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Posts by LukeL
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Well hello new community,
I teach upper high school English, and my created curriculum theme is exploring the question how ought one to live from many perspectives in the western canon of literature.
My first encounter with Epicurus was while researching how best to teach the different character's perspectives on what makes the good life in Brave New World. I then revisited him while attempting to get to the root of happiness in the protagonist Janie's life in Their Eyes were Watching God. Later, I found the whole point of Candide, satirical ending or not, to be preaching Epicureanism. Admittedly, I have free autonomy to choose which novels and how to teach them, so I am sure I had some inkling of a connection before my realization, but it still struck me as quite unique.
I read Dewitt's "Epicurus and his Philosophy" and Lucretius. I then read Catherine Wilson's How to be an Epicurean, which I found informative, but lacking in its stated purpose, unfortunately.
My viewpoint on life has fluctuated from stoicism when I was young, to new and exciting when I was a young adult, to neo-platonic in my 20s, to much more Epicurean in nature now. I have bought a 10 acre farm an hour away (haven't informed my job yet) and am selling my city house next week, most likely quitting unless they allow me to administrate and teach online, and want to start an Epicurean-lite school. My understanding, shallow as it is, is that Epicurus had more of a control over his school and had a cult of personality. I have given a lot of thought to cults, having grown up in a pseudo-benign one and seeing how controlling our educational system is, and I find that while cults do indeed jump-start movements, I believe they are unethical today, so I will attempt to teach my pupils as much autonomy as possible, including autonomy from me.
Why am I doing this? 1. I feel it will give me an authentic life of contentment through simplicity. 2. I feel that no philosophy is a one-size-fits-all, but that ataxia through community, mental pleasure, and avoiding pain seems to be lacking in today's zeitgeist. 3. It seems that consuming is the order of the day in the western world, from goods to food to media. My weakness is consuming information- I can never have enough of it, and it gives me temporary pleasure at the longtime pain of anxiety and disappointment of not doing what I want to do for myself and others.
TLDR: The core ideas of Epicurus seem to align with what I have learned in life, and I want to teach others about him.
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