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Cassius
ThreadApril 4, 2026 at 6:58 PM Welcome to Episode 328 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… -
Cassius
April 4, 2026 at 4:40 PM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.PostIt occurs to me to add here that in some of our physics discussions recently we have had reason to focus on the importance of "emergence" or "emergent qualities" to the nature of the way things are.
Probably friendship and love and the issues you are… -
Joshua
April 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM Replied to the thread Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence.Post[…]
That is a good question! I will try to remember to look into this later today. -
Patrikios
April 4, 2026 at 3:35 PM Replied to the thread Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence.Post -
Martin
April 4, 2026 at 12:17 PM Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.PostWelcome Lamar! -
Eikadistes
April 4, 2026 at 11:10 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.Post[…]
This is a solid observation, and Epíkouros addresses those exact points. In a nutshell, the Garden observes all friendships starting with two individuals providing each other with mutual utility. In the beginning, you're totally right. Friendship can… -
DaveT
April 4, 2026 at 10:17 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.Post[…]
For me, this process does not feel shallow or transactional in a negative sense. First as to the transactional, the positive view is apparent in the old saying: you have to be a friend to have a friend. Is it transactional? In my view, yes it is… -
Cassius
ThreadApril 4, 2026 at 9:46 AM These week we will continue around section 1:305 of Lucretius and explore further the implications of the invisibility of atoms and how we can have confidence in something that is not visible. This week we go over Lucretius' specific examples of how we… -
Kalosyni
April 4, 2026 at 8:26 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.PostWelcome to the forum LAMAR__44 ...here are my thoughts to give some correction and guidance:
[…]
I think that your wording here makes for an incorrect understanding and application -- the meaning of the word "sole" = only. This sets you up for a big… -
Cassius
April 4, 2026 at 8:22 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.PostJust a little more on this (admittedly largely repeating what I already wrote, but for emphasis):
[…]
Consistent with what I wrote about above - there's no problem here in arguing against "hedonism." - I will help you in fact, given that I think it's a… -
Cassius
April 4, 2026 at 8:16 AM Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.PostLamar you have asked a very good question and I set it up as a separate thread here:
Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?
If you have any problems getting access to post in it please let me know. -
Cassius
April 4, 2026 at 8:10 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.PostGood to have you Lamar.
Couple of points:
1 - This is why I don't care to refer to "hedonism" very often. Epicurean philosophy gets placed into that box with certain other groups, but Epicurus is far more subtle than most, and so "hedonism" gets used as a… -
LAMAR__44
April 4, 2026 at 7:49 AM Has solved the quiz Basic Epicurean Ethics.Quiz -
LAMAR__44
April 4, 2026 at 7:27 AM Replied to the thread Is There A "Paradox of Hedonism"?.PostHi Cassius, thanks for welcoming me. I wanted to speak about the paradox of hedonism. This isn’t me arguing against hedonism, but just something I’ve had trouble in resolving and would love to get everyone’s viewpoints here.
Essentially, since we know… -
Cassius
April 4, 2026 at 7:03 AM Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.PostLamar -- Welcome -- please post here as to the subject of the topic and we'll create a full thread in the appropriate place later as needed. Thanks. -
Cassius
April 4, 2026 at 7:02 AM Replied to the thread Welcome Lamar!.PostLamar tells us:
Hi, I’ve been interested in Epicureanism for a while and have been reading
the forums at Epicureanfriends for a while now, but I wanted to create a
post on something that I believe hasn’t been touched on which is why I’m
creating an account… -
Cassius
April 4, 2026 at 7:01 AM Posted the thread Welcome Lamar!.ThreadWelcome LAMAR__44 !
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 24… -
Cassius
April 3, 2026 at 6:26 PM Replied to the thread How "Epicurean" is Diogenes of Oenoanda?.Post[…]
i think this is a misreading if from it you conclude that Epicurus is deprecating mental experience that is not painful as not being pleasure. Everything about us ultimately arises through the body as we do not exist without it. That means anything… -
Kalosyni
April 3, 2026 at 6:13 PM Posted the thread Q & A with "A Few Days in Athens" research article author.ThreadHere is an interesting Q & A, but looks like the main article is behind a paywall.
