Posts by Matt
Listen to the latest Lucretius Today Podcast! Episode 226 is now available. We begin (with the help of Cicero's Epicurean spokesman) the first of a series of episodes to analyze the Epicurean view of the nature of the gods.
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It’s interesting that the pendulum swings both ways for the adversaries of Epicurus. The Platonists, Stoics, Eastern philosophers, and religionists at one end of the spectrum that hold sway over much of society/religion and at the other end a malignant secular technological nihilism that hides behind the scenes attempting to convince the world that since life ends at death, there is no point in any meaningful philosophy but rather live in an artificial technological world in isolation while getting minor dopamine dumps every so often. As bad as the former are…the pantheist, virtue seekers and religious zealots…who have held sway for 2000 years… it’s my opinion that they are no longer the greater threat. The latter is. The former have been seduced by the latter and they too are now firmly under the influence of a very “dark” power that strikes at the heart of all societies that have LAN and Wi-Fi access points and are willing to submit their lives to technological progress.
This is a new axial age. The internet is causing old time religion and philosophy of all sorts to slam into each other like a massive particle accelerator. Not to mention the myriad of disinformation and other monstrously hostile platforms and agents that exist out there that are meant to deceive us (and future generations) just for the sake of it.
It is my opinion that this is the current war. In this new world of the internet all the “black mold” in the walls that exist in religion other idealistic philosophies are on full display and are ready for massive criticism. Many of these ideologies are losing credibility. But in the vacuum what will replace them? The Church of Meta? The Synagogue of Instagram? The Temple of TikTok? I’m only half kidding…but the reality is that the artificial world of the internet has manifested itself in the real world and has taken hold.
How to fight…use the Canon. As the dear late Amrinder Singh once created a meme of the Canon being likened to a weapon “cannon”. We need to use the Canon to appeal to others who are lost and have doubt. Perhaps more Epicureans will spring up. This is the time to spread the word of Epicurean Philosophy.
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No unfortunately, I only know of the Greek subtitled version now. It would be great if the original can be found.
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A truly solid production.
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I wanted to plug this old video I narrated, written by Cassius and translated by Elli.
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It’s very much worthwhile and a huge help for the Garden. ☺️
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Too late! Bullet downrange Don
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When dealing with friends, family and even philosophical adversaries alike, it is sometimes important to employ parrhesia. This doesn’t mean that we use it unnecessarily but rather with prudent judgment.
Parrhesia is coupled with suavity, suavity can help make the “bitter medicine” go down. But many times it is important to be frank about certain matters to avoid confusion.
Say for instance you know that a person’s cherished beliefs or behaviors will lead them into danger or error, is it better to obfuscate the situation by non-confrontational speech? Or would you be direct? Depending on the immediacy of danger you may need to be very direct. Coupling parrhesia with suavity will help this situation in that explaining that though the discussion may be direct and harsh, you do this because you “care for or love” the person involved and you let them know this fact.
Again we don’t use parrhesia all the time and for every situation. We do however use it often against antagonistic philosophical adversaries. In this realm suavity is still recommended to preserve a person’s standing and perception, however it’s not required. If an adverse person continues to harangue you with their position, you have every right to be “frank” with them. This is why it is again to have prudent judgement in that you know which battles to get into and what hills you are willing to die on. Many arguments are not fruitful and not worth the energy and will only be unpleasant. But there are times that an Epicurean will run up against a staunch religionist, stoic or any myriad of believer in other philosophies and that Epicurean will need to defend their position.
Going head first into a fight with stoics, Buddhists, Vedantists, Islamists, etc. isn’t wise especially if you are the one in the minority, but sometimes it can be a good way to spread Epicurean thought among those who have never heard of Epicurus. But slogging it out online isn’t usually fruitful and the effort will be wasted.
Just like the ancient world, the modern world is not always friendly and pleasant place. There are always people that will hate your philosophy for what it represents, it’s been this way for over two millennia. It’s critical to know how and when to defend it. Be brave, be wise and use prudent judgement. Parrhesia is a hard fought freedom use it well!
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Absolutely! Thank you for responding to my thread. 😄
I hope to chat more with you.
-Matt
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People can hold all sorts of beliefs, many of which are irrational. If beliefs are innocuous so be it…but as we all well know, many people who hold certain false beliefs about reality cause distress for the rest of society as we see very often today with all sorts of false beliefs spewing forth from the internet.
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I agree with what you say, however, I personally feel that a person pedaling a philosophy such as the multitude of commercial forms of stoicism and all sorts of Intelligent Design theories that exist out there…especially those who profit from them are charlatans. The sheer number of books and merchandise pedaled by megalomaniac scammers are a huge issue in my opinion. Holding a belief in private and selling a belief to the public is very different.
The trilemma in the popular form that we see it was originally formulated by the apologist Lactantius, writing against Epicurus.
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After having had an in-depth discussion about Buddhism and Taoism with someone (and why I absolutely have no use for either of those concepts), the discussion dovetailed into pantheism. This caused me to want to do a brief evaluation of the more stoic pantheistic view of the divine.
