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 »

written by Cassius58

Today is the day traditionally marked as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in the year 832 AUC.  Tragic as that day was, it at least preserved for us information about the period, and about Epicureanism, that we would likely never have obtained otherwise.  (If you’ve never seen it, you might be interested in the Dr. Who show devoted to this event.)

Today marks a good day to make a new addition to the site in the right sidebar, the famous “leaping pig” found in the Villa of the Papyrii in Herculaneum and now in the Naples Museum. Also below is a reference from Horace that may well explain its relevance to Epicureans:

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

written by Cassius58

New for today on the website is The NewEpicurean Library.  The ancient Epicurean texts remaining to us today are available freely on the internet in a variety of translations, and one of the best ways to become more familiar with Epicureanism is to compare the various translations against each other and against the original Greek or Latin. Only in this way can you hope to gain a clear view of what was intended by the writer, rather than what may be a translator’s preconceived notion of what he thought the writer meant to say. Continue reading »

written by Cassius58

Peace and Safety to the Epicureans among us, no matter where you might be!  As we remember Epicurus and the original pathfinders of Epicureanism, here’s a thought for the day, courtesy of Lucretius, via the Humphries translation of De Rerum Natura:

O glory of the Greeks, the first to raise the shining light out of tremendous dark, illumining the blessings of our life -
You are the one I follow. Continue reading »

written by Cassius58

This weekend I had the opportunity to see Agora, the recent movie starring Rachel Weisz.  Agora is now showing only in the U.S., in very limited distribution prior to the release of the DVD in October. I will try to develop this post with greater detail later, but the movie is well worth some preliminary comments:

Everyone who comes across this blog and has the slightest interest in philosophy and the ancient world should see this movie. It is very well done, the sets and acting are generally first rate, and the movie does set up many crucial philosophical issues that are rarely discussed in movies intended for the general public.

It is in the script and the development of these issues, however, that the disappointment comes. If you go into this movie expecting to see Hypatia deliver a rousing defense of individual freedom, natural law, or even reason itself — don’t hold your breath.  Likewise, there is little attempt to deliver a cogent argument against religion.  Through this silence the movie illustrates another profound Epicurean insight:  the impotence of ivory-tower Platonism in the face of religious fanaticism.  As Thomas Jefferson observed in his letter to William Short, Platonism and Stoicism were not at root incompatible with the new Christian faith, but rather proved to be a fertile field which Christianity co-opted for its own.

Fair or not, the producers of this movie portray Hypatia as so consumed by astronomy that she seems to see no way to resist or even recognize her impending doom.  She is portrayed as doing almost nothing to protect herself against the Christian mob other than seeking the protection of her former student, the Roman governor.  And rather than provide him sound philosophical advice on how to combat the rising tide of fanaticism, her only advice for dealing with the Christians is to “arrest” them.  When her Roman protector makes clear that he will no longer be able to protect her against the mobs, Hypatia is portrayed as meekly accepting what she appears to regard as inevitable.  From start to finish her Platonic roots allow her to summon no more inspirational a defense for herself than the line from the trailer:  “You don’t question what you believe…. I must.”  True to the Platonic ideal, perhaps, but woefully inadequate.

The historical record on Hypatia is meager, so one can hope that the real Hypatia took stronger action in her own defense. But this movie seeks nothing more than to portray the evil of religious fanaticism, and for that it is sufficient to show Hypatia only as the helpless victim.  The final effect at least has the merit of illustrating one of the most famous lines from De Rerum Natura:  Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum! So much does religion have the power to persuade to evil!

Those who leave this movie depressed, however, need to be told that they are not helpless against the evils of religion, and that already in the ancient world Epicurus had articulated a valid alternative to the twin errors of religion and academic skepticism.

Continue reading »

written by Cassius58