This thread is for discussion of the article:
Discussion of Article - "Sextus Empiricus - Introduction From An Epicurean Perspective"
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From the article:
Epicurus classes freedom from disturbance as a pleasure: “Freedom from trouble in the mind and from pain in the body are static pleasures” (DL 10.136). It is part of the pleasure that is “the beginning and end of the blessed life.”
Sextus defines quietude simply as “an untroubled and tranquil condition of soul” (Outlines I.10), and he sets it against pleasure. In his chapter on the Cyrenaics he says that the Sceptic’s End is “‘quietude,’ which is the opposite of their End,” because “the man who positively affirms pleasure to be the End undergoes perturbations” (Outlines I.215). If the two words meant the same thing, Epicurus’s goal would be the opposite of itself. [My bold and underline]
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I recall from past discussions here that, in addition to being a katastematic pleasure, it was also proffered (initially by Don as I recall) that ataraxia is also instrumental to enjoying other pleasures – e.g., that it is difficult to enjoy a good meal if your mind is in turmoil.
Either way, ataraxia is not the end but is one aspect of hedone. And the eudaimonic life is a life of well-managed pleasure (both physical and mental) versus pain (both physical and mental).
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There are a lot of excellent quotations in Sextus Empiricus which I had an idea existed but had never seen in context. The point of this introduction is to organize those and provide links to them to make them easier to read in context. I also added this to a PDF and the links in the PDF resolve to the PDF version, ad that one contains a full set of Bury's footnotes.
