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  • 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.

  • 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…

  • Don April 5, 2026 at 6:25 PM

    Replied to the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    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…

  • Patrikios April 5, 2026 at 6:08 PM

    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 5:21 PM

    Post
    I am likely to eventually break this out into a discussion of its own, but in this episode of the podcast Joshua brings up the question of "doxa" vs "episteme." From wikipedia:

    Doxa (Ancient Greek: δόξα; from verb δοκεῖν, dokein, 'to appear, to seem, to…

  • TauPhi April 5, 2026 at 5:14 PM

    Replied to the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    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…

  • Cassius April 5, 2026 at 4:42 PM

    Replied to the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    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…

  • Patrikios April 5, 2026 at 1:55 PM

    Post
    Cassius

    In today's discussion as we further explored the world of the unseen, you posed the question, "Is there life after death?"

    We had a great Epicurean discussion around this question.

    As an aside, I mentioned a book that was published by a good…

  • TauPhi April 5, 2026 at 12:24 PM

    Replied to the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Post
    Thank you, Don .

    I'm not a big fan of correcting manuscripts as it adds yet another danger of warping the original ideas. I think any corrections should be clearly marked and explained so the readers know what has been done and why.

    That said,…

  • Don April 5, 2026 at 8:05 AM

    Replied to the thread VS23 - Epicurus Reader Version.
    Post


    The word in question in the manuscript is this above.

    To my eye, it is clearly αρετη with a soft breathing mark at the α and an accent over the η at the end with a punctuation mark following.

    πᾶσα φιλία διʼ ἑαυτὴν ἀρετή·…

  • wbernys April 5, 2026 at 1:37 AM

    Post
    Wanted to share a great article other users may like by Orestis Karatzoglou, he makes a particularly strong point how will writing is so easily justified by the main principles of Epicurean Friendship and allows to feel more secure, in other words…

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 6:58 PM

    Thread
    Welcome to Episode 328 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…

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 4:40 PM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    It occurs to me to add here that in some of our physics discussions recently we have had reason to focus on the importance of "emergence" or "emergent qualities" to the nature of the way things are.

    Probably friendship and love and the issues you are…

  • Joshua April 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM

    Post
    […]

    That is a good question! I will try to remember to look into this later today.

  • Patrikios April 4, 2026 at 3:35 PM

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    Joshua ,

    Thanks to you and Cassius for this excellent episode (327).

    This is a very timely episode for helping people make some sense of a world in turmoil, with much re-framing of reality.


    This first section appears to describe a worldview not too…

  • Martin April 4, 2026 at 12:17 PM

    Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.
    Post
    Welcome Lamar!

  • Eikadistes April 4, 2026 at 11:10 AM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    […]

    This is a solid observation, and Epíkouros addresses those exact points. In a nutshell, the Garden observes all friendships starting with two individuals providing each other with mutual utility. In the beginning, you're totally right. Friendship can…

  • DaveT April 4, 2026 at 10:17 AM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    […]

    For me, this process does not feel shallow or transactional in a negative sense. First as to the transactional, the positive view is apparent in the old saying: you have to be a friend to have a friend. Is it transactional? In my view, yes it is…

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 9:46 AM

    Thread
    These week we will continue around section 1:305 of Lucretius and explore further the implications of the invisibility of atoms and how we can have confidence in something that is not visible. This week we go over Lucretius' specific examples of how we…

  • Kalosyni April 4, 2026 at 8:26 AM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    Welcome to the forum LAMAR__44 ...here are my thoughts to give some correction and guidance:

    […]

    I think that your wording here makes for an incorrect understanding and application -- the meaning of the word "sole" = only. This sets you up for a big…

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 8:22 AM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    Just a little more on this (admittedly largely repeating what I already wrote, but for emphasis):

    […]

    Consistent with what I wrote about above - there's no problem here in arguing against "hedonism." - I will help you in fact, given that I think it's a…

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 8:16 AM

    Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.
    Post
    Lamar you have asked a very good question and I set it up as a separate thread here:

    Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?

    If you have any problems getting access to post in it please let me know.

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 8:10 AM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    Good to have you Lamar.

    Couple of points:

    1 - This is why I don't care to refer to "hedonism" very often. Epicurean philosophy gets placed into that box with certain other groups, but Epicurus is far more subtle than most, and so "hedonism" gets used as a…

  • LAMAR__44 April 4, 2026 at 7:49 AM

    Has solved the quiz Basic Epicurean Ethics.
    Quiz

  • LAMAR__44 April 4, 2026 at 7:27 AM

    Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.
    Post
    Hi Cassius, thanks for welcoming me. I wanted to speak about the paradox of hedonism. This isn’t me arguing against hedonism, but just something I’ve had trouble in resolving and would love to get everyone’s viewpoints here.

    Essentially, since we know…

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 7:03 AM

    Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.
    Post
    Lamar -- Welcome -- please post here as to the subject of the topic and we'll create a full thread in the appropriate place later as needed. Thanks.

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 7:02 AM

    Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.
    Post
    Lamar tells us:

    Hi, I’ve been interested in Epicureanism for a while and have been reading
    the forums at Epicureanfriends for a while now, but I wanted to create a
    post on something that I believe hasn’t been touched on which is why I’m
    creating an account…

  • Cassius April 4, 2026 at 7:01 AM

    Posted the thread Welcome Lamar!.
    Thread
    Welcome LAMAR__44 !

    There is one last step to complete your registration:

    All new registrants must post a response to this message here in this welcome thread (we do this in order to minimize spam registrations).

    You must post your response within 24…

  • Cassius April 3, 2026 at 6:26 PM

    Post
    […]

    i think this is a misreading if from it you conclude that Epicurus is deprecating mental experience that is not painful as not being pleasure. Everything about us ultimately arises through the body as we do not exist without it. That means anything…

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