Welcome Goblin

Wecome Goblin !

Note: In order to minimize spam registrations, all new registrants must respond in this thread to this welcome message within 72 hours of its posting, or their account is subject to deletion. All that is required is a "Hello!" but of course we hope you will introduce yourself -- tell us a little about yourself and what prompted your interest in Epicureanism -- and/or post a question.

This forum is the place for students of Epicurus to coordinate their studies and work together to promote the philosophy of Epicurus. Please remember that all posting here is subject to our Community Standards / Rules of the Forum our Not Neo-Epicurean, But Epicurean and our Posting Policy statements and associated posts.

Please understand that the leaders of this forum are well aware that many fans of Epicurus may have sincerely-held views of what Epicurus taught that are incompatible with the purposes and standards of this forum. This forum is dedicated exclusively to the study and support of people who are committed to classical Epicurean views. As a result, this forum is not for people who seek to mix and match some Epicurean views with positions that are inherently inconsistent with the core teachings of Epicurus.

All of us who are here have arrived at our respect for Epicurus after long journeys through other philosophies, and we do not demand of others what we were not able to do ourselves. Epicurean philosophy is very different from other viewpoints, and it takes time to understand how deep those differences really are. That's why we have membership levels here at the forum which allow for new participants to discuss and develop their own learning, but it's also why we have standards that will lead in some cases to arguments being limited, and even participants being removed, when the purposes of the community require it. Epicurean philosophy is not inherently democratic, or committed to unlimited free speech, or devoted to any other form of organization other than the pursuit by our community of happy living through the principles of Epicurean philosophy.

One way you can be most assured of your time here being productive is to tell us a little about yourself and personal your background in reading Epicurean texts. It would also be helpful if you could tell us how you found this forum, and any particular areas of interest that you have which would help us make sure that your questions and thoughts are addressed.

In that regard we have found over the years that there are a number of key texts and references which most all serious students of Epicurus will want to read and evaluate for themselves. Those include the following.

1. "Epicurus and His Philosophy" by Norman DeWitt
2. The Biography of Epicurus by Diogenes Laertius. This includes the surviving letters of Epicurus, including those to Herodotus, Pythocles, and Menoeceus.
3. "On The Nature of Things" - by Lucretius (a poetic abridgement of Epicurus' "On Nature"
4. "Epicurus on Pleasure" - By Boris Nikolsky
5. The chapters on Epicurus in Gosling and Taylor's "The Greeks On Pleasure."
6. Cicero's "On Ends" - Torquatus Section
7. Cicero's "On The Nature of the Gods" - Velleius Section
8. The Inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda - Martin Ferguson Smith translation
9. A Few Days In Athens" - Frances Wright
10. Lucian Core Texts on Epicurus: (1) Alexander the Oracle-Monger, (2) Hermotimus
11. Philodemus "On Methods of Inference" (De Lacy version, including his appendix on relationship of Epicurean canon to Aristotle and other Greeks)
12. "The Greeks on Pleasure" -Gosling & Taylor Sections on Epicurus, especially the section on katastematic and kinetic pleasure which explains why ultimately this distinction was not of great significance to Epicurus.

It is by no means essential or required that you have read these texts before participating in the forum, but your understanding of Epicurus will be much enhanced the more of these you have read. Feel free to join in on one or more of our conversation threads under various topics found throughout the forum, where you can to ask questions or to add in any of your insights as you study the Epicurean philosophy.

And time has also indicated to us that if you can find the time to read one book which will best explain classical Epicurean philosophy, as opposed to most modern "eclectic" interpretations of Epicurus, that book is Norman DeWitt's Epicurus And His Philosophy.

(If you have any questions regarding the usage of the forum or finding info, please post any questions in this thread).

Welcome to the forum!

•  Edit

In case others missed it, Goblin posted this on my wall:

Quote

Glad to be new member. I'm 79 years old and live near Raleigh, North Carolina. Became interested in philosophy and found out Epicurus was the philo. sopher I most related to for living happily on the Earth when I took one of IDRLabs.com online tests. I try to live simply,, eat right, make sure that each day is pleasurable (because for me it leads to a strong will to live and a healthy outlook. My wife and I enjoy living on a small farm, keeping Morgan horses, keeping 2 dogs and 2 caets, and doing what we please each day. We are both retired now.

I'm somewhat distracted right now because ew don't yet have all our tax records together and we're running out of time to get them together. Hope none of our membership has the same problem! Best regards to all. Goblin

FWIW the "wall" is a good feature of the software, but it's not totally integrated and not everyone gets notified if someone posts there. That's why we use the "Welcome" thread to greet new people. Glad to have you!

I agree with Martin's points there - I came back on the test as mostly Aristotle, likely because I don't agree that the questions that were pretty clearly intended to imply an Epicurean viewpoint were a correct reflection of Epicurus.

Seems to me I always come back to this question as my test of Epicurus? If you really believe that there is no life after death and for an eternity thereafter you will not exist in any way, then are you really going to spend the short time you have focused primarily on running from pain?

That ascetic assertion doesn't pass a smell test of logical consistency, and I personally will never believe they Epicurus taught such nonsense - especially since there is no need to read the surviving material that way at all.

To each his own in terms of the type of pleasure that he finds satisfying, but to set as your goal anything but pleasurable living makes no sense when the only faculty nature gives you for choosing is the feeling of pleasure.