For some reason I woke up thinking about this today. Although I am not interested in seeing us "play to the crowd," most of us live and work among people who are almost exclusively non-Epicurean, and know little about Epicurus.
At some point it becomes a logical and reasonable question for them to ask:
"I've never really heard of Epicurus, or anyone who said that they were Epicurean. Those views you are talking about sound pretty underground to me and actually bordering on evil. Of course I know you and I like you, but can you name me one reputable person over the last three hundred years who has labelled themselves an Epicurean? Hopefully you can name more than one obscure name, but if you can't, maybe we better talk about getting you some medical help. I know this great counselor who specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy!"
My comment to that:
I've heard people suggest names like Christopher Hitchens and all sorts of people who have said one or two good things about Epicurus, but there are very few who come anywhere close to embracing his entire philosophy, much less actually committed to writing "I too am an Epicurean."
I think this is a legitimate conversation topic with the outside world, so I think we need to work on our response. I know Nate has produced a very good list of historical Epicureans, and I think Don has done something similar in terms of a time frame or time line analysis.
I will start a new thread and link to those two sets of materials and let's see what we can do to expand this.
Nate's Research Discussion Thread: RE: Early Epicurean Community - Listing of Known Epicureans Thoughout History
Nate's Research Consolidated For Publishing: Epicurean Philosophers by Nathan H. Bartman
Don's Timeline: Updated Alternative Timeline of Epicurean History
New Page Devoted to this in Lexicon: