Epicureanism?

In a recent conversation to the Garden of Thessaloniki, a question was raised whether the Epicureans could participate as a party to the political scene of the…


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Elli
June 16, 2019 at 8:41 AM
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Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece

"The Canon of Epicurus In Everyday Life"

The purpose of this proposition is a brief introduction to the Canon of Epicurus that will help us to use it in our everyday life. There are, of course,…


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Elli
June 16, 2019 at 8:37 AM
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1
Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece

“Online Communication With Cassius”

For the 6th Panhellenic Symposium of Epicurean Philosophy that was held by the Epicurean Gardens of Athens and Thessaloniki, February 2018



1.     (OPENING - TWO…


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Elli
May 31, 2019 at 3:34 PM
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Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece

PREFACE 1.

We often confuse the issue of the possibility of free will exercising with the issue of its existence. When we are unable to exercise it we say with sloppiness that it does not exist.…


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Elli
May 17, 2019 at 4:31 PM
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Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece

WE AND THE STOICS TODAY, or “To Those from the Stoa”

by Dimitris Liarmakopoulos, member of the Epicurean Garden in Thessaloniki

27.11.2015


A proposition about Stoicism on an Epicurean website causes…


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Elli
April 2, 2019 at 5:54 PM
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Cassius' Blog

ElliDog2.jpg

A Neighbor And His Dog

I have a story to tell you about a neighbor and his dog, but first I would like to share with you some thoughts on Epicurean Doctrine 40: “As many as possess…


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Cassius
November 5, 2018 at 10:45 AM
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Cassius' Blog

This chart comparing the major features of Stoicism vs Epicurean philosophy is a continuing work in progress! It is currently hosted at a Google Docs page to make editing easier. Feel free to make…


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Cassius
January 20, 2018 at 10:04 AM
Featured
Cassius' Blog

“It is observed too that in his treatise On the Ethical End he writes in these terms : “I know not how to conceive the good, apart from the pleasures of taste, of sex, of sound, and the…


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Cassius
January 20, 2018 at 9:56 AM
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Recent Blog Entries

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Cassius' Blog
This post is also available on Substack.

One of the deepest and most consequential divisions in the history of philosophy runs not between optimism and pessimism, or between free will and determinism,…


Read More

Cassius
March 31, 2026 at 10:24 AM
1
Cassius' Blog

There are as many opinions about happiness as there are people. Everyone has their own idea of what happiness is or should be. Some say that we should look to religion for happiness. Others say that

…


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Cassius
December 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
0
Elli's Blog - Articles By Elli Pensa And Other Friends of Epicurus in Greece
E.S. XXXVI (36) The life of Epicurus, when compared with that of other philosophers, seems almost legendary thanks to the calmness and self-sufficiency that distinguished him.

-----

In Mytilene, where…


Read More

Elli
December 16, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Like 2
1

Recent Lucretius Today Podcasts

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    2. Episode 328 - EATAQ 10 - The Platonist View - No Truth Through The Senses, But Only Through Of Dialectic And Rhetoric - Not Yet Recorded 2

      • Cassius
      • April 5, 2026 at 5:21 PM
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    4. Cassius

      April 5, 2026 at 5:21 PM

    2. Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence 5

      • Cassius
      • April 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM
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    4. Joshua

      April 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM

    2. Episode 326 - EATAQ 08 - Who Cares About Infinite Divisibility? And Why? 2

      • Cassius
      • March 27, 2026 at 4:35 PM
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    4. Cassius

      March 27, 2026 at 4:35 PM

    2. Episode 325 - EATAQ 07 - The False Platonic Division of The Universe Into A Force Which Causes And That Which The Force Acts Upon 3

      • Cassius
      • March 20, 2026 at 6:46 PM
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    4. Cassius

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    2. Episode 324 - EATAQ 06 - Is Pleasure The Good, Or The Enemy of The Good? 2

      • Cassius
      • March 14, 2026 at 11:41 AM
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    4. Cassius

      March 14, 2026 at 11:41 AM

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    2. Updated FAQ Entry: Why Should I Care About Epicurean Physics When So Much Science Has Changed In The Last 2000 Years?

      • Cassius
      • March 26, 2026 at 1:57 PM
    3. Replies
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      376

    2. New Graphic: Epicurus vs. Other Major Philosophies

      • Cassius
      • February 17, 2026 at 10:16 AM
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    2. New Decision Tree: Are You On Team Epicurus?

      • Cassius
      • February 16, 2026 at 7:02 PM
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    2. New Audio Version of Lucian's Hermotiimus

      • Cassius
      • February 2, 2026 at 9:15 PM
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    2. Updating Of EpicurusToday.com 8

      • Cassius
      • January 11, 2026 at 7:02 PM
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Cassius' Blog Entries

New
Cassius' Blog
This post is also available on Substack.

One of the deepest and most consequential divisions in the history of philosophy runs not between optimism and pessimism, or between free will and determinism,…


Read More

Cassius
March 31, 2026 at 10:24 AM
1
Cassius' Blog

There are as many opinions about happiness as there are people. Everyone has their own idea of what happiness is or should be. Some say that we should look to religion for happiness. Others say that

…


Read More

Cassius
December 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
0
Cassius' Blog
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…


Read More

Cassius
February 11, 2024 at 6:20 AM
Love 1
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