Epicurean Meetings and Conventions
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Blog Articles
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A Link From Ancient to Modern Greece – Liantinis' “Gemma”
Cassius Amicus 07-8-2017 0 Comments
…This is a tardy call to attention of a translation of an important Greek work by Dimitris Liantinis, prepared by a participant of the Epicurean Philosophy Facebook group, Yiannis Tsapras). Liantinis can be dense to read, but he falls generally into the Nietzschean tradition with commentary that is often consistent with Epicurus (though I see Epicurus is cited only a few times here). Liantinis had
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Another Important Step Toward Correcting the Record On Epicurus and Living A Better Life Today - Haris Dimitriadis' Epicurus and the Pleasant Life.
By Cassius Amicuson July 6, 2017
July 6, 2017 - I hope to come back to this review and add more detail, but I have now finished reading the book and I don't want to let more time go past without adding my commentary. There are very few books available which convey an accurate and positive summary of Epicurean philosophy and its
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"When the Gospel of Minimalism Collides With Daily Life"
New York Times: ".... But those who have tried the minimalist way have found that it’s not always as satisfying as design websites and tiny-house blogs insist. For some people, purging did not bring Shangri-La. Like most things, living minimally is more complicated than it may seem. In fact, some people found that their compact homes and minimalist manifestoes came with different challenges, and that the trade-offs were not always
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"On Epicurean Extremes" - at the Menoeceus Blog
"On Epicurean Extremes" Epicurean Philosophy is a subtle one. Its meant to be a guide to life, and since human existence is a really complex issue, the philosophy has to be as well. There are very few black-and-white issues in the system. It's not even a question of grays. Epicurean Philosophy is a rainbow. On the surface, things seem rather easy. Pleasure, good; Pain, bad. But... and there is always a but... but almost immediately, questions
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06/28/17 This is just a reminder that an "index" to major posts at the Epicurean Philosophy Facebook page is available here at the EF Wiki. Due to space and time constraints this list does not include every post, but is intended to catch posts with significant original content, and especially those where the discussion goes into detail about a point that might be useful for reference later. If you happen to see a post missing that you would like to see added, just let Cassius know by email
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Epicurean Basics (Discussion of the Article At the Epicurus Facebook Page)
Epicurean philosophy is best known for its advocacy of “Pleasure” as the guide to life. Epicurus taught that Nature endows humans (and all animate beings) with a faculty of perceiving feelings either of pleasure and pain. There is no natural faculty for directly perceiving “good” and “bad,” “right” and “wrong,” “holy” and “evil,” or even “indifferent.” The only guide to living with
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06/21/17 - The following is excerpted from two posts on the Facebook Group:
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I continue to believe that formulations of ataraxia that imply that passivity (all we have to do is suppress pain) is sufficient are overly broad and play into the hand of stoic thinkers, needlessly ceding ground to them that is not theirs to claim. In a total quantify of experience, suppressing pain does not magically equate to pleasure itself without further action, else death would be the equivalent of the best life. -
06/20/17 - In order to provide maximum flexibility and ease of use in documenting core materials, content is being moved from the Epicureandocs.com website over to the EpicureanFriends Wiki. Epicureandocs.com will remain online and the existing content will remain available, but primary links should be moved over to the Wiki website where the most recent updates will be available. If anyone has any issues with format or usability of the Wiki format, please let me know.
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06/20/17 Peace and Safety For Your Twentieth of June: Haris Dimitriadis’ “Epicurus And the Pleasant Life”
Peace and Safety to the Epicureans of today, no matter where you might be – Happy Twentieth!This twentieth of June brings us to the edge of seeing the release of a major new aid in the spread of Epicurean philosophy in the modern world: Haris Dimitriadis’ new book “Epicurus and The Pleasant Life – Living By The Philosophy of Nature.”
As of this writing I have seen only
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Recent Articles From Our EpicureanFriends Blogs
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…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
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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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