Bryan thanks very much for this! I was interested primarily in the text, though I'm sure the commentary is valuable as well.

Thanks also to you, Don, for the WorldCat link. Possibly some options there.

Hello Robert, the book can be purchased here:
https://bibliopolis.it/shop/on-choices-and-avoidances/

Most of it is commentary and the translation only runs a few pages:

"It is fair that we speak against the rest of people who have a contrary opinion about…

FWIW: 2 editions in 83 libraries

https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/52572448

Hello! Here I am, four years later, with the same question. Any leads?

Welcome to Episode 285 of Lucretius Today. This is a podcast dedicated to the poet Lucretius, who wrote "On The Nature of Things," the most complete presentation of Epicurean philosophy left to us from the ancient world.

Each week we walk you through the…

Part II is live. I'll try to finish today, but I do need a break for some good old-fashioned acediosus.

Excellent topic for extended treatment, Joshua. Posting as a thread will allow for comment and suggestions while you are composing and therafter. When it is finished (am I foreshadowing Christianity there?} we will post a full copy to the Articles or…

Prof. Dewitt cites the scriptures of the Christians many times in Epicurus and His Philosophy, but a longer and more focused treatment is in another work entitled St. Paul and Epicurus. Both were published in 1954, and, while a…

Item number 6 on the Getting Started page here at the forum reads as follows;

[…]

We continue to recommend Norman Dewitt's book on Epicurus for many reasons, not least among them being, first, his comprehensive, well-ordered, and systematic…

[…]

Cassius

Thanks for the insight. I just finished reading the last chapter today which, includes how DeWitt describes Plutarch’s attempt to defend himself.[Epicurus & His Philosophy, Chapter XV, p 351)]

[…]

[…]

On Sunday June 15th, let's discuss the letter of Cosma Raimondi, a very good defense of Epicurus that many people don't know about.

Link:

Cosma Raimondi's Letter to Ambrogio Tignosi

[…]

Yes!! I still remember the Winnebago they were riding in! That was aliens, if I remember, too.

PS. I was 11.

[…]

I think this question happens because of religion, which focuses on heaven, and it makes the world and the earth as something less than heaven/God...so "Is this all there is?" is a remnent left by religious thinking.

Also, the "something less than" is…

[…]

Dating myself now, but can't resist mentioning "Escape to Witch Mountain"--much loved at age 7.

Also: Close Encounters of the Third Kind...fun mix of science and pseudo.

On a slightly more serious note, inspired by Joshua 's post, I would offer that the paranormal and pseudoscience feed an answer to the question many seem to ask: Is this all there is?

That question presupposes there's something "less than" about our…

Since we live in the material world in which "telepathy" equals guessing...the usual method, although much slower and basically requiring consent (in comparison), to find out what someone is thinking is to ask them to share their thoughts (lol).

Here's…

[…]

And Don your list didn't even include Dune, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.

Welcome balin !

[…]

The Star Wars/Trek mentions made me think of how prominent supernatural or pseudoscience is ingrained into pop culture. Just off the top of my head...

• Ghost (w Demi Moore)
• The Sixth Sense
• Touched by an Angel (TV)
• Long Island Medium (reality tv)
• The Exorcist

…

[…]

Star Trek... the Vulcan mind-meld

[…]

I blame Star Wars

To be honest I think a big reason why people believe in telepathy and the like is because it sounds cool

[…]

I have to disagree with that conclusion as stated. As we know there were many Roman military men who were Epicurean, and if they had become generals without military exercises I suspect their detractors would point that out. There's also no general…

[…]

I hope that Cicero's slight wafting scent of "stoic" virtue-signaling (put forward as a remedy) will be addressed.

It is one thing to be clear about the true nature of pain: short if severe, but still able to feel other pleasures when weak pain is…

Welcome balin

There is one last step to complete your registration:

All new registrants must post a response to this message here in this welcome thread (we do this in order to minimize spam registrations).

You must post your response within 72 hours, or…

Confirmation bias is a big reason why people retain superstitious or unscientific beliefs.

I did a further Google search and here are the results:

People hold unscientific beliefs, even in the absence of evidence, due to a combination of psychological,…

Oh, man! Take a look at the Noetic Institute's logo!!!



That's disappointing!! Looks like I'll have to change my avatar again.

