What Determines That Which Is Possible And That Which is Impossible?

Possible: that which is consistent with our senses.

Impossible: that which contradicts our senses.

Quote from Cassius

Paul accusing the "pagans" of being "slaves to the weak and beggarly elements."

I've seen that conincingly interpreted as being slaves to every little jot and tittle - every element - of the biblical Law.

Quote from waterholic

To be fair, in the same section Philodemus justifies the small sun theory (I just had to make that disclosure).

On the size of the sun, check out Gellar-Goad's chapter in "Epicurus in Rome" (open access)

Lucretius on the Size of the Sun (Chapter 10) - Epicurus in Rome

Epicurus in Rome - February 2023

www.cambridge.org

Great conversation all around! I may be misunderstanding your point, waterholic -- but per Epicurus the atoms are colorless and perception of color is relative.

Scholion on Epicurus, Letter to Hēródotos, D.L. 10.44: He says, moreover, that there is no quality at all for the atoms except for shape (τὸ σχῆμα), dimension (τὸ μέγεθος), and weight (τὸ βάρος) – that color varies with the position of the atoms, he states in his Twelve Elementary Principles.

Plutarch, Against Kōlṓtēs, 1110B: Epicurus himself in the second book of his Reply to Theóphrastos, says that "colors are not intrinsic to bodies – but a result of certain arrangements and positions relative to the eye."

Here's my take on that word "dogmatize" in relation to the Epicureans:

Quote from Cassius

Quote from Twentier

Possible: that which is consistent with our senses.

Impossible: that which contradicts our senses.

But is that sufficient to deal with matters which we at any particular point we have not seen in the past, but which do not contradict the physics of what we have seen in the past, such as men flying? How do we know the limits of physics in situations that have not been tested?

As Epicurus wrote, THΣ AΛHΘEIAΣ EINAI TAΣ AIΣΘHΣEIΣ, "the truth is the sensations..." the foundation of knowledge. Whatever is left must be coherent with documented observations. Anything else leaves us without a point of reference to test false beliefs.

I'll throw the full quote in here as well:

D.L. 10.31: Therefore, in The Canon, Epicurus affirms that the criteria of truth are [1] the sensations and [2] the preconceptions and [3] the feelings, and the Epicureans (also affirm) [4] the image-based focus of the mind.

Ἐν τοίνυν τῷ Κανόνι, λέγων ἐστὶν ὁ Ἐπίκουρος κριτήρια τῆς ἀληθείας εἶναι [1] τὰς αἰσθήσεις καὶ [2] προλήψεις καὶ [3] τὰ πάθη, οἱ δ᾽ Ἐπικούρειοι καὶ [4] τὰς φανταστικὰς ἐπιβολὰς τῆς διανοίας.

So would modern science include 1, 2, and 4 from Bryan's list in post 15?

If you want to give your mind some direct interaction with regard to the consideration of what is possible and what is impossible, try watching a "sci-fi/fantasy" movie.

In fact, just last night I watched a sci-fi movie that had all sorts of impossible things happening.

Now in our current world we have technology built upon science. But science is a complicated thing in itself. And science uses concepts, models, and theories.

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Concept

I have this concept of a unicorn in my thoughts. I know unicorns do not exist but I have this idea of what they would look like if they existed

Model

I had this model made to make it easy to explain my concept. You can see from my model my concept idea looks like a horse with a horn growing from the forehead

Theory

I have a theory that unicorns might exist on other planets and that is where our concept of unicorns comes from. I intend to test my multiple ideas into the theory of unicorns on our planets by checking people who think about unicorns and what planets they also think of. Perhaps I can narrow it down to 1 planet

Concept - Generally (there can be exceptions) a idea about something which does not exist or a idea about something which might exist if we build it

Model - Build a model or make a drawing to show what the concept will look like if made

Theory - A collection of ideas which can be arranged or linked together to produce a new idea which can be tested to see if agrees with reality

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Here is an interesting read:

List of existing technologies predicted in science fiction - Wikipedia

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So would modern science include 1, 2, and 4 from Bryan's list in post 15?

1 and 2 yes with some caveats, 4 only for illustration.