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Below are some points from the second half of the AI response (which was in my original post above) ...which I have shortened/reworded:

--Individuals can pick up superstitious beliefs by being taught directly by parents, or by observation or imitation…

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Thanks. That was a fun read.

And PD01 seems to force one to use inductive reasoning, don't you think?

A recent post regarding the Tetrapharmakos in the thread "Tsouna's On Choices and Avoidances", opened up a question for me regarding PD01 ...and which it seems we can have 3 positions:

1) it is speaking about the nature of gods

2) it is speaking about the…

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This is very helpful, Bryan !

So, if I'm understanding the excerpt you cited:

τὰ τέτταρα literally means The Four Things (and only four things)

τὰ κυριώτατα literally means The Principal Things (as in a collection of things)

The word for "doctrines,…

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Coming up next week on Friday is our next monthly 20th gathering!

For Level 03 and above -- we will send out the link (and reminder) a day before. If you are Level 03 and have not yet attended, let us know if you are interested and we will add you to…

I am enjoying the notebook!

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Yes, here is Tsouna on that section:

"The expression τὰ τέτταρα refers to the Fourfold Remedy. We suggest that it should be distinguished from τὰ κυριώτατα (1. 8). τὰ τέτταρα are precisely four principles originally expressed by Epicurus and later…

Welcome to Episode 286 of Lucretius Today. This is a podcast dedicated to the poet Lucretius, who wrote "On The Nature of Things," the most complete presentation of Epicurean philosophy left to us from the ancient world.

Each week we walk you through the…

The citation from Lucretius mentioned in this episode:

1-102

But still I fear your caution will dispute the maxims I lay down, who all your life have trembled at the poets' frightful tales. Alas! I could even now invent such dreams as would pervert the…

TauPhi and this https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/tec…-ja1Tm-aw%3D%3D.

Episode 285 of the Lucretius Today Podcast is now available. Today we continue Part Two of Cicero's treatment of the nature of evil in Tusculan Disputations, and our episode is entitled: "The Significance Of The Limits Of Pain"

…

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Here's some non-AI info ...

https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/…gy/superstition

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Ah, nothing beats AI generated slop.

'Does generation Z worry about Friday the 13th?.

AI answer: 'Some people may be potentially superstitious and some may not be potentially superstitious. Some sources suggest that some people in the past were more…

I just found this result on Google:



Plus I found this interesting podcast with transcript:

"Speaking of Psychology: The psychology of superstition, with Stuart Vyse, PhD"

https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/…gy/superstition

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The first four Principal Doctrines ??

PD01. The blessed and incorruptible nature knows no trouble itself, nor causes trouble to any other, so that it is never constrained by anger or favor. For all such things exist only in the weak. ^[1]

PD02. Death is…

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The Tetrapharmakos?

Bryan Thanks for sharing. However, I'm not clear about his reference to the four cardinal principals and what they specifically are. "it is also obvious that, aside from those misadventures, they are totally worthless people. This is said because of…

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In this opening passage, it seems that Venus is above Nature, but could we also see it as Venus is the personification of Nature?

Also we see the phrase "which now I sing of Nature" - which casts Nature as something to celebrate and extol - and this…

This thread is to consider whether or not Nature could be the main focus of "religion" or "spirituality" for Epicureans.

I will add here some references from De Rerum Natura.

This is excellent, thank you!

Interesting. You're referring to the letters to Herodotus and Pythocles? I'm not sure how much overlap there is since (in the words of Diogenes Laertius): The first epistle is addressed to Herodotus and deals with physics ; the second to Pythocles and…

Looks great - thanks Tau Phi!

http://philosophos.sdf.org/philosophical_…ions/index.html

A great resource for anyone interested in Western Philosophy. It contains interlinked profiles of 126 philosophers with 'connections' at the end of each profile. And these connections are the real…

Thank you for sharing this. An interesting idea to pursue would be to also locate instances of the PDs and VSs in the letters correlate them with this work

As to the value of practice and the perils of insufficient practice, I just posted a thread here:

Adage: In A Crisis, We Don't Rise To The Occasion As Much As We Fall To Our Level of Practice

In Lucretius Today Podcast Episode 284 we discussed the issue of "practice" in dealing with pain and other challenges, and I found the adage which is the subject of this thread and wanted to pass it on, with its source, as part of that discussion.

The…

Bryan thanks very much for this! I was interested primarily in the text, though I'm sure the commentary is valuable as well.

Thanks also to you, Don, for the WorldCat link. Possibly some options there.

Hello Robert, the book can be purchased here:
https://bibliopolis.it/shop/on-choices-and-avoidances/

Most of it is commentary and the translation only runs a few pages:

"It is fair that we speak against the rest of people who have a contrary opinion about…

FWIW: 2 editions in 83 libraries

https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/52572448

Hello! Here I am, four years later, with the same question. Any leads?

Welcome to Episode 285 of Lucretius Today. This is a podcast dedicated to the poet Lucretius, who wrote "On The Nature of Things," the most complete presentation of Epicurean philosophy left to us from the ancient world.

Each week we walk you through the…

Part II is live. I'll try to finish today, but I do need a break for some good old-fashioned acediosus.

Excellent topic for extended treatment, Joshua. Posting as a thread will allow for comment and suggestions while you are composing and therafter. When it is finished (am I foreshadowing Christianity there?} we will post a full copy to the Articles or…

Prof. Dewitt cites the scriptures of the Christians many times in Epicurus and His Philosophy, but a longer and more focused treatment is in another work entitled St. Paul and Epicurus. Both were published in 1954, and, while a…

Item number 6 on the Getting Started page here at the forum reads as follows;

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We continue to recommend Norman Dewitt's book on Epicurus for many reasons, not least among them being, first, his comprehensive, well-ordered, and systematic…

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Cassius

Thanks for the insight. I just finished reading the last chapter today which, includes how DeWitt describes Plutarch’s attempt to defend himself.[Epicurus & His Philosophy, Chapter XV, p 351)]

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On Sunday June 15th, let's discuss the letter of Cosma Raimondi, a very good defense of Epicurus that many people don't know about.

Link:

Cosma Raimondi's Letter to Ambrogio Tignosi

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Yes!! I still remember the Winnebago they were riding in! That was aliens, if I remember, too.

PS. I was 11.

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I think this question happens because of religion, which focuses on heaven, and it makes the world and the earth as something less than heaven/God...so "Is this all there is?" is a remnent left by religious thinking.

Also, the "something less than" is…

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Dating myself now, but can't resist mentioning "Escape to Witch Mountain"--much loved at age 7.

Also: Close Encounters of the Third Kind...fun mix of science and pseudo.

On a slightly more serious note, inspired by Joshua 's post, I would offer that the paranormal and pseudoscience feed an answer to the question many seem to ask: Is this all there is?

That question presupposes there's something "less than" about our…

Since we live in the material world in which "telepathy" equals guessing...the usual method, although much slower and basically requiring consent (in comparison), to find out what someone is thinking is to ask them to share their thoughts (lol).

Here's…

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And Don your list didn't even include Dune, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.

Welcome balin !

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