Klavan's "Gateway To Epicureanism" (Note: The Title Is Part Of A "Gateway" Series - The Author Himself Is Strongly Anti-Epicurean)

    In my local Books A Million, this was the only book on Epicureanism, which I find misleading because the author's purpose is to mislead people away from the topic. In my local Barns & Nobles, I found Lucretius but nothing else on Epicureanism. It seems to me that the average person is not darting to the philosophy section of the book store, nor is very familiar with any of the ancient Greek philosophies. But none the less, there is always Plato and Aristotle. When I worked for a bookstore for a short time, I never recall anyone buying any philosophy books either. So it seems weird to me that the section is so selective given it doesn't seem to have much demand, yet seems to be purposeful selected to support one view. I can see why in a majority Christian society why people would make Epicureanism hard to find even on accident, but what surprises me is if that is the case, why is there always Nietzsche?

    I think that's a very perceptive comment Btandenoz. I don't think it's the Christian element that is making those selections - more the philosophy establishment - and it seems to me it's generally possible to find Marcus Aurelius and sometimes others on Stoicism.

    I can always find Marcus (often 3-4 versions of Meditations) and Epictetus in any bookstore so far. If Epicurus is suppressed despite being capable of offering more utility to human life, and if it is because he is disagreeable to the popular world view, then surely Nietzsche must be more so. Unless, the only reason I can think of, Nietzsche is protected by being eccentric and unclear. I wonder if Nietzsche has been safe despite being many times more disagreeable to the popular world view, because his conclusions are not nearly as clear in his writings as Epicurus. If so, the conclusion would be that if you intend to write philosophy that is against the popular world view, it is better that implied with hidden meanings and not fully clear. Adding an obstacle of work in comprehension seems to be a safety net to keep only the readers willing to go deep enough, to gain a true understanding of the works meaning. Since Nietzsche seems so difficult to understand, I cannot imagine an equivalent work for "Gateway to Nietzsche" where someone slyly tried to simplify then undermine, most likely to gain status by strengthening the values of the popular world view to the current majority. But this is only my guess. It could also be that Nietzsche continues to stick around because the current intellectual / academia community likes to read him as a status symbol while not agreeing or understanding what he is saying.

    I think a lot of the commercial appeal is 1 "Thus Spake Zarathustra" is a cool name, and (2) there's a market who want to say that they have read the philosopher who said "God is dead."

    No doubt the people who are specialists or work hard to understand it eventually figure out what he is saying, but I personally don't know any educated layman who can credibly say that they have read "Thus Spake Zarathustra" and understand what it is about.

    There's a coolness factor to things like "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" that's about as far as most people get.

    Which is sort if in contrast with Kant whose writing style comes across to most people as not cool but impenetrable.

    Quote from Brandenoz

    Nietzsche continues to stick around

    It's the moustache.

    Quote from Cassius

    I think a lot of the commercial appeal is 1 "Thus Spake Zarathustra" is a cool name, and (2) there's a market who want to say that they have read the philosopher who said "God is dead."

    Quote from Cassius

    There's a coolness factor to things like "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" that's about as far as most people get.

    Agreed on those, too.

    You can buy Nietzsche and have him on your bookshelf and make people think you're countercultural.

    The more I think about it I can't remember the last time I read a popular article on "What Thus Spake Zarathustra Means To Me." :)

    Not faulting Nietzsche here - just agreeing with the basic observation that he is always being cited but few have any idea why beyond a couple of basic slogans.

    I'll bet that reading assignments partially inform Barnes & Noble sales.

    If you study philosophy, you'll probably be requested to purchase a copy of Thus Spake Zarathustra at some point in your education. Like we discussed in another thread, I never heard the name "Epicurus" mentioned once in my entire, formal education (part of which was Philosophy in college).

    I think that applies to whatever Academia considers to be "the classics".

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