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Aug 15
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When Thomas Jefferson wrote “I too an am Epicurean,” he was not referring to his taste in food or wine. Unlike most people today, who are totally unfamiliar with the greatest philosopher of the ancient world, Jefferson had thoroughly studied the man he considered his “master” — a man whose fame had once far eclipsed that of Plato and Aristotle, and whose Forty Principle Doctrines were as familiar to the leaders of the late Roman Republic as are the Ten Commandments to us today.
It is the purpose of NewEpicurean.com to assist in bringing the message of Epicurus to a new generation.
Today, even those with good intent often refer to Epicurus as an “Atheist,” or as dedicated to “Pleasure” above all, or as believing that our world came into being by “Accident.” These misunderstandings – which are in some cases intentional deceptions – can only be corrected by studying the original works of Epicurus. Although many of these works are lost to us today, those that survive are sufficient to allow us to reconstruct what Jefferson understood: that the genuine doctrines of Epicurus – not those imputed to him in error or in malice – contain everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left to us.
False philosophers and false religions have labored for two thousand years to create a thick fog around Epicurus’ views on the role of religion in life, for which he is condemned as an “atheist;” around his moral view of the role of pleasure, for which he is denounced as a “hedonist;” and around his views of the physical universe, for which he is obscurely labeled as an “atomist” or a “materialist.” These are not only errors but also secondary matters, and the wisdom of Epicurus cannot be understood without dispelling this fog and looking much deeper.
The greatest part of the confusion that exists today comes from failing to understand that Epicurus derived his conclusions by tenaciously following a central insight about man’s means of knowledge. This insight must be thoroughly understood and always kept in mind: Continue reading »




