Ethics - How To Live

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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.

Threads: 124

Posts: 1.5k

Last Posts: Discussion of Article - "Epicurus And The Pleasure Of Rebelling Against Plato"

Cassius September 3, 2026 at 8:36 AM

Complexity, Contradictions, and "Testing Out" Epicurean Philosophy

Cassius August 20, 2026 at 5:08 AM

Happiness Is The Goal Of Life - Happiness Is A Life In Which Pleasure Predominates Over Pain

Threads: 12

Posts: 141

Last Posts: FollowUp On Quote Submitted By Pacatus - "It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society."

Cassius July 23, 2026 at 1:18 PM

The Relationship of Happiness and Blessedness

Patrikios July 13, 2026 at 6:21 PM

Pleasure Is The Guide of Life

Threads: 15

Posts: 255

Last Posts: All Pleasures Are Not Interchangeable - Pushpin And Comparing The Pleasure of A Great Physicist Making A Discovery To The Pleasure of A Lion Eating A Lamb

Cassius August 14, 2026 at 5:19 PM

The Completeness (or Fullness) of Pleasure

Matteng August 14, 2026 at 4:35 PM

The Term "Pleasure" Means The Same As "Absence of Pain," And Includes All Experience Which Is Not Painful Not Painful

Threads: 32

Posts: 201

Last Posts: Discussion of the Article - Too Long UnPraised And UnAppreciated - Aulus Gellius And The Clearest Ancient Testimony That Absence of Pain Equals Pleasure

Cassius July 20, 2026 at 3:02 PM

Discussion of Blog Article: "Living For Pleasure, Or Dying For Relief From Pain?"

Don June 5, 2026 at 9:13 PM

Emotion In Epicurean Philosophy - Mental Pleasures And Pains Can Outweigh Physical

Threads: 1

Posts: 13

Last Posts: Stoic view of passions / patheia vs the Epicurean view

Kalosyni November 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM

Only Two Feelings - Pleasure and Pain - The Term Pleasure Includes Tranquility, Meaningfulness, Katastematic, Kinetic, Etc.

The Term Pleasure Includes Bodily as well as Mental Pleasures Such As Tranquility, Meaningfulness, Katastematic, Kinetic, Etc. Likewise The Term Pain Includes All Bodily and Mental Pains.

Threads: 35

Posts: 654

Last Posts: Confusion: "The feelings are only two"

Rolf May 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM

The “Absence of Pain” Problem

Al-Hakiim von Grof April 29, 2025 at 9:41 PM

Pain Is Manageable - It Is Short If Intense, Endurable If Long, And Terminable By Death

Threads: 3

Posts: 30

Last Posts: Exposition therapy,Courage and when choosing Pain

Matteng January 14, 2026 at 3:53 PM

Does The Wise Man Groan and Cry Out When On The Rack / Under Torture / In Extreme Pain?

Cassius July 1, 2025 at 8:50 AM

Life Is Desirable, But Unlimited Time Contains No Greater Pleasure Than Limited Time

Threads: 6

Posts: 30

Last Posts: David Sedley's "Epicurean vs Cyreniac Happiness"

Cassius February 26, 2025 at 3:29 PM

Key CItations - The Limit of Quantity of Pleasure Is Reached When All Pain Is Eliminated

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 12:20 PM

Choice And Avoidance ("Natural And Necessary"; "Natural and Unnecessary", Etc.)

VS 63 and why we do not pursue only "necessary" desires.

Threads: 18

Posts: 282

Last Posts: Desires necessary for Happiness.

Robert August 12, 2026 at 9:59 PM

Discussion of Article: Living For the Pleasures Of The Moment Isn't Epicurean, It's Lunacy

Cassius July 17, 2026 at 3:07 PM

To Live Unknown or To Engage With Society

Threads: 13

Posts: 80

Last Posts: Article: Not A Bunker But A Camp: A Response To “The Garden or the Forum”

Cassius March 24, 2026 at 1:14 PM

What "Live Unknown" means to me (Lathe Biosas)

TauPhi October 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM

Improvement of Reasoning Ability and Wisdom

Threads: 1

Posts: 1

Last Posts: Understanding Confirmation Bias

Kalosyni September 3, 2026 at 9:32 AM

Relationships - Family, Marriage, Children, and Romantic Love

Threads: 25

Posts: 205

Last Posts: Marriage, Children, & Personal Relationships - Greater Difficulties and Risk Can Make Them Harder Than Ever. Epicurean Perspectives on Remedies

Titus August 10, 2026 at 4:48 PM

An Epicurean Understanding of Valentine's Day: Love, Romance, and Free-will

Kalosyni February 13, 2025 at 8:28 AM

Virtue Is Not Absolute Or An End In Itself - All Good And Evil Consists In Sensation

Threads: 65

Posts: 383

Last Posts: Epicurean Virtue

DaveT June 28, 2026 at 11:00 AM

Alex O´Conners ethical view he calls "Emotivism"

Cassius January 3, 2026 at 9:24 AM

Friendship

Threads: 18

Posts: 148

Last Posts: What is the difference between friendship and a friendly relationship between you and strangers?

