Physiologia (The Study of Nature)

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  • The study of nature. Epicurus valued it not for its own sake but because it removes the fears, above all of the gods and of death, that stand between us and a pleasant life.

    Greek φυσιολογία (physiologia)

    1. Key Texts

    Quote from Epicurus, Principal Doctrine 11

    Were we not upset by the worries that celestial phenomena and death might matter to us, and also by failure to appreciate the limits of pains and desires, we would have no need for natural philosophy. (tr. Long & Sedley)

    Quote from Epicurus, Principal Doctrine 12

    There is no way to dispel the fear about matters of supreme importance, for someone who does not know what the nature of the universe is but retains some of the fears based on mythology. Hence without natural philosophy there is no way of securing the purity of our pleasures. (tr. Long & Sedley)

    2. See Also

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