WE Must Free Ourselves

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WE Must Free Ourselves

Principle Doctrine 58 / pastel painting on carton by Raphael-Raúl...
...This doctrine resonates particularly with me as I have come to find over time that less and less participation in the everyday affairs of the world, like endless invitations to meaningless gatherings, and no more time given to useless debates on politics, frees me to have more time for thinking, creating, reading on art history, world history, and world philosophies. But over the years, especially Epicurean philosophy, as its focus is on the immediate nature of my life in society at this moment. As well as the wonderful emphasis on enjoying the tranquil and simple pleasures that life provides with little effort and expense, such as taking my watercolor sketchbook and some cold black grapes and watching the blazing sunset over the shimmering blue-green marina, and later lying on the soft, fragrant green grass with a universe of ideas to ponder. And all this is only three streets away from my home-studio, so simple, so easy, so natural.
...What are your thoughts on this matter:?:

Comments 6

August 23, 2025 at 5:44 PM

Excellent pastel work, Raphael! I love it. <3

I recently did some digging into those two points of criticism. Here's what I came up with:

"We must liberate ourselves, out of the prison [built] upon circular [proceedings] and political [affairs]."

Ἐκλυτέον ἑαυτοὺς· ἐκ τοῦ περὶ τὰ ἐγκύκλια καὶ πολιτικὰ δεσμωτηρίου

  1. EΓΚΥΚΛΙΑ or ἐγκύκλια (enkúklia), meaning “circular“, “recurrent“, “revolving“, or “ordinary“, refers to both (1) the “gossip” or “daily affairs” that would have been “common to all citizens“, and elsewhere, (2) enkúklia is employed in the context of ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία (énkúklios paideía) an allegedly “‘well-rounded’ education” intended for aristocratic children in an effort to prepare them for civic obligations. In this context, the “rearing”, training”, “education”, and “upbringing“ is criticized by Epíkouros as being a “circular” system of “programming” designed to indoctrinate aristocratic youths with traditional, mythic rhetoric, instilling them with confusion and anxiety. ↩︎
  2. ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΑ or πολιτικὰ (politikà) refers to troublesome obligations that are “political” in nature. Therein, Epíkouros was not issuing a prohibition against civic engagement, which he elsewhere encourages, but rather, was cautioning students against pursuing a career in political office. Holding office, albeit it through democracy or autocracy often relies upon either “a lot of money” made “through an unscrupulous means” or “servility to the mob or authority“, neither of which are calming, nor conducive to the goal of the Good Life. ↩︎

I definitely feel this, especially as it relates to the dialectic, and especially as that relates to politics. When you eliminate superficial nonsense and shallow exchanges from your life, most political conversations become untenable.
August 23, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Author


Ekadistes, thank you for writing to me about the painting I created to illustrate Principle Doctrine 58, "We Must Free Ourselves from the Prison of Everyday Affairs & Politics" ...The question about what figure actually represents "Epicurus" in Raphael's "School of Athens" and also doubts about a few others has been a debate that has gone on for a few centuries. But, yes, based on visual clues, the crown of leaves around the head of the figure that has been named Epicurus by many can be the result of associating the Epicureans with wine drinking. But the plump, chubby face does not match the angular, strong features of the busts we have of Epicurus. So, from visual identification alone, the man in the yellow chiton, right of Plato, has more of the strong angular facial features of the busts we have of Epicurus. It is not an exact representation of the bust's likeness, but it has a strong resemblance. Raphael may have arrived at capturing this likeness by studying a bust of Epicurus at the Vatican. Unearthing ancient Roman works had been going on already, informally, with farmers plowing the fields, digging wells, and unearthing underground storage rooms for their harvest, and formally by humanists a century before. Raphael was known to be an enthusiast of exploring grottos, in search of visual inspiration and artifacts. One of the theories of his untimely death is due to the bad air in those grottos, coupled with his having an overly active libido, thus weakening him, which, in combination, could have caused his early demise. The Vatican, a labyrinthine treasure trove of art and ancient artifacts, which I have many times visited, could have had the bust of Epicurus. Suppose the Vatican did not have a bust of Epicurus for Raphael to study and work from. In that case, Raphael must have imagined the likeness of Epicurus, and this would be a miracle in itself, which, for the Vatican, that rightly would not be out of place.

...Also, thank you for your fascinating breakdown of the original Greek
concerning the appropriateness of the translation "Every day affairs", which I will review with more time.
August 23, 2025 at 3:09 PM

This is beautiful, Raphael. As a beginner interested in (primarily abstract) art with lots of texture, it would be a pleasure to “talk shop” with you some time. Do you have a version without the text?
August 23, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Author

Hello Rolf, thank you for your comments and yes, I paint abstractly as well and use texture in my paintings, let's talk.
August 23, 2025 at 2:54 PM

That is very impressive artwork Raphael! Some of the Greek experts here might have some suggestions on whether "everyday affairs" has the right touch, but that's a minor point. You are very talented!
August 23, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Author

Thank you, Cassius, for your positive comments on my painting illustrating Principal Doctrine 58.

Yes, Eikadistes, posted a fascinating breakdown of the original Greek,
which puts in question the O'Connor translation of Principal Doctrine 58 in his book "The Essential Epicurus".

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