As an aside, when topics like psychic abilities come up, I think of the Amazing Randi and the One Million Dollar Paranormal…

[…]

Are these fears actually newfound, though? Or are they just modern variations on age-old themes: illness, disadvantage, mortality, the long-term fate of the universe?

Epicurus acknowledges the causal nexus, aka "necessity." Lucretius startles his…

Oh, and by the way Patrikios , I think the actual footnote is this;

image.png

So I don't think those passages that TauPhi pulled for us are relevant to the question.

Edit; I see what happened. In chapter 14 the footnote is 99, not 88;



So the text…

Patrikios , the reference there is to Usener fragment U68, quoted here from Attalus.

[…]

That Epicurus Actually Makes a Pleasant Life Impossible is part of Against Colotes (Adversus Colotem), which in turn is bundled up in a massive collection of…

[…]

Hi, Patrikios,

Your post raises for me the question of whether we might find in Epicureanism something analogous to samadhi in the Indian traditions, perhaps with ἐπιβολή playing a role. Mental focus is central part of vipassana, for instance.…

Another thing that rubs me the wrong way with these sorts of parapsychology investigation groups is that they start with a theory and then try to prove that it’s true - not how science should be carried out. In their minds, telepathy or whatever else…

[…]

Perhaps I’m missing something, but this organisation seems to be the antithesis of the Epicurean worldview: belief in the supernatural. After reading up on them a little, they seem to be widely regarded as pseudoscientific. I’ll also note that…

When ever talking about "science" consider the following, as a tool against pseudo-science (and to spot when science is done "poorly"):

The Baloney Detection Kit, by Carl Sagan:

Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit It's from a very good book, by Carl Sagan:…

Hor., Sat. 1.3.66 = Horace's 'Satires' Book I, Satire III, line 66
Relevant fragment with line 66 highlighted:

[...]
But WE put virtue down to vice's score,
And foul the vessel that was clean before:
See, here's a modest man, who ranks too low
In his own…

If I recall correctly DeWitt thinks that this was a direct jibe at Plato, who held that you have to be able to know geometry in order to be a philosopher. I'll look for a cite for that.

In Norman DeWitt's Epicurus and His Philosophy, I found this interesting quote. This is in Chapter XIV: The New Virtues, in the section on Hope. DeWitt quotes Vatican Saying 33.

"The cry of the flesh is not to hunger, not to thirst, not to surfer cold,…

[…]

Robert


Modern science now has tools to better examine and correlate mental states with our feelings, using enhanced bio-feedback tools.


There is an interesting organization that is conducting rigorous research into the sphere of noetics. The…

Very relevant to this are those parts of the Letter to Herodotus and Lucretius that point out that those who learn a little, but don't fully understand the nature of things, can be worse off than those who didn't even start - meaning that you need the…

Further thoughts on the original question: "What fears does modern science remove?'

Modern science can usually diagnose diseases so that you can know if you have a terminal illness or something curable...and so in that way can sometimes reduce anxiety.

…

[…]

First and foremost I'd say that Epicurus would say to take heart in looking at the truth without sugar-coating it, and that we can be grateful for the good things that we do have. Then he'd say that the way things are are the result of specific…

For ease of reference, here's the post above with the 1739 information and texts link:

RE: What if Kyriai Doxai was NOT a list? There are textual variations. The book is an edition in Latin and Greek of Diogenes Laertius.

Here's the beginning of that Book…

thanks for that work Don! Do we know anything about the history behind the 1739 version versus the one that is used now? And also is it purely a matter of arrangement or are there significant textual differences too?

Kyria Doxai Comparison Check out the link above. The file was too big to add here as an attachment.

Using the posts above, especially the one on the 1739 text with 44 "doctrines," I've composed a spreadsheet comparing the various texts that contain…

This sheet grew out of the interest to understand Kyriai Doxai ( Principal Doctrines ) as a text and not a "list." The fact that the 1739 text has 44 "doctrines" and not 40, plus individual doctrines are scattered in Vatican Sayings and Diogenes' wall…

[…]

I am trying to remember what Epicurean philosophy says about length of life/a complete life.

The need to deal with the fear of death would be the antidote here. Also the need to understand free will and the ability to employ wise choice and avoidance.…

We need to balance it all with the fact that before modern medicine the infant/mother mortality rate and the mortality rate in general was much higher. Also in modern times, more safety for more people (much less warfare, although depending on when/where…