[…]
You can read the full Q & A here:
https://euppublishingblog.com/2026/01/12/qa-…days-in-athens/ -
wbernys
April 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM Replied to the thread How "Epicurean" is Diogenes of Oenoanda?.Post[…]
I just put that as an option in case others view his hedonism as more crude. I don't really agree but still some people will say it so wanted that as an option.
The only matter I may consider Epicurus a little crude I think is his insistence that all… -
Cassius
April 3, 2026 at 5:35 PM Replied to the thread How "Epicurean" is Diogenes of Oenoanda?.Post[…]
I see Diogenes of Oinoanda as completely orthodox and consistent with Lucretius' tone as to sympathy for "hearts in darkness." And of course Epicurus' whole career and school-building was outward-facing.
And I don't know what you would mean in… -
wbernys
April 3, 2026 at 5:13 PM Posted the thread How "Epicurean" is Diogenes of Oenoanda?.ThreadI recall Eikadistes mentioning how Diogones of Oenoanda strong statements of empathy sound almost Judeo-Christian.
"I have therefore composed this inscription, because I consider it a part of wisdom for a good man to give benevolent assistance, to the… -
Cassius
April 3, 2026 at 4:56 PM Replied to the thread Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence.PostThis episode is now up. As I reflect post-editing I regret that we didn't give more examples from Sedley's article about emergence (downward or otherwise) but that's a deep subject on its own and one we'll return to in the future. There's a lot more… -
Cassius
April 3, 2026 at 4:54 PM Replied to the thread Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence.PostEpisode 327 of the Lucretius Today Podcast is now available. This week our episode is entitled: "Intelligent Design vs Emergence"
[media]https://www.spreaker.com/episode/71088166/media -
Cassius
April 3, 2026 at 11:25 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus vs Kant and Modern Idealism - Introduction.PostThe applicable cliche is hard cases make bad law, but the problem is in the one size fits all law rather than in the cases. If Kant was consistent (and I know nothing about his personal life) he would either follow his categorical imperative or ditch the… -
Cassius
April 3, 2026 at 9:19 AM Replied to the thread Discussion of Blog Article - "Reality Does Not Require Being Eternally The Same".Post[…]
it's exactly the attitude that people like Lucretius or Diogenes of Oinoanda displayed in calling Epicurus a "savior" or "father" or a virtual "god among men."
[…]
And I see that statement as totally inconsistent with your prior statements to the effect… -
DaveT
April 3, 2026 at 9:13 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus vs Kant and Modern Idealism - Introduction.Post[…]
Why must extreme examples be used to dispute a point in discussion. Extremes are not the norm for belief in my opinion. This is an example of the type of argumentation that can be found in Lucretius that diminishes its power. Giving five examples of… -
TauPhi
April 3, 2026 at 8:54 AM Replied to the thread Discussion of Blog Article - "Reality Does Not Require Being Eternally The Same".Post[…]
If that's the case, Epicurus was the One. Every philosopher before and after him was and is infected with a "mind virus"? I'm pretty sure this attitude will not get you far in promoting Epicurean philosophy.
[…]
In that case I think almost all of us are… -
Kalosyni
April 3, 2026 at 8:31 AM Posted the thread Epicurean Philosophy in a Modern "A Few Day in Athens" Fictional Story.ThreadAlready quite some time ago (back in 2022) I started writing a fictional story about a modern Epicurean Philosophy "school"...basically a place were people gather and learn Epicurean philosophy (both the theory and the practice). In some ways it would be… -
Cassius
April 3, 2026 at 8:00 AM Replied to the thread Episode 327 - EATAQ 09 - Intelligent Design vs Emergence.PostAs i am editing this podcast I want to insert this note, that at about the 22 minute mark Joshua quotes Plato as taking the position that there is only ONE created world - not "many worlds." This too is something Epicurus directly contradicts.
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