I - The Message of the Epicureans

This page is a work in progress and is in early stages of development! Suggestions are welcomed. Each line is a paraphrase of a line from an ancient text. Cites will be added and each line is being worked into more modern paraphrase, but for the time being cites to the ancient texts for each line can be found at the corresponding location at the NewEpicurean Narrative outline here or the NewEpicurean Fundamentals outline here. At present, the best way to read through the outline is simply to click down each item in the index to the left. Many more hyperlinks will be added in the future. ▸ The Message Of The Epicureans ▸ Epicurus Overcame The Terror Of Religion And Showed Us How To Live According to Nature ▸ The Teachings of Epicurus About Knowledge ▸ Knowledge Is Based On The Senses, Not on Reasoning Alone ▸ Confidence Is Built Step By Step On The Conclusions Established By The Senses ▸ The Teachings of Epicurus About the Nature of the Universe ▸ Nothing Comes From Nothing ▸ Nothing Is Destroyed To Nothing ▸ The Universe As A Whole Has Always Existed, and Will Always Exist ▸ Nothing Has Eternal Independent Existence Except the Elemental Particles ▸ Combinations of Matter and Void Are Perishable And Do Not Last Forever ▸ All That We See Around Us Arises From The Properties And Qualities of Combinations of Particles And Space ▸ The Elemental Particles Are Constantly In Motion ▸ Elemental Particles Have the Capacity To Swerve At No Fixed Place Or Time ▸ The Universe As A Whole Is Boundless ▸ The Universe Is Populated With Life In Other Worlds ▸ In Other Worlds There Are Beings Lower and Higher That Ourselves, Some of Whom Have Attained Immortality and Perfect Happiness ▸ Although We Lack Evidence About The Things We See In The Sky, Many Natural Explanations Are Possible ▸ Knowledge of the Universe Is Gained Naturally, By Intelligent Use of the Images We Receive In the Flow of Elemental Particles ▸ The False Threat Posed By Religion ▸ The Teachings of Epicurus About Nature's Goal For All Life ▸ Life Begins When Our Bodies Are Formed And Ends When We Die - Death Is Nothingness To Us ▸ The Goal of All Living Beings Is to Live Pleasurably ▸ Reject The Argument That Pleasure Is Not the Goal of Life Because Pleasure Has No Limit ▸ Reject The Argument That We Should Pursue Virtue Rather Than Pleasure ▸ Nature Calls All Living Beings to Pursue Pleasure Intelligently ▸ Mental Pleasure And Pain Are More Intense Than That of the Body ▸ In Pursuing Pleasure Intelligently Sometimes We Will Choose Pain ▸ "Fate" Does Not Exist - We Have Much Freedom To Choose Our Path In Life ▸ Life Is Desirable So That We May Live Pleasurably ▸ Wise Men Pursue Pleasure Through Reasoning And Not Through Chance ▸ Wise Men Live According To Their Means And Circumstances ▸ Wise Men Embrace Emotion And Do Not Seek To Suppress It ▸ Life Is Short So It Must Be Used Wisely To Maximize Happiness ▸ Store Up Good Memories To Enjoy When Times Are Bad ▸ Treasure Friendship As Essential To Happiness ▸ Treasure Freedom From the Crowd And Proclaim True Philosophy To Those Who Will Listen ▸ Reject the Argument That There Is Single Absolute Justice And A Single Way For All Men To Live ▸ Treasure Your Community Of Friends And Protect It From Those Who Would Harm You ▸ The Epicureans' Great Commission For Life According to Nature