Welcome AxA

Welcome AxA

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Please say "Hello" by introducing yourself, tell us what prompted your interest in Epicureanism and which particular aspects of Epicureanism most interest you, 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 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.

Please check out our Getting Started page.

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.

"Epicurus and His Philosophy" by Norman DeWitt

The Biography of Epicurus by Diogenes Laertius. This includes the surviving letters of Epicurus, including those to Herodotus, Pythocles, and Menoeceus.

"On The Nature of Things" - by Lucretius (a poetic abridgement of Epicurus' "On Nature"

"Epicurus on Pleasure" - By Boris Nikolsky

The chapters on Epicurus in Gosling and Taylor's "The Greeks On Pleasure."

Cicero's "On Ends" - Torquatus Section

Cicero's "On The Nature of the Gods" - Velleius Section

The Inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda - Martin Ferguson Smith translation

A Few Days In Athens" - Frances Wright

Lucian Core Texts on Epicurus: (1) Alexander the Oracle-Monger, (2) Hermotimus

Philodemus "On Methods of Inference" (De Lacy version, including his appendix on relationship of Epicurean canon to Aristotle and other Greeks)

"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!

Good to see you take the initiative AxA.

There are a lot of subtleties in Epicurean philosophy but there's no reason that the right group can get together and learn them together.

Let us know if we can be of help.

Quote from AxA

I look forward to attending the next First Monday gathering.

AxA -- We will look forward to having you for that. We originally set that up just for that purpose - to have a special time to welcome in totally new people.

What I think you'll find in your own work in setting up a meetup is that there are lots of compromises that have to be made. In order to have free flow of conversation, you really want to have people who have some experience with each other so that there can be a supportive and trustful environment.

For better or worse, the world isn't always conducive to allowing "everyone" into every discussion, because there are trolls and worse who make a point of being disruptive.

What we've done here is to try to develop a screening process in which we look for people to participate for a period of time on the forum, using discussion in the forum for a period of time as a sort of "get-to-know-you" process. We've found it very helpful to have real "zoom meetings" where people come on camera and get to know each other over time as "friends," but it takes time to develop that kind of trust and confidence. So what we do is let everyone on our zooms know that they can expect to see people they know, and not random strangers, in our normal regular meetings.

The "First Monday" gives us a monthly date on which new people can ask to participate and our regulars can decide whether or not they'd like to appear themselves.

We're looking to start doing "live streams" in the future, where we allow anyone and everyone to comment in the chat that goes along with the stream, but we're not quite at the point where we can get that done regularly.

There's a *lot* to think about in arranging meetings of any kind. It's actually an interesting discussion in itself. Feel free to ask questions about the way we do it, or just keep us posted on what you end up doing yourself, and we'll all learn from each other and pursue what works best for each of us.

In the meantime, we'll look forward to seeing you at the first of March, and please continue to post and let us know your thoughts about things here on the forum.

Quote from AxA

I'm new to the study of Epicurus and have found the teachings of this school very refreshing

AxA when you get a chance let us know about your own background in philosophy and that might help us make recommendations to you.

AxA check this thread for some past discussion on Meetup group possibilities:

Thread

Planning And Execution of A Local Group

Epicurean Meetings and Conventions

New: Meetup Handouts

Update: As of 2/10/25 as I am writing this, it is my understanding that the Sydney Australia Epicurean meetup group is no longer operational. I have left the links below in case you want to look for prior versions of the page, but at present i am not aware of any operational Epicurean Meetup groups.

In most parts of the world, there are at present very few opportunities for regular people who are interested in Epicurus to get together to…

Cassius

January 8, 2018 at 6:58 AM

Yes. Her book is accessible to a wider audience. After time for those who are really interested in the ideas there is Dewitt and many other options.

So that others can more easily profit from the example in the future, the discussion of the development of AxA's Toronto group via meetup has been moved here:

Post

RE: Toronto Canada Meetup Group (Discussion on Implementation)

Yes it sounds like you handled everything beautifully. i will split this off into a thread where it will be easier to find for people looking for this topic in the future.

Cassius

February 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM