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Recent Activities
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Cassius
May 29, 2026 at 2:09 PM Replied to the thread Welcome Buck23!.PostThanks Buck23 - not sure what happened but thanks for following up! -
Buck23
May 29, 2026 at 1:08 PM Replied to the thread Welcome Buck23!.PostUh oh -- I thought I had posted something here about a week ago -- but now I can't find it!
Many thanks to all for your warm welcome. I look forward to exploring, learning, and participating with you all!
And, thank you for the recommendations! -
wbernys
May 29, 2026 at 12:28 PM Replied to the thread Ongoing Discussion of Jack Gedney's "Untroubled" Substack Blog.PostI tend to be much more sympathetic more to Jack Gedney than Cassius in this question so my thoughts on both.
Criticism of Jack Gedney
His dismissal of Torquatus on "vivid pleasures" is rather "bleh" he merely says that Cicero is slandering Epucureans,… -
Cassius
May 29, 2026 at 11:43 AM Replied to the thread Episode 335 - EATAQ 17 - Epicurean Analysis Of Stoic Claims About Notions And Memory.PostEpisode 335 of the Lucretius Today Podcast is now available. This week our episode is entitled: "Epicurean Analysis Of Stoic Claims About Notions And Memory"
[media]https://www.spreaker.com/episode/72227547/media -
Kalosyni
May 29, 2026 at 9:35 AM Replied to the thread Using Google AI to generate translation of ancient Greek words.PostDon thank you for your tips and advice regarding this, and you gave some helpful links for further research.
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When investigating the word ταράττεσθαι (tarattesthai), I wanted to get as far away as possible from the word ataraxia. Ataraxia says… -
Cassius
May 29, 2026 at 9:30 AM Replied to the thread Ongoing Discussion of Jack Gedney's "Untroubled" Substack Blog.PostThose who are following the "Untroubled" blog on Substack will see that Jack Gedney has updated his comments on whether Epicurean philosophy is primarily about absence of pain. He has reworded his title to focus on Epicurus "emphasizing "reduction of… -
Don
May 29, 2026 at 6:22 AM Replied to the thread Using Google AI to generate translation of ancient Greek words.PostIn thinking about this a little more, my fervent plea is to not rely on AI to answer a question like this. I would be suspect whether it was actually parsing an ancient Greek word or defaulting to modern Greek definitions. In this specific test case, it… -
Martin
May 29, 2026 at 2:30 AM Replied to the thread Welcome H.NurBeyazErkizan!.PostWelcome Nur! -
Don
May 28, 2026 at 11:20 PM Replied to the thread Using Google AI to generate translation of ancient Greek words.PostFWIW: From my translation/commentary
131j. ἀλλὰ τὸ μήτε ἀλγεῖν κατὰ σῶμα μήτε ταράττεσθαι κατὰ ψυχήν·- σῶμα "one's body; one's material life in the physical world"
- ταράττεσθαι < τᾰρᾰ́ττω, Attic form of ταράσσω (tarassō) "trouble, disturb, upset"
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Don
May 28, 2026 at 10:18 PM Replied to the thread Is Education a "pastime" or a "way of life"?.PostThis διαγωγὴν / ἀγωγήν seems right up Epicurus' alley for wordplay.
My favorite example is VS9: 9. Compulsion is a bad thing, but there is no compulsion to live under compulsion. κακὸν ἀνάγκη, ἀλλʼ οὐδεμία ἀνάγκη ζῆν μετὰ ἀνάγκης.
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So, the context of 138… -
Bryan
May 28, 2026 at 8:25 PM Replied to the thread Is Education a "pastime" or a "way of life"?.PostThe Diogenes referenced there is Diogenes of Tarsus. We know he wrote "Selections (Ἐπιλέκτα)," as well as an "Epitome of Epicurus' Ethical Doctrines."
The two words in question are closely related:
ἡ ἀγωγή = “conduct,” “training,” “discipline,”… -
wbernys
May 28, 2026 at 6:32 PM Posted the thread Is Education a "pastime" or a "way of life"?.ThreadAn interesting passage is in Diogenes Laertius 138, which seems to have conflicting translations of education either being a hobby or skill. Inwood and Gerson translate it as
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Other people translate it as "recreation" including White (2021) This seems… -
Kalosyni
May 28, 2026 at 2:51 PM Posted the thread Using Google AI to generate translation of ancient Greek words.ThreadI know there are mixed feelings for some regarding the use of AI, but I have just discovered that it is quite easy to use Google AI to translate ancient Greek words (but of course we know that errors may surface).
