Author: Cassius Amicus
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Pleasure Is A Dish Best Served Pure and Smooth
In my continuing efforts to explain Epicurean Philosophy Through Coffee, I now present my latest and best analogy: Not only do we fill life to the rim with pleasure, like coffee, but...
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Where Is the Misunderstanding / Misrepresentation More Likely?
Here is a passage from Francois Bernier, a friend of Gassendi, which I have never read before, but exists at Epicurus.info. It seems to me it illustrates exactly the problem...
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Stoicism is as far from Epicurean philosophy as East is far from West.
We frequently see commentary, even in Epicurean discussion forums, with Stoic overtones. It therefore pays to keep in mind the differences between the two philosophies so we can recognize Stoic...
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Setting the Stage For Discussion of Pleasure
Recently the Society of Epicurus published a transcript of a Spanish-language interview given by Hiram Crespo and Alex Harrington about the philosophy of Epicurus. They did an excellent job, and...
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Fields, Particles, and the Reality We Live In
Alex Harrington has written an excellent essay on Fields or Particles that is now posted at the Society of Epicurus. What is the relationship of that discussion to how we should...
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Fill Life To The Rim – With Pleasure
Here is an illustration of Lucretius’ vessel analogy in Book 6 that may hit home with my American friends of a certain age. With Pleasure, why be ascetic and settle...
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Slashing Another Stoic Chain – Courtesy of a Norse God
This is something that has been staring me in the face without my seeing it – if it had been a snake it would have bitten me. Probably everyone else...
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Which Is Happier?
Hiram Crespo recently published a very good article in Humanist Magazine entitled “Whose Pleasure? Whose Pain? Applying the Hedonic Calculus to Public Policy.” This is a topic that is going...
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The “Four Days Of Virtue And Painlessness” Challenge
Here is a hypothetical that may help with thinking about the role of “virtue” and “painlessness” in Epicurean philosophy. The assumptions of this hypothetical are very simple and designed to...
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Peace and Safety For Your Twentieth of April – Conventional Pleasure vs. the “Zero State”
Peace and Safety to the Epicureans of today, no matter where you might be! On this twentieth of April I’d like to offer more thoughts on the issue of whether...