Recent Updates From Across EpicureanFriends.com
Recent Activities
-
Cassius
January 30, 2026 at 4:52 AM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.Post1. I read this a long time ago and was not impressed, but that was so long ago I may well have failed to appreciate its significance. Seems like this has come up a number of times and we need to find a good source for the text and start a new thread on… -
DaveT
January 29, 2026 at 9:25 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.PostCassius I understand what you are saying and completely agree with your statements. Can I conclude that Prof Nail's essay under consideration here is not relevant to whether Lucretius ignored Epicurus' atomism? I think the answer is that it is not.
… -
Cassius
January 29, 2026 at 3:16 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.Post[…]
This is a very good question and being able to answer it thoroughly is what this forum is all about.
There are many aspects to it beyond those relating to whether Lucretius intentionally or accidentally deviated from Epicurus. That's important in… -
Kalosyni
January 29, 2026 at 2:23 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.Post[…]
Perhaps because it is a body of writing that has transcended time, and that has given it a bit of a "special quality" that is different than just some "Joe-shmo". There is also the presentation of many ideas which are the basis for cognizing the… -
DaveT
January 29, 2026 at 1:48 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.PostI’ve read all the posts above. And I have a question that I’d like clarification from any/all among us.
First my question, and then my reasons for asking it.
Question: Why should anyone dwell on whether Lucretius accurately interpreted Epicurus’ book… -
Cassius
January 29, 2026 at 4:07 AM Replied to the thread Happy Birthday General Thread.PostHappy Birthday to GnothiSeauton! Learn more about GnothiSeauton and say happy birthday on GnothiSeauton's timeline: GnothiSeauton -
Cleveland Okie
January 28, 2026 at 11:51 PM Replied to the thread The "Suggested Further Reading" in "Living for Pleasure".PostThank you for the suggestion, TauPhi! Appreciate it. -
Patrikios
January 28, 2026 at 9:19 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.Post -
Onenski
PostJanuary 28, 2026 at 8:03 PM In my opinion, the phrase makes much more sense within the framework of Stoicism, where, in the effort to secure peace of mind, one seeks to adjust desires to the actual state of the world. The Stoic aims to wish that the world be exactly as it is (and… -
Joshua
January 28, 2026 at 8:00 PM Replied to the thread Episode 319 - EATAQ1 - Epicurean Answers To Academic Questions - Not Yet Recorded.PostI'm going to have a lot to say about causes in the coming episode, and I'll start gathering citations here with this passage from William Paley's Natural Theology published in 1809;
[…]
We will, I think, begin to better understand the ancient Academic… -
Cassius
January 28, 2026 at 3:44 PM Replied to the thread Episode 319 - EATAQ1 - Epicurean Answers To Academic Questions - Not Yet Recorded.PostThat will be of GREAT help! Even just the table of contents indicates what we are up against, as it shows how the book starts in the middle with discussion of opposing schools. Someone who doesn't know that and doesn't already know the Epicurean… -
Bryan
January 28, 2026 at 3:24 PM Replied to the thread Episode 319 - EATAQ1 - Epicurean Answers To Academic Questions - Not Yet Recorded.Post[…]
I'm not sure if it will be much help, but a few years ago I took the existing translation and tried to organize it, and also put all the opposing arguments in red. (link here). -
Cassius
January 27, 2026 at 7:57 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.PostGreat catches Joshua. This is one of the ways going through Academic Questions and then to Philodemus "On Signs" is going to help us.
E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-i-N-G depends upon this intersection of canonics / epistemology and physics.
