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Kalosyni
July 26, 2024 at 3:39 PM Has solved the quiz Basic Epicurean Ethics.Quiz -
Godfrey
July 26, 2024 at 2:23 PM Posted the thread Practical Exercises: the smartwatch.ThreadWhat is a good Epicurean exercise that you can do using a smartwatch? Simple!
Stop wearing your smartwatch for 1 week. Notice and respond to your sensations and feelings. And your preconceptions.
Enjoy! -
Cassius
July 25, 2024 at 6:39 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.PostI think this is well worth exploring because it's probably the front line of the way the Epicureans would have distinguished their approach to the search for truth as opposed to the use of "formal logic" by the other philosophers. Looking for and setting… -
Joshua
July 25, 2024 at 6:16 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.PostAnalogy compares things which are alike in relationship, cause, operation, throughput, etc. Similarity compares things which are alike in nature, shape, size, origin, and so on.
The way in which ocean liners transport people is similar to the way in which… -
Cassius
July 25, 2024 at 5:38 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.PostAnyone have thoughts on how "analogy" differs from "similarity"? -
Bryan
July 25, 2024 at 5:10 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.PostYes, On Methods of Inference is very difficult and On Nature book 28 is too. I was a bit wary to even bring up this list, because I am not ready to go back into either one just yet!
On a related note, I cannot look at my work for very long without seeing… -
Cassius
July 25, 2024 at 2:50 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.Post[…]
It sure is, and especially since it seems to pick up in the middle, and it's sometimes hard to tell which arguments he is agreeing with, and which he is stating accurately but which are Stoic arguments that he ultimately disagrees with.
There's a lot… -
Twentier
July 25, 2024 at 2:21 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.PostPhilodemos provides a number of examples of deductive reasoning in On Methods of Inference [https://twentiers.com/on-signs/] and seems to negate inductive reasoning:
He suggests that the following deduction is valid:
‘Since the men in our experience, in… -
Cassius
July 25, 2024 at 1:23 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.PostI also want to be sure we emphasize what Bryan has produced on page 130 of the current version of his Epicurea, from Diogenes Laertius 10:32. It strikes me that the specific mention of these considerations lends them special importance in any proper… -
Cassius
ThreadJuly 25, 2024 at 1:11 PM Welcome to Episode 239 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… -
Bryan
July 25, 2024 at 12:40 PM Replied to the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.PostThis is a very rough list I made at the beginning of the year (based mostly on Sedley's work on Book 28). This list is not very well done, is not complete, and perhaps should not even be in this form. We can be sure Epicurus was aware of such… -
Cassius
July 25, 2024 at 12:13 PM Posted the thread Methods Or Considerations In Thinking.ThreadThis is a thread-starter for use in discussing "methods" or "considerations" in thinking, as referenced in the Epicurean texts. -
Kalosyni
July 25, 2024 at 9:23 AM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.PostHere are some definitions from Wikipedia:
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Don
July 25, 2024 at 8:29 AM Replied to the thread Proposed Menoikeus Week-long (7 Session) Study Guide Outline.Post[…]
Agreed! And added. Thanks! -
Kalosyni
July 25, 2024 at 8:21 AM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.PostI think this is a much needed discussion, because those who consider themselves materialists, and study Epicurus, will likely have questions as to science, scientism, vs Epicurean physics.
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Here is an excerpt from Letter to Herodotus, which gives us an… -
Cassius
July 25, 2024 at 8:18 AM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.PostThanks to a tip I see that there is an article by Professor Clerk Shaw available for public download at the link below which addresses some of these issues (the Epicurean concern for truth, and the importance of physics to the study of ethics) in a way I… -
Kalosyni
July 25, 2024 at 7:59 AM Replied to the thread Proposed Menoikeus Week-long (7 Session) Study Guide Outline.PostDon your outline looks great! Looking forward to taking in the full experience of your amazing project. -
Martin
July 25, 2024 at 7:35 AM Replied to the thread Proposed Menoikeus Week-long (7 Session) Study Guide Outline.Post[…]
It seems, "Stoics" or "Stoicism" should be included in this item from Session 4, e.g.
"10. Epicurus includes something that looks a lot like the “Dichotomy of Control” of the Stoics clearly showing they didn’t come up with it but gave it a catchy… -
Little Rocker
July 24, 2024 at 1:33 PM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.PostI suppose I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, but I admit that I struggle to understand the point of introducing some of the explanations except to have multiple ones--that eclipses are caused by bad air, that the moon comes into and out of existence… -
Cassius
July 24, 2024 at 12:49 PM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.PostFor some reason I missed seeing that quote the first time through:
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Yes that's the direction I can see some people wanting to go, and as a defender of Epicurus I'd want to strike back at that as firmly as possible.
But that's definitely a part of the… -
Cassius
July 24, 2024 at 12:22 PM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.PostIt seems to me that it would be tempting for opponents of Epicurus to say: "He never seems to be weighing evidence and discussing probabilities at all. He is always going straight from 0% certainty to 100% certainty, with nothing but "maybes" in between.… -
Martin
July 24, 2024 at 12:15 PM Replied to the thread Welcome TGonzalez!.PostWelcome Timothy! -
Little Rocker
July 24, 2024 at 11:54 AM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.Post[…]
Yeah, I'm not really opposed to that caveat, and I don't like it when people claim that the only reason Epicurus cares about science is whenever it helps us get rid of fear of the gods and death. But I also think he seems pretty clear about what he… -
Cassius
July 24, 2024 at 10:36 AM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.Post[…]
Would you not add the important caveat that he would recommend not getting invested in finding "the" actual explanation when you know in advance that that isn't going to be possible due to the lack of evidence?
It seems to me that this from the letter… -
Little Rocker
July 24, 2024 at 9:48 AM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.Post[…]
This seems right to me. Martin mentioned Rosenberg (and I might add Paul and Patricia Churchland), and one of their key theses is 'eliminativism' about mental states. I have heard Rosenberg say we should dispense with 'feeling' language altogether.
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Cassius
July 24, 2024 at 8:21 AM Replied to the thread Welcome TGonzalez!.PostWelcome Timothy - We look forward to hearing more from you. -
Tgonzalez3790
July 24, 2024 at 6:37 AM Replied to the thread Welcome TGonzalez!.PostHello, my name is Timothy Gonzalez, and I am from the United States. I have a resolute passion for Philosophy and have read two Epicurean works: The Letter to Herodotus and A Very Short Introduction to Epicureanism. I greatly respect the idea that a… -
Cassius
July 24, 2024 at 4:52 AM Posted the thread Welcome TGonzalez!.ThreadWelcome Tgonzalez3790 !
Please check out our Getting Started page, but in the meantime 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… -
Martin
July 24, 2024 at 1:29 AM Replied to the thread Epicureanism and Scientism: What are the main differences?.Post[…]
There are quite a few people who habe been labelled advocates of Scientism by others or themselves, e.g.:
Auguste Comte (positivist philosopher, apparently without using the term "Scientism")
Peter Atkins (reported to have asserted the “universal…