Ethics - General Discussion
In this section we discuss Epicurean Ethics and how to live as an Epicurean in a world where there are no supernatural gods and no life after death.
Latest Lucretius Today Podcast 305: "Shall We Stoically Be A Spectator To Life And Content Ourselves With 'Virtue'?" | Things To Know When First Reading Epicurus: The Epicurean Paradigm Shift | Featured Videos | Community Standards And Posting Policies |
We are now requiring that new registrants confirm their request for an account by email. Once you complete the "Sign Up" process to set up your user name and password, please send an email to the New Accounts Administator to obtain new account approval.
Welcome to the EpicureanFriends Forums page. Please be sure that all posts conform to our policies for posting as linked at our Terms of Use page. Scroll down to navigate through the full forum. Or you can: Search by forum Tag -or- Search by Forum Shortcuts Page -or- check out our List of Featured Threads -or- from any sub-forum you can return to the main Forum Board List. Not sure where to post? Read our guidance on where to post.
List Of Frequently Used Forums
- Ancient Epicurean Texts (300 BC to 300 AD)
 - The Lucretius Today Podcast and other Projects
 - Study Resources and Activism
 - Physics - The Nature of the Universe
 - Canonics - The Tests of Truth: The Five Senses, Anticipations, and Feelings of Pleasure and Pain
 - Ethics - How to Live As An Epicurean
 - Uncategorized Section
 - Epicurean Books, Articles, and Videos (1500's - Present)
 - Epicurean Historical Figures - Biographies of Epicureans from Epicurus To The Present
 - Comparisons With Non-Epicurean Philosophies
 - History, Locations, and Customs Relevant to Ancient Epicureans
 - Epicurean Symbolism in Art, Music, Literature, and Poetry
 - Level 03 And Above Discussions
 - EpicureanFriends Zoom Meetings
 
- 
		
- 
				
 - 
					
					
					
Perspectives On "Proving" That Pleasure is "The Good" 209
- Todd
 December 19, 2022 at 4:34 PM 
- Todd
 July 15, 2025 at 12:11 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 209
 
- Views
 - 56k
 
209  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Would You Rather Live For A Week As (1) Epicurus During the Last Week of His Life or (2) An Anonymous Shepherd Laying In The Grass In The Summertime With No Pain At All? 104
- Cassius
 September 6, 2023 at 2:36 PM 
- Cassius
 October 22, 2023 at 3:28 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 104
 
- Views
 - 33k
 
104  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Pleasure, Desire and Limits 36
- Godfrey
 July 17, 2022 at 9:25 PM 
- Godfrey
 July 20, 2022 at 8:34 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 36
 
- Views
 - 17k
 
36  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Are You Epicurean Or Hieronymian? 26
- Cassius
 October 1, 2019 at 2:08 PM 
- Cassius
 June 30, 2022 at 5:44 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 26
 
- Views
 - 17k
 
26  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
"Absence Of Pain Is Pleasure" - How Would You Articulate That To Someone? 37
- Eoghan Gardiner
 November 15, 2023 at 9:32 AM 
- Eoghan Gardiner
 April 16, 2025 at 5:22 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 37
 
- Views
 - 16k
 
37  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
On "Desires" And Their Relationship To Pleasure 30
- Godfrey
 September 10, 2020 at 2:53 PM 
- Godfrey
 September 12, 2020 at 7:44 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 30
 
- Views
 - 13k
 
30  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				
 - 
					
					
					
Is pleasure as the natural goal of life falsifiable? 30
- waterholic
 December 8, 2022 at 6:08 AM 
- waterholic
 February 10, 2023 at 11:02 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 30
 
- Views
 - 12k
 
30  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Multiple Components Comprise the Epicurean Life 30
- Kalosyni
 October 21, 2021 at 7:59 PM 
- Kalosyni
 October 23, 2021 at 1:53 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 30
 
- Views
 - 12k
 
30  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Is All "Ataraxia" Equal? 30
- Cassius
 November 18, 2023 at 7:47 PM 
- Cassius
 February 19, 2024 at 12:29 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 30
 
- Views
 - 11k
 
30  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				
 - 
					
					
					
Mental pleasure/pain more intense and longer lasting than physical pleasure/pain 33
- frank1syl
 December 5, 2023 at 11:15 AM 
- frank1syl
 December 13, 2023 at 10:19 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 33
 
- Views
 - 11k
 
33  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Elena Nicoli - An Excellent Presentation On Epicurean Pleasure 11
- Cassius
 April 16, 2018 at 4:18 PM 
- Cassius
 May 7, 2018 at 10:50 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 11
 
- Views
 - 11k
 
11  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Imagery On The Interplay Between "Pursue Pleasure" and 'Avoid Pain" 33
- Cassius
 March 28, 2023 at 9:09 AM 
- Cassius
 March 31, 2023 at 10:10 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 33
 
- Views
 - 10k
 
33  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Epicurean Freedom. Enslavement by culture. The mob. 15
- Harrington Andros
 April 19, 2018 at 12:42 PM 
- Harrington Andros
 May 14, 2018 at 12:11 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 15
 
