In case anyone wants some background on The Odyssey, also mentions the lying…
A fun half hour summary of The Odyssey.
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics
Homer: The Odyssey
Also available on podcast apps
Why the key to losing weight may be enjoying your food
I'm not interested in losing weight but the research points to relationship between pleasure and food that is interesting. Some quotes below.
"But research points to the idea that to maintain a healthier weight, we shouldn't only focus on what we eat – but our mindset around food. In fact, there are health benefits to finding pleasure in eating, precisely because the expectation of what we've eaten goes on to shape how hungry we are."
"This shows that health labels can reduce the expectation of experiencing pleasure, meaning foods labelled as healthy could leave us feeling less satisfied."
"Reducing ultra-processed foods will also help with that as they do not provide the nutrients we need, and can leave us wanting more. We can do this with a "mindset of indulgence" too, Crum argues. This means ensuring your body is getting exactly what it needs rather than focusing on restraint. "Trust yourself and your body to be hungry for the right things at the right time," Crum says."
This is an alternative to the triangle format for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Maybe Basic Necessities, Friendship, Prudence or specific items from canon in the boat and the sail or multiple sails could be other aspects.
I am planning to attend. Thanks for hosting and background info in the thread.
I found this introduction to Epicurean Philosophy on Khan Academy and didn't find a reference to it on the forum. Not perfect, for instance his description of Epicurus seems a little ascetic but overall seemed like something short and easy to point interested friends to.
I looked at this recently when I was poking at the Forum Navigation Map. I started with the wikipedia defintion of Dialectic - "dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argumentation." It also notes ""dialectic" owes much of its prestige to its role in the philosophies of Socrates and Plato". So it's not surprising that Epicurus rejects a major tool of philososphers he disagreed with. Also as I work through Cicero's On Ends through the podcast it's easy to see how this method can be abused since it allows the author to argue both sides, control what information is included and what's not and present false information. Dialectic logic is not like the forms of logic/reason I learned in school - proofs, induction etc. or that I think we use in daily life such pros and cons or analogy or cause and effect. What I can recall of Epicurus' view is several references to being wise and the end of the Letter to Pythocles, "give yourself up to the study of....and also of the criteria of truth and of the feelings, and of the purpose for which we reason out these things."
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I've just started reading Lucretius, the Martin Ferguson Smith translation. There were two items in his footnotes to the opening that your post seem to align with. "She (Venus) also personifies pleasure, the attainment of which, according to Epicureans, is the object of human life." and "... reinforce Lucr.'s view that, just as Venus is the bringer of life, light and clam into the physical world, so Epicurus is the bringer of light and calm into the spiritual world." When I read it I thought of "calm" as the "appreciation of being alive-and-not-in-pain kind of pleasure" you mention.
I would like to attend. Is there a specific link to use?
Thanks, Lowri
Thanks Cassius. I don't have any messages in my spam folder. I've received 7 notifications since signing up including one yesterday (Saturday) from The Letter to Menoikeus translation... thread. Please send the messages your getting and I'll try to sort it out.
I have conflicts that make it hard to make the Sunday zooms but I try to read the notes and some of the forum. I did notice that now that I'm aware of Epicuris, that even as a newbie, I am noticing it in culture and in my life. I wanted to share one video I saw, youtube channel, Hank Green, vlogbrothers - Title - So, I've got cancer, @ 9:25 Hank talks about friendship in a very epicurean way that I found inspiring about needing friends and being a friend and is worth looking up.
Spoiler - Hank has a very treatable form of cancer and expects to make a full recovery.
Hi, I’m reading Emily Austin’s book, just started the DeWitt book and listened to some podcasts. I’ve dappled in philosophy over the years including stoicism but nothing felt helpful. However, I’ve already found Epicurious inspiring and useful. I look forward to learning and practicing more.
