Blog Articles in Category “Ethics”

Haris Dimitriadis is author of “The Pleasant Life – The Philosophy of Epicurus.” Born in Greece, Haris studied Mathematics at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki as well as Economics at the London School of Economics. His career spanned the business and banking industries and has settled into retirement. Through climbing the corporate ladder he found it brought little peace of mind and turned his attention to the philosophy of Epicurus. Haris can be contacted through his

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As much as Epicurus advised against devoting life to politics, it appears that the politicians cannot return the favor and leave Epicurus alone. On both left and right, partisans of every cause except that of Epicurus himself feel compelled to enlist Epicurus as a saint or a demon, for or against their own preferred political position. The result can leave us feeling like Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade, facing volleys not of cannons but of false accusations against Epicurus from…

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From Diogenes Laertius, Book 10 (The Biography of Epicurus), we read something that may lead us again to revisit the matter of the apparent chronic ill health of Epicurus, and how the great philosopher confronted and dealt with serious bodily health issues.

Here is the excerpt by Diogenes Laertius: “Timocrates, the brother of Metrodorus, in his treatise entitled the Merry Guests, and this Timocrates had been a disciple in his school, though he afterwards abandoned it; and he says that he…

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Inspired by the considerations on the Epicurean friendship of Phillp Mithis in the book "The Ethical Theory of Epicurus - The pleasures of Invulnerability," I want to summarize the thought of Epicurus on friendship, trying to use his own words as much as possible, and adding mine where necessary. I am indebted to Carlo Diano because his thematic collection of Epicurus's maxims was essential. The first Epicurean festival, whose general theme was about friendship, was also very useful. I

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JC:


Hi Cassius. I'm sorry to badger you about this again, but I'm still trying to get my head around the pleasure principle. From my reading, all scholars agree that Epicurus divides pleasure into kinetic and katastematic. Am I right in thinking mainline scholars think Epicurus prized the latter over the former, and that DeWitt didn't? I ask because although mainline scholars I've read equate pleasure with tranquility / absence of pain, they nonetheless encourage the pursuit of positive…

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Epicurean Philosophy or Epicureanism?

In a recent conversation to the Garden of Thessaloniki, a question was raised whether the Epicureans could participate as a party to the political scene of the Country. The friend George Kaplanis replied that this could not be done, because Epicurean philosophy is not an ideology, and as a philosophy is or should be in the background of politics, in the same way that philosophy, although not a science, is in the background of all sciences.

If philosophy…

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“Online Communication With Cassius”

For the 6^th Panhellenic Symposium of Epicurean Philosophy that was held by the Epicurean Gardens of Athens and Thessaloniki, February 2018


1.     (OPENING - TWO MINUTES VIDEO WITH FAVORITE MELODIES)

I wonder how one starts up an online communication and how he can introduce himself...
You Tarzan, me Jane ! Primitive stuff…
You an American, me an Hellene ! Nationalities, countries, races, origins, roots ... tangle!
You Cassius, me Elli. OK, some nicknames…

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PREFACE 1.

We often confuse the issue of the possibility of free will exercising with the issue of its existence. When we are unable to exercise it we say with sloppiness that it does not exist. This "I want but I can’t or I don’t want but I am forced" puts into testing our individual self-esteem. But any coercion and enforcement exists precisely because there is free will and some of the people have the power to exercise it, usually at the expense of the others.

We have extreme and…

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Positive Mental Health And Well-Being - Epicurus's Use Of The Greek Word "EUDAEMONIA"

Hi to all the epicurean friends ,

To a Greek website called as "psychology now. gr" I found an interesting article that I translated into english.

Since 2012 Nordic countries have been ranked steadily as the happiest countries in the world, and there are not just a few times when other countries are often look to them for guidance when it comes to nurturing the well-being of their people. But are the…

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Genetics and Bioethics - A Philosophical Approach - By Christois Yapijakis

Selection_604.pngChristos Yapijakis recently presented a seminar on Genetics and Bioethics about 10 days ago at the University of Cyprus postgraduate program in Biological Sciences. The context of the presentation was the news of the recent gene-edited babies born due to a Chinese scientist.

Please click here for a PDF of the full presentation

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