Kalosyni July 31, 2026 at 12:25 PM

Importance of Cultivating Friendships and Further Advice

Kalosyni July 31, 2026 at 12:02 PM

Courage

Threads: 2

Posts: 10

Last Posts: Risk Aversion / Risk Management / Risk Avoidance / Risk Assessment in Epicurean Philosophy

Patrikios August 25, 2026 at 3:08 PM

"Prayer" vs "Choice and Avoidance"

Don February 22, 2026 at 7:34 AM

Justice

Threads: 31

Posts: 301

Last Posts: Guilty conscience in Epicurean justice.

wbernys January 8, 2026 at 1:49 PM

Toward A Better Understanding of Epicurean Justice And Injustice (With Examples of "Just" and "Unjust")

Pacatus November 20, 2024 at 4:35 PM

Prudence

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Honesty

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Gratitude

Threads: 3

Posts: 4

Last Posts: Positive psychology article of the science of gratitude

Don November 27, 2024 at 8:27 PM

Key Citations On Gratitude

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 11:41 AM

Benevolence

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Confidence and "Faith"

Threads: 2

Posts: 22

Last Posts: Video on "Confidence"

Cassius January 21, 2026 at 4:44 PM

"Faith" And Confidence In Epicurean Philosophy

Pacatus August 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM

Temperance

Threads: 0

Posts: 0

Suavity And Consideration

Threads: 1

Posts: 13

Last Posts: Suavity - General Discussion

Bryan June 12, 2026 at 4:05 PM

Hope For The Future

Threads: 1

Posts: 1

Last Posts: Key Citations On Hope

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 12:14 PM

Living In The Present

Threads: 1

Posts: 1

Last Posts: Key Citations On Living In The Present

Cassius October 4, 2023 at 12:15 PM

Remembering Past Pleasures

Threads: 1

Posts: 5

Last Posts: The Art of Remembering

Don March 31, 2024 at 8:57 PM

The Tetrapharmakon

Threads: 5

Posts: 122

Last Posts: P.Herc. 1005 from Les Epicuriens (A First Draft Translation)

Eikadistes March 26, 2026 at 8:13 PM

Diving Deep Into The History of The Tetrapharmakon / Tetrapharmakos

Patrikios November 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Epicurean Life Strategies for Modern Times

For discussion of daily life as an Epicurean.

Threads: 112

Posts: 1.1k

Last Posts: Your Experience with Philosophical and Practical Contemplations Through the Lens of Epicurean Philosophy

Pacatus June 26, 2026 at 1:19 PM

Should the Study of Modern Psychology and Positive Psychology be Encouraged?

Patrikios May 22, 2026 at 5:51 PM

Answering the "Quest For Meaning" In Epicurean Terms

Threads: 6

Posts: 84

Last Posts: The "meaning crisis" trend. How do you answer it as an Epicurean philosopher?

Sam_Qwerty July 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM

An Anti-Epicurean Article - "The Meaning of Life Is Not Happiness" (For Future Reference)

Pacatus November 19, 2024 at 12:17 PM

Creating Joy and Well-being Through Pleasure

Threads: 3

Posts: 9

Last Posts: Joy through Engaging in Hobbies

Kalosyni August 24, 2026 at 12:22 PM

The Joys of Experiencing Novelty

Kalosyni August 23, 2026 at 3:32 PM

Health And Diet

Threads: 20

Posts: 163

Last Posts: How SMART Fitness Goals Keep You On Track

Godfrey September 1, 2026 at 11:28 PM

"Healthy Hedonism - Why Feeling Good Is Good For You" - Book By Erica Oberg

Pacatus July 30, 2026 at 11:52 AM

Dealing with Emotions of Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Sadness

Threads: 25

Posts: 118

Last Posts: Lucretius on the emotions

Kalosyni June 6, 2026 at 2:04 PM

Exercise for the happiness of the modern soul

Kalosyni January 12, 2026 at 8:16 AM

Dealing With Death, Dying, And Old Age

Threads: 23

Posts: 212

Last Posts: Dignitas founder Ludwig Minelli, dies by assisted suicide aged 92

Kalosyni December 4, 2025 at 9:13 AM

Fear and/or grief concerning the death of others

Kalosyni August 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM

Stress Management

Threads: 3

Posts: 7

Last Posts: Minimalism to remove stress caused by too much stuff

Joshua May 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM

Box Breathing and Prolepsis

kochiekoch December 2, 2024 at 9:32 AM

Productivity and Time Management

Threads: 5

Posts: 17

Last Posts: Video: "Reverse Goalsetting"

Cassius December 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM

Increasing your ability to be effective and have good outcomes

Kalosyni August 21, 2024 at 10:25 AM

Material Goods and Money Management

Threads: 3

Posts: 32

Last Posts: Natural Wealth and Natural Goods in Epicureanism

Don August 14, 2022 at 9:04 AM

Philodemus' "On Property Management"

Cassius July 21, 2022 at 11:56 AM

Self-Sufficiency - Including Gardening, Farming, Agriculture

Threads: 4

Posts: 60

Last Posts: Interesting website that connects people to work-stay vacations - farms

sanantoniogarden July 1, 2025 at 5:10 PM

Dealing With Electric Grid Disruption

Julia May 13, 2024 at 4:22 AM

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.