- Views
 - 10k
 
15  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Valueless Virtue in Modern Stoicism 16
- Matt
 January 10, 2019 at 8:48 AM 
- Matt
 January 22, 2019 at 6:28 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 16
 
- Views
 - 10k
 
16  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				
 - 
					
					
					
How has the word epicurean come to mean excess? 22
- ThinkingCat
 May 13, 2023 at 9:24 AM 
- ThinkingCat
 May 19, 2023 at 6:50 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 22
 
- Views
 - 10k
 
22  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
If Death Is Nothing To Us, Then Life Is Everything to Us 29
- Cassius
 October 7, 2023 at 12:06 AM 
- Cassius
 October 7, 2023 at 8:22 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 29
 
- Views
 - 9.9k
 
29  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
We Need A Game Show With A Lightning Round Question: "Happiness or Pleasure? - Why?" 28
- Cassius
 February 2, 2023 at 8:16 PM 
- Cassius
 February 5, 2023 at 3:43 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 28
 
- Views
 - 9.8k
 
28  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Tips On Offsetting Pleasures Against Pains 24
- Cassius
 November 28, 2023 at 8:27 AM 
- Cassius
 November 29, 2023 at 9:56 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 24
 
- Views
 - 9k
 
24  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
As to the Term "Hedonic Calculus" or the "Calculus of Advantage" 22
- Cassius
 February 27, 2022 at 7:26 AM 
- Cassius
 March 1, 2022 at 12:03 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 22
 
- Views
 - 8.8k
 
22  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
An Epicurean "Sanity Check" 14
- Cassius
 February 2, 2019 at 11:55 PM 
- Cassius
 February 5, 2019 at 8:20 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 14
 
- Views
 - 8.2k
 
14  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Would There Be Benefit In Adapting the "Benjamin Franklin Journaling Model" To Our Discussion of Practical Exercises? 16
- Cassius
 July 8, 2021 at 11:07 AM 
- Cassius
 July 12, 2021 at 12:26 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 16
 
- Views
 - 8.2k
 
16  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Why Minimizing All Desire Is Incorrect (And What To Do Instead) 34
- Kalosyni
 December 4, 2024 at 11:15 AM 
- Kalosyni
 December 8, 2024 at 2:08 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 34
 
- Views
 - 8.2k
 
34  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Explaining In Summary Form How A Man In Extreme Pain Can Be Said To Be "Happy" 22
- Cassius
 April 20, 2024 at 5:38 AM 
- Cassius
 July 1, 2024 at 1:24 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 22
 
- Views
 - 7.9k
 
22  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Maximum pleasure as absence of all pain: a philosophical question concerning neuroscientific and Epicurean outlook toward the feeling of pleasure 10
- shahabgh66
 January 20, 2024 at 4:26 AM 
- shahabgh66
 January 26, 2024 at 7:24 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 10
 
- Views
 - 7.8k
 
10  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Practical Pleasure-Pain Perspectives: How Different is 99% Pleasure From 100% Pleasure? 13
- Cassius
 October 5, 2023 at 12:06 PM 
- Cassius
 October 6, 2023 at 10:24 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 13
 
- Views
 - 7.6k
 
13  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Scientific Support for Psychological Hedonism 19
- kochiekoch
 April 19, 2024 at 1:43 PM 
- kochiekoch
 April 23, 2024 at 8:04 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 19
 
- Views
 - 7.2k
 
19  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Natural versus Unnatural 12
- Matt
 December 30, 2020 at 8:54 AM 
- Matt
 January 10, 2021 at 12:33 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 12
 
- Views
 - 6.7k
 
12  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				
 - 
					
					
					
Epicureanism Vs Asceticism 8
- Hiram
 March 12, 2019 at 9:44 AM 
- Hiram
 March 14, 2019 at 1:37 PM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 8
 
- Views
 - 6.4k
 
8  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
Epicureans On Kingship 15
- Cassius
 August 2, 2022 at 10:16 AM 
- Cassius
 October 10, 2022 at 5:11 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 15
 
- Views
 - 6.4k
 
15  
 - 
				
 - 
		
- 
				

 - 
					
					
					
After Religion and Death, The Third Greatest Threat To Happiness As The Highest Goal of Life 5
- Cassius
 December 27, 2018 at 4:33 PM 
- Cassius
 December 28, 2018 at 10:42 AM 
 - 
											
- Replies
 - 5
 
- Views
 - 6.1k
 
5  
 - 
				
 
Finding Things At EpicureanFriends.com
What's the best strategy for finding things on EpicureanFriends.com? Here's a suggested search strategy:
- First, familiarize yourself with the list of forums. The best way to find threads related to a particular topic is to look in the relevant forum. Over the years most people have tried to start threads according to forum topic, and we regularly move threads from our "general discussion" area over to forums with more descriptive titles.
 - Use the "Search" facility at 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." Also check the "Search Assistance" page.
 - Use the "Tag" facility, starting with the "Key Tags By Topic" in the right hand navigation pane, or using the "Search By Tag" page, or the "Tag Overview" page which contains a list of all tags alphabetically. We curate the available tags to keep them to a manageable number that is descriptive of frequently-searched topics.