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Recent Activities
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Eikadistes
April 6, 2026 at 12:25 PM Replied to the thread Was Epicurus Influenced by Xenophanes?.PostI have yet to find Xenophanes in the extent works of Epíkouros, Metródōros, Hermarkhos, Polyainos, Polystratos, Karneiskos, Dēmētrios of Lakonia, Zēnon, Philódēmos, or either Diogénēs.
Lucretius does allude to Xenophanes (but not by name) somewhere around… -
Cassius
ThreadApril 6, 2026 at 10:56 AM Given that many of our recent discussions have focused on identifying the Epicurean position as to knowledge, and whether "probability" is the best we can do on any topic, I've produced using Claude an initial outline of the analysis of Philodemus made… -
Cassius
April 6, 2026 at 10:40 AM Replied to the thread Sunday April 5, 2026 - Zoom Meeting - Lucretius Book Review - Starting Book One Line 305.PostRobert I have completed my first review of the full Claude summary, and it appears to me to be excellent. For ease of followup I would appreciate further comments on this topic being made over there so we can keep most of the discussion in the… -
Cassius
ThreadApril 6, 2026 at 10:39 AM I have asked ClaudaAI to take the DeLacy translation and commentary, as well as Sedley's essay On Signs, and produce a detailed outline and analysis of the work based on those two authorities. After reviewing the result it looks pretty good to me, and… -
Cassius
April 6, 2026 at 10:33 AM Replied to the thread Was Epicurus Influenced by Xenophanes?.PostWhat conclusion would you reach if there were such influence? -
Kalosyni
April 6, 2026 at 9:30 AM Posted the thread Was Epicurus Influenced by Xenophanes?.ThreadWe can see the Epicurean understanding of the gods in Principal Doctrine 01, the Letter to Menoeceus, and in Lucretius. And perhaps Epicurus was influenced by Xenophanes ideas (which alos came down through Plato/Aristotle, but Epicurus forms different… -
Cassius
April 6, 2026 at 8:38 AM Replied to the thread Sunday April 5, 2026 - Zoom Meeting - Lucretius Book Review - Starting Book One Line 305.PostAt this meeting Robert bravely attempted to summarize aspects of Philodemus' "On Methods of Inference / On Signs" as to where Philodemus comes down on whether positions can constitute"knowledge" or rise only to "probability."
If i recall correctly… -
Cassius
April 6, 2026 at 7:29 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.Post[…]
I don't think Epicurus would consider "the value of friendship above the value of pleasure"
His wider framework is clearly to divide all feelings into pleasure and pain with only pleasure desirable in and of itself. So I think that observation answers… -
Cassius
April 6, 2026 at 7:14 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.Post[…]
This is a subject that we have not explored deeply here at the forum, with Sedley's "Epicurean Anti-Reductionism" only recently being first discussed. References to "both levels (atomic and our world level) being real has been discussed as a result of… -
Cassius
April 6, 2026 at 4:05 AM Replied to the thread Happy Birthday General Thread.PostHappy Birthday to Tony Fox! Learn more about Tony Fox and say happy birthday on Tony Fox's timeline: Tony Fox -
LAMAR__44
April 6, 2026 at 12:22 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.PostI’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
PostApril 5, 2026 at 8:04 PM 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.PostI 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
PostApril 5, 2026 at 5:21 PM 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.PostI 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.PostSo 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 Replied to the thread Sunday April 5, 2026 - Zoom Meeting - Lucretius Book Review - Starting Book One Line 305.PostCassius
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.PostThank 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,… -
Joshua
PostApril 5, 2026 at 9:49 AM […] -
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 Replied to the thread How can writing a will be justified in Epicureanism?.PostWanted 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
ThreadApril 4, 2026 at 6:58 PM 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"?.PostIt 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 Replied to the thread Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence.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 Replied to the thread Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence.Post -
Martin
April 4, 2026 at 12:17 PM Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.PostWelcome 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…
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