Posts by Don
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I certainly can't say I disagree with TauPhi 's overall thoughts. It would certainly make for an interesting alternative history novel!
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For reference:
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, ε , ἐπιβολ-ή , ἐπιβολ-ή
Bryan 's description of "focus" seems a good way to think of it. The basic definition in LSJ of "throwing or laying on" gets at that same idea.
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Welcome aboard!
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From one reference librarian to another, welcome aboard. Great introductory story!
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Just as an experiment, I wanted to see how well GPT could automatically break the text into smaller sections and produce a vocab list
That's an impressive start. And that vocab list was generated automatically by ChatGPT? Some of the grammar and definitions are basic, but I'll admit I'm a little stunned, encouraged, and just a little bit intimidated.
PS: Upon further reflection, I still believe you need a human intelligence to interpret, to understand, and to communicate what the texts mean and how to apply them.
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Bryan : You might need interested in these videos:
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And those few ancient images may well have been "riffs" themselves?
Good point. Roman copies of Greek originals.
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It might be useful to remember all the bearded Epicurus images are based on probably 2, maybe 3, statues and maybe a ring or two(?) at most from the ancient world.
I'm disregarding the School of Athens one traditionally with the wreath and the bald one seen on various medieval or Renaissance images.
The modern ones are all jazz riffs on that ancient image.
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Bryan : Yeah, I wasn't impressed with their pronunciation convention. It seemed a little hodgepodge and too "Erasmian."
I was more impressed with this paleography sections.
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Somewhat into the weeds of Ancient Greek, but this paper provides practical applications of learning that language:
Hellēnizein: A Flexible Structure for Teaching Greek to Archaeologists and Ancient Historians (2nd author with E. Parisinou). Milton Keynes, 2004; Liverpool, 2008; Leicester, 2015Hellēnizein: A Flexible Structure for Teaching Greek to Archaeologists and Ancient Historians (2nd author with E. Parisinou). Milton Keynes, 2004; Liverpool,…www.academia.eduBeing able to pick out names and phrases on artifacts in museums is quite rewarding.
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"Elephants, many thousands of which fortify India with an ivory wall " (DRN 2.537)
Is that a metaphor for using elephant-mounted troops in warfare? Like Themistocles interpreting "wooden walls" as ships.
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And, yes, I realize that "down in the weeds" of "pleasure" is the idea that self-sacrifice may be interpreted as personal "pleasure". However, I can certainly tell you that doing what was right, rather than what was pleasurable, was not pleasure in many, many situations (long story with many elements).
From my perspective, that is actually the point. Don't dismiss those weeds too lightly. Are you able or willing to admit to yourself that doing what you felt was "right" was pleasurable to you. Feeling that you did the correct action *was* pleasurable. If you want to say that doing what you felt was right brought you a sense of satisfaction, I can see that. But satisfaction is a type of pleasure in long run.
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It was impressed upon me (by Peripatetics) in college that "flourishing" was the only acceptable definition of εὐδαιμονία. One of the professors of the department described Aristotle as "the smartest person who ever lived."
I'll gladly give Aristotle his due up to a point, but "the smartest person who ever lived." LOL! I think he was more clever than smart, and too clever by half from what I've read.
FYI for anyone interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alasdair_MacIntyre?wprov=sfla1
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I'm more interested in doing something constructive as my core driver.
And "doing something constructive" gives you pleasure, right?
I deny pleasure where pursuing it would not be constructive (e.g. coffee and a glass of wine at dinner are my only drugs). I voluntarily accept pain where it comes necessarily as a consequence of doing something constructive (e.g. vigorous exercise entails some pain).
"And because pleasure is the fundamental and inborn good, this is why not every pleasure is seized and we pass by many pleasures when greater unpleasant things were to result for us as a result: and we think many pains better than pleasures whenever greater pleasure were to follow for a longer time by patiently abiding the pain." -Epicurus, letter to Menoikeus
I don't know. You might be an Epicurean after all.
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I am ready to put my vote for a nice new script for writing English!
For your consideration:
Constructed scripts and languageswww.omniglot.com -
NOTE: I had a philosopher friend, who did his dissertation on the Nicomachean Ethics, who insisted the best rendering of eudaimonia was "flourishing" -- but that strikes me as even more problematic than "happy."
Fully agree. "Flourishing" seems ... wrong? Merriam-Webster defines "flourishing" as
"marked by vigorous and healthy growth; very active and successful."
Your "happy well-being" is better, for sure. I lean more in the direction of "satisfied well-being" or "contented well-being." To be even more literal, I might suggest "to be in good spirits," but that might be taking the linguistic pun too far.
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BrainToBeing , that's a great post! Thanks for sharing your expertise and insights. Dr. Anna Lembke (author of Dopamine Nation) touched on some of the same themes. I like the way you described the relation but difference between nociception and suffering. How would you describe the pain from "painful" memories or similar mental pains? There's no actual nociception going on there, is there? I'm curious for you to expand on the "existential pain" you mentioned in passing.
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Mostly I was reflecting on the issue of "a happy life".
It's a great question, and, in many ways, comes down to "How do you define the word 'happy'?" The word translated as English "happy" in most ancient texts is eudaimonia. I like to translate that as "well-being" instead of "happy." Well-being is kind of a play on the word components of eu-daimonia, but that's into the weeds. "Happy" carries so much semantic baggage in English it can get in the way.
I believe Epicureanism has been challenged as advocating hedonism.
We have discussions on here all the time about Epicurus's "hedonism." Hedonism gets hung with "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" often, but it seems there are different brands. I believe Emily Austin describes Epicurus's philosophy as psychological hedonism, "the view that the ultimate motive for all voluntary human action is the desire to experience pleasure or to avoid pain. Immediate gratification can be sacrificed for a chance of greater, future pleasure."
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