First, let me say that it is my opinion that pantheism is pointless and indefensible. The concept of an immanent deity or universal logos is meaningless if the being itself is “indifferent” and supposedly rational. Other than giving aesthetic anthropomorphic qualities to macrocosmic processes in the universe, assigning divinity to the whole aggregate of the universe has no particular value. Since there is no evidential proof of a universal mind working behind the scenes and since this being doesn’t intercede on behalf of anyone and is not an arbiter of right and wrong, good or bad, righteousness or evil etc. there is no practical reason to assume that any sort of identification of the universe as deity has any value. If the universe is all together indifferent and nothing ever changes that (other than what we as human beings assign to what we consider good and evil) then stating that the universe is God and that God works for the “good” of all simply isn’t true and anyone pedaling that as true is a liar. An indifferent God does not care about virtue as much as it doesn’t care about evil acts.
This is just for the crowd that like to vaguely consider the universe as some sort of universal mind… From a generic stoic perspective. It really becomes much much worse for pantheism when a person decides that the god is also a moral god.
Because you now have an immanent being bearing witness to all forms of iniquity and horror that appear in nature. A pantheistic god can never be a moral god in the universe that we live in. Such a concept is absolutely indefensible. For all the evils both natural and human made, this deity is both witness and the actor of evil, because it is immanent and yet still cannot affect any change the being cannot be considered a “god” nor can it ever be considered “good” because it allows evil to happen to it and itself acts in evil ways.
Pantheism, especially moral pantheism is in my opinion reprehensible. I take more stock in the idea of a deistic or agnostic theistic approach, but again even in that realm assigning the term “good” or “righteousness” to any being that allows evil to prosper while never interceding is also a serious dilemma.
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Speaking of Santa Claus…
Before the Coca-Cola rebranding of Santa, he appeared as a tall thin bearded man known under various names. One of the most notable is Father Christmas. In pre-Christian pagan times the Yule season was celebrated by various peoples and the patron of this time of year was the Yule Father, Jölföthr…aka Odin or Woden. Known to associate with elves and other spirits he would ride through the sky at night on an eight legged flying horse. Not dissimilar to eight flying reindeer. One of which is etymologically related to Thor or Donar…Donner/Donder “Thunder.”
Other than the gift giving aspect of the very different St. Nicholas, Santa Claus has far more in common with the magical Odin who reigns over the magical realm of Asgard. It seems just like in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, Mr. Wednesday (Odin) has rebranded himself and has made himself relevant through the ages. 🎅🏻🎅🏻
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I love my online Epicurean community and friends. I really wish I could be more active, I have such a desire to be out striking blows for Epicurus throughout the year. Maybe 2022 will be different, but who knows. All I know is that my chance swerve into the Garden almost a decade ago has enriched my life and I want to always give back and validate how much this movement and community means to me.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Good Yule and Peace and Safety!
I’ll try to swing online here and drop in tomorrow and the next day.
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Right there is never going to be consensus on this point so it makes little sense to worry about differences in position so long as the core implications are protected.
I feel this is true…there’s a special kind of worry or concern that simply emanates from debates about this subject and frankly whatever “Epicurean” conclusions a person has should suffice without causing themselves mental anguish. It dovetails off the “do not fear god” principle in that worrying excessively about what Epicurus meant can also get quickly out of hand. Like all things, prudent thought is important in how deep we dive.
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Very lovely house! I feel like Hansel and Gretel would have difficulty restraining themselves from indulging in a house that might look like that. 😁
I have a couple of oversized gingerbread man kits that I’m going to do soon. I’ll post my terrible decorating skills here!
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I’ve been drinking brandy and cognac these last couple of months usually mixed with cider. In autumn and winter when the weather gets colder, I typically switch to hard cider and various Irish and Scotch whiskies. In the summer I typically drink sangria with vodka or tequila. I’ll drink beer, but it’s infrequent. Usually it needs to be a craft beer of sorts.
As far as wine goes I’ll do dry reds like Cabernet and Malbec. And of course if mead is available I’ll have a glass. 🥃🍷
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Absolutely! It’s interesting to take a step back and think about the traditions that really give me a pleasurable feeling. Living in New England in the cold weather, I derive pleasure from wood fires burning, decorated fir trees, candle lit windows, the smell of pine, cinnamon and peppermint. The gathering of friends and family at meals and the imbibing of spiked cider and nog. These particular aspects are in no particular way Christian, but for me make up a significant aspect of the holiday that I look forward to.
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Since the time I joined the online Garden (which is coming up to a decade) and started learning about Epicurus, I made a connection with why I believe Christmas really is a deeply Epicurean holiday. Especially from a secular perspective. The 25th of December (rooted in the Germanic Yule and Roman Saturnalia festivals) was a time of merriment during the dark days of winter. Lights and decorations abound and people prepare for a gathering of family and friends to exchange gifts and eat sumptuous food. The experiences are explicitly rooted in pleasure. From the time a person is a child the pleasures associated with this time of year are absolute evidence of the Epicurean position that pleasure is the driving force behind why humans do anything and why many of us look forward to gatherings with friends and family.