Welcome SpectralOP

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2. A brief statement of your background and interest in Epicurus.
3. A brief statement of what reading you have done on Epicurus so far.
4. A brief statement of what you would like to get out of your participation at the forum.

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Read our Community Standards, Rules, and Terms of Use page in full -- it covers our participation levels, posting policies, the "Not Neo-Epicurean, But Epicurean" statement, and the Terms of Use.

This forum is dedicated to the view that Pleasure -- not any other goal -- is the supreme Epicurean good. This is explained in our specific policy on this topic here.

In addition to our policy position on Epicurus’ supreme good, our Community Standards, Rules, and Terms of Use contain a great deal of additional information about the purpose of EpicureanFriends. We’re strict about these topics because many sincere people find our forum because they are pursuing views related to Buddhism, Stoicism, Minimalism, or Asceticism - views they consider to be Epicurean but which are incompatible with the purpose of EpicureanFriends, where we are committed to classical Epicurean positions.

1. Nothing Comes From Nothing or Goes To Nothing Supernaturally. Everything Happens Naturally From The Motion of Atoms Through Space.
2. The Universe Is Infinite In Size And Eternal In Time And Has No Gods Over It. There Is No Supernatural Design Or Existence Outside Of Nature.
3. True Divinity Is Incorruptible And Blessed. Beings Which Are Divine Do Not Reward Friends And Punish Enemies Or Intervene In Human Affairs.
4. Death Is Nothing To Us. When We Die We Cease To Exist.
5. There Is No Necessity To Live Under the Control of Necessity. There Is No Fate Or Destiny -- We Decide How We Live.
6. He Who Says Nothing Can Be Known Knows Nothing. Knowledge Of Reality Is Possible.
7. All Sensations Are True. Error Is In The Mind And Not The Senses.
8. The Criteria of Truth Are The Sensations, Anticipations, and Feelings. These Natural Faculties Connect Us With Reality.
9. Dialectical Logic And Radical Skepticism Do Not Determine Truth. Reasoning Must Be Grounded In The Perceptions Of Our Natural Faculties.
10. Platonic Ideal Forms, Aristotelian Essences, And Divine Revelation Do Not Exist. All Truth Exists In This World.
11. Happiness is the Goal of Life. A Life of Happiness Is A Life In Which Pleasure Predominates Over Pain.
12. Pleasure Is the Guide, Beginning, And End Of The Happy Life. Pleasure Includes Not Just Bodily Stimulation But All Mental And Physical Experience We Find To Be Agreeable.
13. The Term "Pleasure" Is The Exact Equivalent Of "Absence of Pain." All Experiences Of Life Are Either Pleasurable Or Painful, With No Middle Ground, So The Presence Of One Means The Absence Of The Other.
14. Virtue Is Not Absolute Or An End In Itself. There Is Nothing Good But Pleasure And Nothing Evil But Pain.
15. Life Is Desirable, But Unlimited Time Contains No Greater Pleasure Than Limited Time. A Life Full Of Pleasure Can Never Be More Than Full No Matter How Much Time Is Available.

1. Not "flourishing," "human potential," "self-actualization," or "meaningfulness," but happiness grounded in the feeling of pleasure.
2. Not "absence of pain" as a full statement of the goal of life, but "the Feelings are two, pleasure and pain" and "Pleasure is the beginning and the end of a happy life."
3. Not virtue for the sake of virtue, but virtue as instrumental for the attainment of pleasure.
4. Not "the greatest good for the greatest number," but "Every desire must be confronted with this question: What will happen to me if the object of my desire is accomplished and what if it is not?"
5. Not "humanism," "transhumanism," "individualism," "collectivism," "egoism," "altruism," "social progress," "Marxism," "democracy," "tyranny," or any "one size fits all" political ideal of any kind, but social structure based on friendship which "is formed and maintained by means of a community of life among those who have reached the fullness of pleasure."
6. Not "hard determinism," but "some things happen from necessity, some from chance, and others through our own choice."
7. Not "supernaturalism," but "materialism."
8. Not "supernatural gods," or "life after death," but confidence in a fully material universe and "for those men for whom wisdom is possible, such men may truly live as gods."
9. Not only "short term hedonism," but "it is to continuous pleasures that I invite you."
10. Not "rationalism," but "all reason is dependent upon sensations."
11. Not fearful of death nor careless of losing life, but valuing life for the opportunity of pleasure it brings.

"No Partisan Politics," "No Supernatural Religion," and "No Absolute Virtue"

This forum is dedicated to promoting the philosophy of Epicurus, and not to any partisan political positions whether "left," "right," or "center." The task of rediscovering Epicurean philosophy requires that such discussions be held elsewhere. Posts violating this rule are subject to removal.

Epicurean philosophy firmly rejects the viewpoint that there are any supernatural forces or absolute virtues or Platonic ideals of any kind. Argument which is based on supernatural claims, or "absolute" virtues or ideals of any kind, are in violation of this rule and subject to removal.