Recent Updates From Across EpicureanFriends.com
New Graphics: Are You On Team Epicurus? | Comparison Chart: Epicurus vs. Other Philosophies | Chart Of Key Epicurean Quotations | Accelerating Study Of Canonics Through Philodemus' "On Methods Of Inference" | Note to all users: If you have a problem posting in any forum, please message Cassius
Recent Activities
-
Cassius
PostApril 14, 2026 at 4:33 AM Martin what is the understanding of gravity today?
Is it held to exist independently as its own entity separate from all other things?
Is gravity itself "uncaused"? -
Martin
PostApril 14, 2026 at 2:26 AM Today's meaning of "weight" is indeed a poor fit. The modern term "inertial mass" seems to be accurate for βάρους in the context of Epicurean atoms moving with constant speed. There was no proper understanding of gravity in ancient times, but… -
Cassius
April 13, 2026 at 8:42 PM Replied to the thread Q & A with "A Few Days in Athens" research article author.PostI'll talk to the others and look into that. Thanks -
Patrikios
April 13, 2026 at 6:45 PM Replied to the thread What would Epicurus have thought of going to the moon?.Post[…]
Epicurus taught us to study Nature, day & night. How else can a human on earth study the nature of the moon, without going there in order to verify the assumptions made from the observations of our senses here on earth.
In his Letter to Pythocles,… -
Patrikios
April 13, 2026 at 6:19 PM Replied to the thread Q & A with "A Few Days in Athens" research article author.Post -
Patrikios
April 13, 2026 at 6:04 PM Replied to the thread Discussion of Blog Article - "Reality Does Not Require Being Eternally The Same".Post[…]
[…]
TauPhi , I do appreciate the interactive dialog on this thread topic, especially some of your thoughtful questions. I think you greatly underestimate the breadth & depth of these mind viruses; especially in the current USA. Unfortunately, I do… -
Cassius
PostApril 13, 2026 at 4:38 PM Good thoughts Bryan. I would not want to use a word not closely related to something actually used.
Do you have any thoughts on the Greek or Latin words used in any of the places you have seen this discussed? I don't gather that "weight" is a direct… -
Bryan
PostApril 13, 2026 at 3:30 PM I think the English word "weight" works. We know what it means, it is the heaviness in an object.
If certain trends in modern science do not use words in their normal and correct sense, I'd say that is their problem!
Just like we do not throw out "god" or… -
Cassius
PostApril 13, 2026 at 2:24 PM And solving the problem of terminology doesn't require that we wait for some kind of explicit physics rechnology explanation, any more than Epicurus waiting before taking about uncuttable atoms or the swerve. The issue is that the atoms possess within… -
Cassius
PostApril 13, 2026 at 10:06 AM Yes I presume Goodwin is struggling with the same issue we are discussing. Epicurus is apparently using the word to designate a capacity for self-generated motion (as in the swerve) and in English "weight" does not give us that self-moving capacity. We… -
Eikadistes
PostApril 13, 2026 at 9:47 AM I don't love the following description by Pseudo-Ploútarkhos, but as is translated by Goodwin, it presents "burden" (usually translated as "weight" or "mass") as "gravity:
[…]
I don't know if that's accurate about Dēmókritos because Pseudo-P. was writing… -
Cassius
April 13, 2026 at 6:57 AM Replied to the thread Welcome Aeneadum!.PostAenaedum tells us:
I have an undergraduate degree in Classics, with a focus on Horace and Lucretius, and a Masters in Comp Lit, with work on Montaigne and ataraxia. I've self-identified as a follower of Epicurus for many years, so I'm interested to learn… -
Cassius
April 13, 2026 at 6:56 AM Posted the thread Welcome Aeneadum!.ThreadWelcome Aeneadum !
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 12, 2026 at 8:19 PM Replied to the thread Welcome M Dango.PostNote - I moved posts from wbernys and eikadistes to the subforum for PD06 as they are very useful there and can be found there more easily in the future. -
Cassius
PostApril 12, 2026 at 8:14 PM Good thoughts as to the correspondence, Eikadistes. I haven't got much to go on yet but I think there's a bright line and that Epicurus would require that "weight" not imply that this particular cause of the motion of atoms is operating only because of… -
Eikadistes
PostApril 12, 2026 at 5:53 PM I've been wondering lately if there might be an innate correspondence between the three qualities and the atomic motions, being falling, recoiling (10.44), and swerving. Epíkouros writes to Hēródotos that the βάρους (bárous) "burden" (so I'm translating… -
Eikadistes
PostApril 12, 2026 at 5:38 PM […]
That's really perceptive, and I appreciate you noting that one, in particular, because of all of the Doctrines, I find 6 to be unquestionably the most mis-translated, due to the language. You're right, it does need an update, though I caution that… -
Cassius
PostApril 12, 2026 at 4:56 PM Thanks Joshua. So clearly the word being used is "weight." It seems possible however that that does not end the inquiry because it's potentially not clear what is meant by weight.
