“I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.”
– Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1820
...[T]o give rest to my mind, I was obliged to recur ultimately to my habitual anodyne:
"I feel: therefore I exist." I feel bodies which are not myself: there are other existencies then. I call them matter. I feel them changing place. This gives me motion. Where there is an absence of matter, I call it void, or nothing, or immaterial space. On the basis of sensation, of matter and motion, we may erect the fabric of all the certainties we can have or need.
...
To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise.
- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, August 15, 1820
The doctrines which flowed from the lips of Jesus himself are within the comprehension of a child; but thousands of volumes have not yet explained the Platonisms engrafted on them; and for this obvious reason, that nonsense can never be explained.
- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, July 5, 1814
Think of me fat and sleek and in good keeping, when you wish to laugh, a hog of Epicurus' herd.Horace - Letter IV to Albius Tibullus
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this website is to promote the study of the philosophy of Epicurus. Epicurus held that it is impossible to live a happy life without living wisely, honestly, and justly. He also held that in order to live wisely, one must devote oneself regularly to the study of the true Nature of Things. Epicurus held that the knowledge such study brings is the only antidote to the irrational fears and errors into which men are otherwise prone to falling. For additional detail, please see the About Us / Statement of Purpose page.
What follows is a brief introduction to Epicurus — a man whose fame once eclipsed that of Plato and Aristotle, and whose Forty Principal Doctrines were as familiar to many as are the Ten Commandments to us today.
False philosophers and false religions have labored for two thousand years to create a thick fog around Epicurus’ views. For his views on the role of religion in life, they condemned him as an atheist. For his views of the role of pleasure in morality, they denounced him as a “hedonist.” And for his views of the natural origin of the physical universe, they obscurely labeled as an “atomist” or a “materialist.” These are all major errors, but the true views 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 his central insight about man’s means of knowledge: Continue reading »
Here’s a slightly different version of the “Flight to Venus” video, this time with altered video to include snapshots of several Epicurean luminaries. I hope you enjoy it. A further discussion and the alternate music is here.
As before, if anyone has suggestions for improvements in the text, please let me know.
I recently came across the song in the video below, which I found interesting because — with only a relatively small amount of alteration — the words can be turned from something absurd to something not too different from what Lucretius himself might have written. In this version I have taken the liberty of adding a running caption with wording that perhaps Lucretius might have suggested if he had been consulted rather than — but don’t ask me to finish this sentence.
I have posted the revised lyrics below; this is a first draft and if anyone has suggestions for more appropriate wording, please let me know. In the meantime, imagine the singer is following the words in the caption rather than the original — and in any event, the music is very good. I cringe as I write the original title, but for everyone’s reference, the original title is: “If You Could Hie to Kolob.” Don’t ask me what that means; look it up on Wikipedia and weep! I have included my thoughts on verses for both the “variation” version, shown in the Youtube clip here, and the “standard” version, which I hope to commit to Youtube in the near future
The Friends of the Epicurean Philosophy “Garden of Athens” and “Garden of Salonica” are organizing
the 2nd Panhellenic Symposium of Epicurean Philosophy under the auspices of the Municipality of Pallini
in Athens, Greece.
This philosophic symposium has two goals:
a) to honor the great humanist and enlightening philosopher Epicurus at the place of his origin and
b) to publicize an eternal way of mental armoring against psychopathology.
Epicurus had ingeniously understood the nature of universe and humans, since modern science findings fully sustain the validity of the basic points of his Physics and Ethics teachings.
Epicurus’ eternal humanistic message expresses in the simplest and truly holistic way the meaning of happy life, which may be achieved by anyone even in difficult times, if someone combines the personal virtue of prudence to handle objective knowledge, as well as the sharing good of friendship. Continue reading »
Peace and Safety to the Epicureans of today, no matter where you might be!
