Posts by philosofer123

Eikadistes, thank you so much for your detailed, thoughtful post!

Regarding ultimate responsibility impossibilism, one can have proximate control without ultimate control. That is, one can choose to follow the advice in the latter part of my document while understanding that one's choice can be fully expressed as a function of factors (such as one's genes and upbringing) that are entirely outside of one's control.

Regarding moral nihilism, following the advice in the latter part of my document does not require the existence of moral facts. In fact, such advice is based on one's desires and interests, whereas moral facts, if they existed, would be independent of one's desires and interests.

Hi Kochiekoch! Thank you for your comment. I am glad that you like my document.

Yes, my view on the harmfulness of death does indeed diverge from the Epicurean view. That said, I believe that the particular types of harm caused by one's death are nothing to fear, for reasons discussed on page 4.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional feedback or questions.

Joshua, thank you for reading and making suggestions.

I do not meditate regularly, despite recommending meditation several times in my document. It is the most significant piece of advice in the document that I have not yet implemented.

Cassius, thank you for the thoughtful critique.

Please note that the argument in the document for ultimate responsibility impossibilism does not require determinism. That is, the argument works regardless of whether determinism is true, and I am agnostic on whether determinism is true. Also, I believe that ultimate responsibility impossibilism strongly promotes peace of mind, as discussed on page 6.

Regarding the Epicurean take on negative hedonism, how do you think Epicurus would respond to my argument for negative hedonism on pages 4 to 6?

Thank you for taking a look, Cassius.

I agree that most anyone would benefit from such an exercise. However, I have not been able to find any contemporary documents like my own--guides to living well that contain a metaphysics, an ethics and a set of practices, all supported by philosophical arguments. Are you aware of any?

It is my guide to living well.

You may find a brief summary and a link to the full document here: http://philosofer123.wordpress.com

Cassius, how do you interpret the following passage from Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus?:

"So when we say that pleasure is the goal we do not mean the pleasures of the profligate or the pleasures of consumption, as some believe, either from ignorance and disagreement or from deliberate misinterpretation, but rather the lack of pain in the body and disturbance in the soul."

Is this not a description of katastematic pleasure, and an attempt to distinguish it from kinetic pleasure? And if so, does it not show that katastematic pleasure is of paramount importance in Epicurean ethics?

By way of introduction, I am a 46-year-old retiree living in Southern California with my wife and 11-year-old son. I began reading philosophy in earnest in 2006. I was exposed to Epicureanism soon thereafter, reading Epicurean Ethics by Peter Preuss, which became one of my favorite books of all time. By 2008-2009, I found myself gravitating toward certain philosophical positions, and I wrote the first draft of my "philosophy of life" in early 2010. Since that time, I have been refining the document (which may be found at http://philosofer123.wordpress.com) and doing my best to live according to it. Living my philosophy has been very personally beneficial, and I consider myself to be a happy person. My philosophy is heavily influenced by Epicureanism, but also by other traditions such as Stoicism and Buddhism, as well as by modern philosophical arguments.

Cassius, thank you for your frank and honest feedback. You have pointed out some areas in which I may not be in full agreement with Epicurus. Please feel free to provide counterarguments or refutations of any arguments in my document.

Over the past decade, i have formulated my philosophy of life. While it is not purely Epicurean, it is broadly Epicurean in character. It is 13 pages, written in outline format. A very brief summary and link to the full document may be found here:

http://philosofer123.wordpress.com

Constructive feedback is welcome.