Today (i gather) we are using weight as something that is attracted… -
Joshua
PostApril 12, 2026 at 4:26 PM […] -
wbernys
PostApril 12, 2026 at 2:27 PM […]
Certainly would be awesome. I mainly want Torquatus (And Velleius) speech included and some of the english to be more clear and a little less archaic (PD6 in hedonicon is a example where i struggled to understand it). Got the best of Epicurus by… -
Cassius
April 12, 2026 at 2:26 PM Posted the thread General Analysis of Risk Aversion.ThreadIn a nearby thread we have discussed the analysis of space travel from the Epicurean point of view (Would Epicurus embrace going to the moon).
That's a very good specific example and might be all that's needed, but I am setting this thread up as a place… -
Cassius
PostApril 12, 2026 at 2:22 PM So the reason this topic came up today is that Patrikios brought up the question of whether atoms move because of some external force applied to them. And this directly relates to the motion of bodies such as magnets, discussed in Book 6 of Lucretius.
If… -
Cassius
PostApril 12, 2026 at 2:19 PM The Routledge Encyclopedia entry by David Sedley4. Motion
Surprisingly, atoms never stop moving, even within a compound object, since the medium through which they move is void, which can offer them no resistance. More surprisingly, for the same reason… -
Cassius
PostApril 12, 2026 at 2:17 PM Ok I asked Claude to summarize David Sedley's position. Apparently the main article is not publicly available but I will include the cite below:
The key Sedley text regarding the Epicurean relationship between weight and motion turns out to be his own… -
Cassius
PostApril 12, 2026 at 2:06 PM This topic arose in today's Zoom meeting and it needs further research and expansion. I am also going to modify the title of this thread to make the issue more clear.
I feel sure there are academic articles directly on point beyond what I've cited above. -
Eikadistes
April 12, 2026 at 8:55 AM Replied to the thread Welcome M Dango.Post[…]
Great call on Living for Pleasure! Professor Austin pops in here every now and then. The crew here with LucretiusToday podcast interviewed her about the book. You can find it here.
Someday, I would like to fatten-up The Hedonicon with the works of… -
Cassius
April 12, 2026 at 6:06 AM Replied to the thread What would Epicurus have thought of going to the moon?.PostOne thing I'd add is that if we go by the list in the principal doctrines , only the concept of there being no supernatural gods comes before the doctrine that "you only live once." (And even the absence of supernatural gods is directly related to… -
Martin
April 12, 2026 at 2:35 AM Replied to the thread Welcome M Dango.PostWelcome M.Dango! -
wbernys
April 12, 2026 at 2:25 AM Replied to the thread What would Epicurus have thought of going to the moon?.PostPlutarch says much the same. Albeit out of his ignorance and desire to slander Epicurus he doesn't understand how one can enjoy spectacles so much but not spend their life obsessed with nonsense questions with no relevance.
[U20]
Plutarch, That Epicurus… -
wbernys
April 12, 2026 at 2:03 AM Replied to the thread What would Epicurus have thought of going to the moon?.Post[…]
Personally think he would consider it freaking awesome. It's important to remember one of Diogenes Laertius sayings about the Epicurean wise man, which people who like to imagine Epicurus as ascetic always love to ignore.
"He will care more than other…
Finding Things At EpicureanFriends.com
Here is a list of suggested search strategies:
- Website Overview page - clickable links arrranged by cards.
- Forum Main Page - list of forums and subforums arranged by topic. Threads are posted according to relevant topics. The "Uncategorized subforum" contains threads which do not fall into any existing topic (also contains older "unfiled" threads which will soon be moved).
- Search Tool - icon is located on the top right of every page. Note that the search box asks you what section of the forum you'd like to search. If you don't know, select "Everywhere."
- Search By Key Tags - curated to show frequently-searched topics.
- Full Tag List - an alphabetical list of all tags.