I was working on a particular section of… -
DaveT
May 28, 2026 at 2:35 PM Replied to the thread Have PD35 and Vatican Saying 7 been straw-manned?.Post[…]
Same Diff -
Cassius
May 28, 2026 at 2:07 PM Replied to the thread Episode 335 - EATAQ 17 - Epicurean Analysis Of Stoic Claims About Notions And Memory.PostCicero's On Ends does not contain nearly as much information about the Stoic view of Kataleptic impressions (that we can use to compare against Epicurus' views) as does his "Academic Questions," but it does contain this:
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h.nur beyaz erkizan
May 28, 2026 at 1:20 PM Replied to the thread Welcome H.NurBeyazErkizan!.Post[…]
Thank you very much for the message! Martin the Epicurean is really so interesting. I have known M.C.Nussbaum since my PhD studies, and I wrote a book on her titled From Aristotle to Nussbaum -in Turkish- Again, thank you! -
h.nur beyaz erkizan
May 28, 2026 at 1:14 PM Replied to the thread Welcome H.NurBeyazErkizan!.Post[…]
Thank you very much! I am truly delighted to be here. -
h.nur beyaz erkizan
May 28, 2026 at 1:11 PM Replied to the thread Welcome H.NurBeyazErkizan!.PostDear Friends of Kepos.
I am the founding and acting head of the Philosophical Society of Aristotle in Turkey.
We held the Third Blue Anatolian Philosophy Symposium from May 22 to 24, 2026, and dedicated it to Martin Ferguson Smith. I personally presented a… -
Todd
May 27, 2026 at 9:41 PM Replied to the thread Have PD35 and Vatican Saying 7 been straw-manned?.Post[…]
Epicurus didn't say anything about a "social compact". He talked about justice and laws. Justice is defined by agreement. Laws can be just (if they result from agreement), or unjust (if not).
Where is the agreement in your examples? -
DaveT
May 27, 2026 at 8:36 PM Replied to the thread Have PD35 and Vatican Saying 7 been straw-manned?.Post[…]
Perhaps I could have written more clearly. My point is that in his wisdom, Epicurus may have not considered that most people in his time or ours don't negotiate the terms of the social compact. And then, perhaps that is the reason we see so many who… -
Cassius
May 27, 2026 at 5:09 PM Replied to the thread wbernys outline on Epicureanism..PostLots of interesting stuff there thank you! -
wbernys
May 27, 2026 at 4:13 PM Posted the thread wbernys outline on Epicureanism..ThreadJust realized i never did this. Here's my outline.
The general summary of Epicureanism i have is that living pleasantly is the absolute goal, and all other things virtue, epistemology, and physics is completely subject to this. With living pleasantly… -
Todd
May 27, 2026 at 1:06 PM Replied to the thread Have PD35 and Vatican Saying 7 been straw-manned?.Post[…]
Did you agree with this billionaire that you would pay equal percentages of your income in taxes?
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Did you make some kind of agreement with your neighbors that you would each pay a certain amount of taxes?
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Despite what people may say when they're… -
DaveT
May 26, 2026 at 7:05 PM Replied to the thread Have PD35 and Vatican Saying 7 been straw-manned?.Post[…]
I'm probably missing something here.
But in that case if we average folk are among what he called ethnicities, what are our obligations when it comes to dealing with others?
And how about obeying laws coming down from on high in modern day USA. For… -
Kalosyni
May 26, 2026 at 5:56 PM Replied to the thread Welcome H.NurBeyazErkizan!.PostWelcome to the forum h.nur beyaz erkizan
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Griffin
May 26, 2026 at 5:37 PM Replied to the thread Welcome H.NurBeyazErkizan!.PostHello and welcome h.nur beyaz erkizan -
Bryan
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 PM Replied to the thread Have PD35 and Vatican Saying 7 been straw-manned?.PostPossessing power is clearly harmful to the extent that it brings increased stress and dangers. However, possessing power is clearly beneficial to the extent that it can be used to provide security and stability.
ΚΔ 7: "Some people want to become… -
Martin
May 26, 2026 at 10:12 AM Replied to the thread Have PD35 and Vatican Saying 7 been straw-manned?.PostThat might or might not be the case. I thought about this in analogy to my own experience with math. Probably, most people do not like to solve math problems. Math nerds may get pleasure out of the struggle to solve a math problem. I know that because I… -
Matteng
May 26, 2026 at 5:20 AM Reacted withReaction (Blog Article)to the blog article On Epicurean Text Study and Contemplation.
On Epicurean Text Study and Contemplation
Blog article by Kalosyni
(The following is based on material previously given out for an Epicurean Ethics study group.)
When studying Epicurean philosophy, it is important for dedicated students of Epicurus to… -
Cassius
May 26, 2026 at 4:07 AM Replied to the thread Happy Birthday General Thread.PostHappy Birthday to AxA! Learn more about AxA and say happy birthday on AxA's timeline: AxA
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