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The Role of Abstractions and Abstract Ideas

  • Cassius
  • July 23, 2020 at 8:16 PM
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  • Cassius
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    • July 23, 2020 at 8:16 PM
    • #1

    In several of our podcasts and discussions we have touched on issues that arise from "abstractions" and "abstract ideas," with the point being that there is a peril involved in abstractions when/if they are not verified against the information provided by the rest of the Epicurean canon. It seems to me this is a very deep subject which requires a lot more elaboration than we've given it so far. It's the purpose of this thread to prompt us to begin to focus on this issue, but it's the purpose of this post to start the discussion off on more of a fun footing.

    This afternoon I happened to see this cheesy 1958 movie and as you'll see from the closing part of this brief segment, I immediately thought of Elayne because she could have written this dialog ;) Here's a very short clip and you'll have no problem seeing its relevance

    I wish we had this movie character with us to explain what he meant, because he's clearly thinking along the same lines as some of us, but unfortunately he doesn't make it in the movie past this clip.

    At any rate, let's start thinking about the role of "abstractions" and "abstract ideas" and the Epicurean attitude toward them.

    One more note - I kind we could consider the dark haired "captain" here as Plato himself, telling the rest of mankind that they are too childish to survive unless they work to become superhuman like him. ;)


  • Cassius June 15, 2021 at 2:49 PM

    Moved the thread from forum The Three Components of The Epicurean Canon - The Canon of Truth Generally to forum Epicurean Methods of Reasoning And Determining Truth.
  • Cassius August 18, 2023 at 11:32 AM

    Moved the thread from forum Epicurean Canonics - Methods of Reasoning And Determining Truth - General Discussion and Navigation to forum The Priority of Nature Over Reason.

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