I was looking for something today on my NewEpicurean page, and I came across this reference to a person who I don't think we have discussed here. Therefore I am adding the reference in case someone is interested in looking further into this:
Here is a reference to a work with strong Epicurean overtones by Aonius Palearius, who was executed for heresy in July, 1570. I hesitate to trust the accuracy of the following summary, especially as to the comment on ease and tranquility, but in order to be sure we will need to access the full original work. Anyone know where this can be found (preferably with English translation)? Here’s the summary:
“The end of man, says Palearius, is to live pleasantly; hence man must know that pleasure arises from the cooperation of the body and the mind. The fleshly pleasures are essential to contemplation and right living, and philosophers who deny this are not philosophers. The very fact that all sensual pleasures are readily available suggests that they have a purpose. We have health that we may think more vigorously, beauty that we may be loved, strength that we may fight, and wealth that we may know God, who is quite well-to-do Himself. It is difficult to define pleasure because people do not agree. Craftsmen will find the highest pleasure in work well done; scholars get so much pleasure out of research that they work during vacations. …. In one respect, Palaerius differs from the master; he does not think ease and tranquility true pleasures; for him pleasure is active, felt in the nerves and the heart.”
Source: The Rehabilitation of Epicurus and His Theory of Pleasure in the Early Renaissance, by Don Cameron Allen, Studies in Philology, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan., 1944), pp. 1-15
Good source for info on Palearius: A General Dictionary….
