Clear Evidence (Enargeia)

Table of Contents

  • The vividness or self-evidence of what is directly perceived. For Epicurus, clear evidence is the foundation of all knowledge: we reason from what is evident to what is not, and nothing that is evident can be overturned by argument.

    Greek ἐνάργεια (enargeia); Latin evidentia (Cicero)

    1. Key Texts

    Quote from Epicurus, Letter to Herodotus 82

    So we should pay heed to those feelings which are present in us, and to our sensations - universal sensations for universal matters, particular ones for particular matters - and to all self-evidence which is present by virtue of each of the discriminatory faculties. (tr. Long & Sedley)

    2. See Also

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