A friend in Greece has recently informed me about the Seikilos inscription and song, which is performed on the following Youtube video. Its Epicurean sentiments are obvious, and I hope you enjoy it as you remember Epicurus today:
A new friend in Greece recently forwarded to me a copy of the Agenda of last year’s Epicurean seminar. I was not able to attend last year, and will miss it this year too, but I thought I would post this for reference as the worldwide fans of Epicurus grow in strength and begin consideration of plans for future conferences. I bet Plotina would have been proud to know that her favorite philosopher is far from forgotten two thousand years after her lifetime. In fact, it’s likely that some of the enjoyment she experienced during her life arose because she knew that her efforts toward the preservation of the Epicurean School would not be wasted. You’ll note the reference to the song of Seikilos in the agenda; that will be the topic of our next Twentieth post.
FIRST PANHELLENIC SYMPOSIUM OF EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY
I failed to catch a typo in yesterday’s post, but I have now corrected it to make clear that the date of the Second Symposium sponsored by the Friends of Epicurus in Greece is NEXT MONTH.
Our friends in Greece have added an English version of the meeting announcement here, and you will note that there is now an “English” tab on the front page of the website, which hopefully we will see much use of in the future.
I am not able to plan to attend this year’s event, but this is surely something worthwhile to work toward in the future. Over time, if the Athenian group can continue to hold yearly seminars, it would be great to see many of the international fans of Epicurus make the meeting – perhaps they would even hold a limited special session in English for those of us who cannot yet converse in the language that the gods must surely speak (or one similar to it). Continue reading »
In a recent email from a reader, I learned of the activities of the friends of Epicurus in Greece, and I must say they seem to be thriving better than I might have imagined. The email (slightly edited here) contained the following information that should be of interest to the worldwide fans of Epicurus:
The Friends of the Epicurean philosophy have two internet sites in use (unfortunately only in Greek), corresponding to the two circles existing in Athens and Thessaloniki:
In February 12-13, 2011 we organized the First Panhellenic Symposium of Epicurean Philosophy in the Cultural Center of Pallini, Athens. Epicurus was born in February (Athenian month Gamilion) and originated from the Athenian deme (municipality) of Gargettus, which today belongs in the municipality of Pallini (a town in the Athens metropolitan area). The Symposium was a tribute to our master Epicurus and covered the following topics: Continue reading »
For my final post of 2011, I would like to end by thanking all those who have added so much to my understanding of Epicureanism over the past year. When I started this blog I had no idea I would have the opportunity to interact with such good people from such exotic (to me) places as England, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and others, including even Greece, the homeland of Epicurus himself. One of my goals in writing this blog was to record my experiences as I proceeded in my study, and I want to assure anyone else who undertakes a similar study that there are a world of people out there who share our admiration of Epicurus, and who are enthusiastic about sharing their own insights into Epicureanism.
I know I have very far to go before I begin to scratch the surface of what there is to know about Epicurus. As I proceed, I want to pledge that I will always seek to follow two of Epicurus’ admonitions in particular. I will always seek to “wait” before concluding prematurely that something is clear when it is not, and I will always seek to conduct myself as graciously as possible in any disagreements of opinion. Continue reading »
Go to Epicurus' Garden and read the motto carved there:
“Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure.”
The care-taker of that abode, a kindly host, will be ready for you; he will welcome you with barley-meal and serve you water also in abundance, with these words:
“Have you not been well entertained? This garden does not whet your appetite; it quenches it. Nor does it make you more thirsty with every drink; it slakes the thirst by a natural cure, a cure that demands no fee."
For those new to the subject and wish to become
more familiar with the work of Epicurus, the following three resources
on this site are recommended:
Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus,
which provides an introduction to the ethical system;
Cicero's "Defense of Epicurus,"
which relates the ethical system to the broader issues of philosophy;
and
The "Introduction to Epicurus'
Canon of Truth," prepared for this web site, which attempts to
reconstruct basic points of Epicurus' approach to the search for
knowledge.
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”,and as a result he wrote in a private letter to a friend in 1820, “I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us.”
I recently came across the song in the video below, which I found interesting because — with only a relatively small amount of alteration — the words can be turned from something absurd to something not too different from what Lucretius himself might have written. In this version I have taken the liberty of adding a running caption with wording that perhaps Lucretius might have suggested if he had been consulted rather than — but don’t ask me to finish this sentence.
