Episode One Hundred Thirty-Five - The Letter to Menoeceus 02 - On The Nature of the Gods

  • Thanks Don, and as to the comments above on "confidence" I think we're probably all in agreement that "confidence" is at least generally used (if not always used) in the sense of "I have confidence because I have good reason for it" as opposed to "I have confidence but have no reason for it - I have confidence based on blind faith."


    I see "faith" in the "blind faith" sense as about the furthest possible from the kind of thing that Epicurus would recommend, and that his "confidence" is always based on reasoning based on firm evidence and/or experience.


    I suspect most everyone agrees with that, but if anyone sees any texts which might go the other way, call them out and let's look at them. I am thinking that Blind faith is something that ought to be driven as far from as as possible, like that "bad habit" reference in VS46 - "Let us utterly drive from us our bad habits, as if they were evil men who have long done us great harm."