Is the universe (1) natural as… -
Joshua
January 27, 2026 at 7:18 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.PostI haven't read the article, but I notice that we are going to be encountering related ideas in Academic Questions, Book 1, section 2 this weekend;
[…]
And I also recall that Alfred Tennyson in Lucretius makes reference to 'streams' of atoms;
[…]
Apart from… -
Kalosyni
PostJanuary 27, 2026 at 6:02 PM From Torquatus:
"More, any pains that the Wise Man may encounter are never so severe but that he has more cause for gladness than for sorrow. Again, it is a fine saying of Epicurus that 'the Wise Man is but little interfered with by fortune: the great… -
wbernys
PostJanuary 27, 2026 at 3:45 PM […]
I originally awnsered yes but I think I would change my awnser to the third option. I think Philodemus's quote of Metrodorus best exemplifies the Epicurean viewpoint on this qoute. Essentially An Epicurean would wish that that statement was true, and… -
Cassius
January 27, 2026 at 2:59 PM Replied to the thread What kinds of goals do Epicureans set for themselves?.PostHa - the correction backtracks from what Godfrey praised but his point still stands that it's a good way of talking about gods
-
Kalosyni
January 27, 2026 at 2:14 PM Replied to the thread First-Beginnings in Lucretius Compared to Buddhist Dependent Origination.PostThe following on similarities and differences, from Google AI:
[…] -
Kalosyni
January 27, 2026 at 1:44 PM Replied to the thread What kinds of goals do Epicureans set for themselves?.Post[…]
I see now that the referred to object of the pronoun "they" that I used was unclear, and I had intended it to be read this way:
The investigation of nature is important so that one understands that god/gods are not creating all the phenomenon of the… -
Kalosyni
January 27, 2026 at 1:37 PM Posted the thread First-Beginnings in Lucretius Compared to Buddhist Dependent Origination.ThreadThere are quite a few passages in Lucretius' De Rerum Natura (more than just these) which describe dependent origination, but here is one section, Bailey translation:1-803
‘But,’ you say, ‘the facts show clearly that all things are nourished and… -
Godfrey
January 27, 2026 at 1:28 PM Replied to the thread What kinds of goals do Epicureans set for themselves?.Post[…]
Unrelated to the subject of this thread (with my apologies), I like the way that you worded this Kalosyni . The wording that you've used here can include both the physical processes by which gods (godlike beings?) exist, as illustrated by the… -
Cassius
January 27, 2026 at 12:53 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.PostThat's very helpful additional research Patrikios - thank you! -
Patrikios
January 27, 2026 at 12:29 PM Replied to the thread Thomas Nail - Returning to Lucretius.Post[…]
Thank you Bryan for further educating us on this translation and interpretation from Thomas Nail. I find that your analysis is more historically accurate. But to better understand more of what Thomas Nail was attempting to convey, I consulted… -
Cassius
January 27, 2026 at 11:57 AM Replied to the thread Episode 319 - EATAQ1 - Epicurean Answers To Academic Questions - Not Yet Recorded.PostI have prepared an outline for our use in keeping track of where we are and where we are going as we go through Academic Questions. I am crossposting the current version into the Academic Questions thread here, but that version will fall out of date… -
Cassius
January 27, 2026 at 11:53 AM Replied to the thread Cicero's "Academic Questions".PostThe following is an outline I have prepared for our use in the upcoming series of Lucretius Today podcasts devoted to exploring Epicurean Canonics through Cicero's Academic Questions. The following version of this outline is going to be updated so over… -
DaveT
January 27, 2026 at 11:50 AM Replied to the thread What does modern neuroscience say about the perception of reality vs Epicurus?.PostI enjoy these kinds of topics. It seems to me the wonders of nature always seem to be one step ahead of us as we consciously think about ourselves and our relations to nature and to each other. We can catch up on our perceptions and predictions to some… -
Kalosyni
ThreadJanuary 27, 2026 at 10:47 AM The topic of whether or not we can accurately perceive reality is very important, especially if some people may be more prone to errors of perception. And it does seem that modern neuroscience has made great advancements in understanding compared to the… -
Kalosyni
January 27, 2026 at 8:39 AM Replied to the thread What kinds of goals do Epicureans set for themselves?.PostAnother goal that I believe an Epicurean would set for themselves is to make and maintain friendships, based on this Principal Doctrine:
27. "Of all the things which wisdom acquires to produce the blessedness of the complete life, far the greatest is the… -
Bryan
PostJanuary 26, 2026 at 10:05 PM My highest expectation, hope, and desire is for personal peace -- and a similar well-being of peace for my friends: what greater thing could be desired?
This is not a low expectation, but a very high one -- and one which our philosophy supports very well.… -
Cassius
PostJanuary 26, 2026 at 4:36 PM Good comments and they iliustrate why phrased it the way I did 🙂
Finding Things At EpicureanFriends.com
Here is a list of suggested search strategies:
- Website Overview page - clickable links arrranged by cards.
- Forum Main Page - list of forums and subforums arranged by topic. Threads are posted according to relevant topics. The "Uncategorized subforum" contains threads which do not fall into any existing topic (also contains older "unfiled" threads which will soon be moved).
- Search Tool - icon is located on the top right of every page. Note that the search box asks you what section of the forum you'd like to search. If you don't know, select "Everywhere."
- Search By Key Tags - curated to show frequently-searched topics.
- Full Tag List - an alphabetical list of all tags.