Brett's (belial1975) Epicurean Outline

Okie dokie. Here goes.

1. Nature / Physics
   
   1. There is no supernatural realm/entity that governs the universe
   2. Matter and void are the basic building blocks of reality
   3. Natural laws guide physical processes
   4. Basic state of the physical world is change and transformation - nothing is static materially
2. Knowledge /Truth
   1. The senses are reliable witnesses
   2. Reason helps us determine what philosophical principles are valid (i.e. especially in deducing next principles from axioms)
   3. Especially with respect to knowledge of the physical world, we are constantly revising 'knowledge' in response to new facts and data through the scientific method
3. Ethics / How to live
   1. Pleasure is the goal of life
   2. What is pleasurable for one is not for another - pleasure is relative to a large extent
   3. Some actions, on average, tend to create pain (unfaithfulness to friends/loved ones, theft) for most folks while some tend to create pleasure (deep friendship)
   4. "Live and let live" - the good society is the one that allows people to express and pursue their own pleasures and only limits the former when it interfers with that selfsame pursuit of others

thanks Cassius. I'll do some reading of the link above and see if I should tweak my axioms.

A very fun exercise.

Brett

1. Nature / Physics
   
   1. There is no supernatural realm/entity that governs/interacts with the universe
   2. Atoms and void are the basic building blocks of reality
   3. Natural laws guide physical processes
   4. Basic state of the physical world is change and transformation - nothing is static materially
2. Knowledge /Truth
   1. The senses are reliable witnesses
   2. Reason helps us determine what philosophical principles are valid (i.e. especially in deducing next principles from axioms)
   3. Especially with respect to knowledge of the physical world, we are constantly revising 'knowledge' in response to new facts and data through the scientific method
3. Ethics / How to live
   1. Pleasure is the only/ultimate goal of life
   2. What is pleasurable for one is not for another - pleasure is relative to a large extent
   3. Some actions, on average, tend to create pain (unfaithfulness to friends/loved ones, theft) for most folks while some tend to create pleasure (deep friendship)
   4. "Live and let live" - the good society is the one that allows people to express and pursue their own pleasures and only limits the former when it interfers with that selfsame pursuit of others or by doing so will increase the likelihood of greater pleasure than the pain of restriction freedom
   5. Death is not to be feared - for when we die we are no longer subject to sensation, anticipations or feelings

1. Nature / Physics
   
   1. There is no supernatural realm/entity that governs/interacts with the universe
   2. Atoms and void are the basic building blocks of reality
   3. Natural laws guide physical processes
   4. Basic state of the physical world is change and transformation - nothing is static materially
2. Knowledge /Truth
   1. The senses are reliable witnesses
   2. Reason helps us determine what philosophical principles are valid (i.e. especially in deducing next principles from axioms)
   3. Especially with respect to knowledge of the physical world, we are constantly revising 'knowledge' in response to new facts and data through the scientific method
3. Ethics / How to live
   1. Pleasure is the only/ultimate goal of life
   2. What is pleasurable for one is not for another - pleasure is relative to a large extent
   3. Some actions, on average, tend to create pain (unfaithfulness to friends/loved ones, theft) for most folks while some tend to create pleasure (deep friendship)
   4. "Live and let live" - the good society is the one that allows people to express and pursue their own pleasures and only limits the former when it interfers with that selfsame pursuit of others or by doing so will increase the likelihood of greater pleasure than the pain of restriction freedom
   5. Death is not to be feared - for when we die we are no longer subject to sensation, anticipations or feelings
   6. Actions should always be decided by the result of the decision with respect to pain/pleasure. However, some actions which result in pain are worthy of choice when the long-term result is pleasure (i.e. exercising SUCKS but the short term pain can result in longer term bodily pleasure via better health)
   7. Friendship is a beautiful way to secure advantage for both sides of the equation and there is no shame in gaining benefit from friendship so long as the benefit is mutual