The Lucretius Today Podcast

The Lucretius Today Podcast is a weekly panel discussion and presentation of Epicurean philosophy.

Our current podcasters are: Cassius, Martin, Joshua, Kalosyni, and Don.

Each episode of the show has a thread below with podcast notes and listener comments. The podcast is available for free subscription at all major podcast sources. For the text of Lucretius read during the first 92 episodes, click here to download the EpicureanFriends Reference Edition of Lucretius.

Here are our ground rules and goals of the podcast:

First: Our aim is to bring you an accurate presentation of classical Epicurean philosophy as the ancient Epicureans understood it, not to substitute our own opinions for those of Lucretius or Epicurus.

Second: In this podcast we don't express or imply or personal opinions on modern political issues. At Epicureanfriends.com we call this approach "Not Neo-Epicurean, But Epicurean." Epicurean philosophy is not Stoicism, Humanism, Buddhism, Taoism, Atheism, or Marxism - it is a unique philosophy of its own, to be understood on its own terms, and not as subordinate to or in terms of any other schools, conventional modern moralities, or political positions.

Third: The close study of Epicurean philosophy reveals that Epicurus did not advocate the pursuit of luxury, but neither did he teach a minimalist lifestyle. As is written in Vatican Saying 63, "Frugality too has a limit, and the man who disregards it is like him who errs through excess." The four key points taught by Epicurus that we stress at EpicureanFriends.com are (1) There are no supernatural gods, (2) There is no life after death, (3) All good and evil consist in sensation, and (4) Pleasure is the beginning and end of the blessed life.

These ethical points are as emphasized by Diogenes of Oinoanda: "But since, as I say, the issue is not 'what is the means of happiness?' but 'what is happiness and what is the ultimate goal of our nature?' I say both now and always, shouting out loudly to all Greeks and non-Greeks, that Pleasure is the end of the best mode of life, while the virtues, which are inopportunely messed about by these people (being transferred from the place of the means to that of the end), are in no way an end, but the means to the end."

As much as anything else, Epicurus taught that any happiness we ever have comes in this life, which is why it is so important not to waste time in confusion, and why we hope to benefit our listeners through the discussion of Epicurus.

Episode Topics:

• Episodes 1-92 were devoted to a line-by-line reading of Lucretius' "On The Nature of Things."
• Episodes 93-111 were devoted to a reading of the Torquatus narrative of Epicurean Philosophy from Cicero's "On Ends."
• Episodes 112-125 were devoted to Epicurus' Letter to Herodotus.
• Episodes 127-133 were devoted to Epicurus' Letter to Pythocles.
• Episodes 134-140 were devoted to Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus.
• Episodes 141-144 were devoted to Diogenes of Oinoanda.
• Episodes since 145 have been devoted to a book review of Norman DeWitt's "Epicurus and His Philosophy."
• Episodes 156-157 were devoted to an interview of Dr. Emily Austin, author of "Living For Pleasure."
• Episodes 154, 155, 158, and 158 were devoted to DeWitt's Chapter 7 ("The Canon, Reason, and Nature").

If you are just getting started with our podcast, we recommend as representative examples:

• Episode One Hundred Fifty-Five "Epicurus And His Philosophy" Part 11 - The Canon, Reason, and Nature 02
• Episode One Hundred Twenty-Nine - Letter to Pythocles 03 - The Implications Of the Epicurean Position On The Size of the Sun
• Episode One Hundred Thirty-Four - The Letter to Menoeceus 01- Context and Opening of the Letter