Entries of the category „Other Resources“

This listing will be expanded with additional detail over time.

This document has been superseded and will soon be deleted.

The following document summarizes sources in support of each of the four primary points of emphasis at EpicureanFriends.com. This list will continue to be displayed, as it has in the past, as a right-side graphic, but as of 7/7/23 is being added to the main section of the home page for ease of reference on mobile devices.

The sources listed below could be greatly expanded, so please feel free to make suggestions for additions in the comments below. Four items are included so as to keep the list manageable and consistent with the goals of the forum.

Items one, two, and four are self-explanatory. Item three, a direct excerpt from Epicurus' letter to Menoeceus and included as well within Principal Doctrine 3, is included here to emphasize the basis of the Epicurean teaching that "good," "evil," and "virtue" are relative to the feelings of pleasure and pain rather than absolute.

For purposes of inclusion in our regular 20th meetings, the following is a list of prominent Epicureans with notations of their accomplishments. Each month - in addition to Epicurus and Metrodorus - we can remember two others so that each year we rotate through the complete list. The goal for each month would be:

1. To memorialize Epicurus and Metrodorus every month as per the directions in Epicurus' will.
2. To memorialize two other prominent Epicureans from a list of 24 names that everyone ought to know.
3. To memorialize one from a list of "lesser-known" Epicureans about whom we may not know much but which we know enough to make for an interesting mention.

To prepare this we can use Nate's list of "Epicurean Philosophers."

Full discussion thread for this project.

Understanding Epicurus takes considerable effort, but not because the doctrines are always difficult. One problem is that Epicurean philosophy has been heavily criticized for more than two thousand years, and most of the articles and commentary that have been produced over that time are by people who are critical of it and have no desire to present the philosophy clearly and fully.

The following table of major issues within Epicurean philosophy are an attempt to help you navigate those confusing waters. A longer narrative blog post on the topic can be found here. The issues listed in the table are frequent topics of discussion on the internet, and this table lets you know that there are at least two sides to each of these questions. From at least as far back as the time of Cicero, opponents of Epicurus have employed the tactic of taking particular Epicurean passages out of context and torturing them into narrow conclusions that appear - and are - absurd. Opponents of Epicurus have no interest in providing the full context and showing how the pieces fit together, and as a result Epicurean philosophy is portrayed as confusing at best and incomprehensible at worst. It is therefore helpful for you to know as soon as possible in your reading of Epicurus that you are going to run into these issues so you can be ready for them. Posts and articles on the issues listed here are particularly welcome, and articles on these topics are prime candidates for the "Featured Articles" on the Home page of this website.

It would also be helpful to do another chart along the lines of "Where Epicurean Philosophy Disagrees with Other Philosophies" but that is not the focus of this chart. This one focuses on controversies within and among commentators on Epicurean philosophy about what Epicurus taught, not whether Epicurus was right or wrong.

Edits and contributions to this table by Level 3 or above participants at EpicureanFriends.com are welcome. If you attempt to edit and do not have access, please message a moderator.

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Preferably, the content of books on the list should be philosophy, science, history, self-help or non-trivial fiction, but there are no restrictions on the content except for spam, partisan politics and material which is restricted by law in some countries such as pornography, calls to commit a crime, or political propaganda of any kind (which is beyond the scope of the EpicureanFriends.com community rules of discussion).

Editing the Lexicon