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Recent Activities
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Cassius
June 12, 2026 at 7:25 PM Replied to the thread Relationship between AI/LLMs and prolepsis.PostAlso Titus this chat exchange has me thinking about something that I think needs to be a focus of the forum in the future - and it's an aspect of prolepsis.
Taken separately, I think the data in the chat you presented is largely correct. As I said it's… -
Cassius
ThreadJune 12, 2026 at 5:07 PM Sunday June 14, 2026 - Zoom Discussion 12:30 PM EST - Lucretius Book Review - Lucretius Book 1 - 645 - The Competitor Theories As To What Things Are Made Of- Welcome and news / requests for new topics. We'll continue to deal with individual topics as they
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Cassius
June 12, 2026 at 4:57 PM Posted the thread Episode 338 - EATAQ20 - Not Yet Released.ThreadWelcome to Episode 338 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… -
Bryan
June 12, 2026 at 4:05 PM Replied to the thread Suavity - General Discussion.PostPlutarch also records a long list of mocking epithets. In an effort to explain the apparent antagonism between the epithets and VS79, I think we can look at:
ΚΔ 39 "He who has best composed himself regarding his lack of confidence from external… -
Cassius
June 12, 2026 at 3:28 PM Replied to the thread Suavity - General Discussion.PostI would say analysis of this issue goes right along with analysis of the issue of the proper aspects of anger as referenced by Philodemus. If we don't have the integrity and presence of mind to feel righteous anger when ourselves or especially our… -
Cassius
June 12, 2026 at 3:22 PM Replied to the thread Suavity - General Discussion.Post[…]
That's why we need this discussion. It is clearly established in the texts that Epicurus and other Epicureans did exactly that (referred to philosophical opponents or at least their opinions in mocking terms). Yet Epicurus and his followers… -
Cassius
June 12, 2026 at 3:17 PM Replied to the thread Relationship between AI/LLMs and prolepsis.PostTitus I would say that that discussion of a working theory of what Epicurus mean by prolepsis is better than what 98% of us on the forum could do if we sat down and decided to devote 20 minutes to tackling it. I am sure that most of us would also find… -
Kalosyni
June 12, 2026 at 2:36 PM Replied to the thread Suavity - General Discussion.Post[…]
I don't think that the use of mocking words against philosophical enemies is constructive, and it goes against suavity. (I like to think that Diogene Laertius got that aspect of Epicurus wrong).
Also....VS79. The man who is serene causes no disturbance… -
Titus
June 12, 2026 at 2:25 PM Replied to the thread Relationship between AI/LLMs and prolepsis.PostToday, I had a short but interesting talk with Chat GPT:
Titus: Is there a connection between large language models and Epicurean prolepsis? Could Epicurean prolepsis be interpreted as what LLMs are processing?
Yes, there is a surprisingly interesting… -
Pacatus
PostJune 12, 2026 at 12:58 PM I was just rereading some of Jean-Marie Guyau, The Ethics of Epicurus, and found that his second chapter is “Fundamental Pleasure: the Stomach.” (The translator notes that the French word Guyau uses – ventre – is a broader concept than “stomach;”… -
Cassius
June 12, 2026 at 12:23 PM Replied to the thread Suavity - General Discussion.PostWe very much need articles addressing the nature of "good manners" both in general and here on the forum. We know that Epicurus did not hesitate to use mocking wordss against his philosophical enemies, and we know that he strongly advised "frank speech"… -
Kalosyni
June 12, 2026 at 10:55 AM Replied to the thread Suavity - General Discussion.PostThis is interesting regarding the word "suavity" (from Google):
The shift from describing sensory or spiritual sweetness to describing human manners occurred gradually between the late 16th century and the mid-18th century, solidifying into its modern… -
Cassius
PostJune 12, 2026 at 10:31 AM Episode 337 of the Lucretius Today Podcast is now available. This week our episode is entitled: "Confidence In Knowledge And The Epicurean Attitude Toward Pascal's Wager"
Transcript: https://epicurustoday.com/00-lucretiusto…337/#transcript
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Elli
June 12, 2026 at 7:59 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus vs Schopenhauer - Orientation Discussion.PostDear friend Martin hi!
Thanks for your comment.
