Questions for Emily Austin - "Living for Pleasure" Zoom Meeting June 4

Let's use this thread to accumulate questions for Emily Austin. Everyone can post their questions here in this thread, and then as we go along we will update this post with the best questions and use it as a guide at the meeting.

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Questions for Dr. Emily Austin: Well be coming from a slightly different vantage point compared to our previous interview on the Lucretius Today Podcast. We'd like to gear this interview for folks who have read the book and have a basic grasp of Epicurean philosophy. Your book has been out for some time now and also you have been interviewed a number of times. We can refer listeners to our earlier interview if they want to find more in depth info about your background and how you came to write the book, so this interview can jump right in to the philosophy.

List of Questions (to be updated)

1 - If you were writing the book over again today, would you change anything?

3 - Any further thoughts on the parts of Epicurean philosophy which seem to be understood with divergent interpretations...for example "ataraxia" or the meaning of "pleasure"?

4 - Do you have thoughts on how to bridge the gap between people who like to "philosophize" and those who are more into "self-help"?

5 - Will Epicureanism be forever deemed as somehow "esoteric" and beyond the ability or interest of many people?

6 - Do you see dangers in the possible development of a "pop-culture Epicureanism"?

7 - Do you think that Epicureanism is enjoying a resurgence of interest, as a scholarly topic, especially among women – such as yourself, Catherine Wilson and Pamela Gordon? If so (in your opinion), why?

8 - Dr. Austin, I bought "The Epicurus Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonia (Hackett Classics)" by Epicurus, Brad Inwood, Lloyd P. Gerson because you recommend it in your book. Can you say something about why you recommend this particular collection of primary sources?

9 - What other schools of philosophy are close to your heart? Which schools you find worth studying in detail?

10 - Do you have any plans for future writing on Epicurus?

Possible questions for Emily:

Now that you have written the book and also been interviewed a number of times...

---Do you have thoughts on how to bridge the gap between people who like to "philosophize" and those who are more into "self-help"?

---Will Epicureanism be forever deemed as somehow "esoteric" and beyond the ability or interest of many people?

---Do you see dangers in the possible development of a "pop-culture Epicureanism"?

---Any further thoughts on the parts of Epicurean philosophy which seem to be understood with divergent interpretations...for example "ataraxia" or the meaning of "pleasure"?