What I meant is not that Schopenhauer left no letters to his mother, but that Epicurus is the only one of the three - Epicurus, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche - who left us a letter of that tone, that… -
Don
June 12, 2026 at 6:15 AM Replied to the thread Ologies episode on Eudemonology.PostAlie Ward released an episode of Ologies this month that complements this Eudemonology episode nicely:
Awe Psychology (WONDER) with Dr. Dacher Keltner
I've casually followed Dr. Keltner for a while and his book on Awe has been on my "to be read" list for… -
Martin
June 11, 2026 at 8:59 PM Replied to the thread Epicurus vs Schopenhauer - Orientation Discussion.Post[…]
Letters of Schopenhauer to his mother still exist (but they are reportedly not nice).
Die Schopenhauers: Der Familien-Briefwechsel von Adele, Arthur, Heinrich Floris und Johanna Schopenhauer : Lütkehaus, Ludger: Amazon.de: Books -
Cassius
June 11, 2026 at 4:13 PM Replied to the thread Epicurus vs Schopenhauer - Orientation Discussion.PostThank you for taking the time to write that Elli! -
Elli
June 11, 2026 at 3:08 PM Replied to the thread Epicurus vs Schopenhauer - Orientation Discussion.PostWarm greetings to all epicurean friends
I would like to add my own small Greek contribution to this discussion, since we are speaking about Epicurus and a philosophy that blossomed on Greek soil and continues to illuminate minds to this day.The… -
Don
June 11, 2026 at 11:35 AM Replied to the thread Sadler Recommended Epicurean Reading List.PostI completely missed the reference to New Epicurean! -
Titus
June 11, 2026 at 9:27 AM Replied to the thread Sadler Recommended Epicurean Reading List.Post[…]
I am familiar with almost all works on Sadler's list, but it reminds me to buy a German edition of Plutarch that is focussed on his anti-epicurean writings. -
Cassius
PostJune 11, 2026 at 8:25 AM Thanks Don!
https://epicurustoday.com/sbslucretius/#3-843
Bailey:
And even if the nature of mind and the power of soul has feeling, after it has been rent asunder from our body, yet it is naught to us, who are made one by the mating and marriage of body and… -
Don
PostJune 11, 2026 at 7:20 AM It appears 251 at the end of his entry refers to the page number in Book Three:
https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PR-MONTAI…00004-00004/279
So it appears to be referring to around DRN 3.860:
For shouldst thou gaze
Backwards across all yesterdays of time
The… -
Cassius
PostJune 11, 2026 at 5:30 AM […]
For people casually coming across this post, probably worth pointing out that this statement by Montaigne is presumably keyed to the part of Book 2 (I believe... I don't have the line number) where Lucretius makes essentially this same statement. -
Joshua
PostJune 10, 2026 at 10:07 PM
A Latin inscription on a flyleaf at the back of Montaigne's personal copy of Lucretius:
Ut sunt diversi atomorum motus non incredibile est sic convenisse olim atomos aut conventuras ut alius nascatur montanus.
Since the movements of the atoms are so… -
Don
June 10, 2026 at 9:41 PM Posted the thread Sadler Recommended Epicurean Reading List.Threadhttps://open.substack.com/pub/gregorybsa…s-for-epicurean
Dr. Gregory Sadler has posted a recommended reading list of Ancient Epicurean Texts. Some I had forgotten about, so it's handy to have in one place (although I realize all these are likely posted… -
Bryan
June 10, 2026 at 5:21 PM Replied to the thread Welcome AutoAtaraxic!.PostI am not aware of the term in ancient literature. However, let me include this section from Epicurus' On Nature, Book 25, which seems to be related to the idea:
"…[1] Those movements that have been fully generated are fully produced according to the… -
Martin
June 10, 2026 at 11:03 AM Replied to the thread Welcome AutoAtaraxic!.PostWelcome Autoataraxic! -
Cassius
June 10, 2026 at 10:36 AM Replied to the thread Welcome AutoAtaraxic!.PostGlad to have you autoataraxic. When I search i don't bring up much other than an article written by Elli Pensa, a friend of ours in Greece a couple of years ago. I don't find any historic use of it from the ancient world.
My read of Elli's article is… -
Autoataraxic
June 10, 2026 at 7:42 AM Replied to the thread Welcome AutoAtaraxic!.PostThanks Cassius for the posting the intro above. I have a question that I hope somebody can answer. In the history of Epicurean commentary, who has used the term 'clinamen vitae' and in which texts? Many thanks in advance for any answers. #Atomism #Life -
Cassius
June 10, 2026 at 7:22 AM Replied to the thread Welcome AutoAtaraxic!.PostAutoAtaraxic tells us:
Hi,
I was seduced by De Rerum Natura a couple of years ago and recently had a paper accepted for publication in which there was a strong influence of the atomic swerve in my understanding of the indeterminism of acts of dissensus a…
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