Category: Featured
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Thomas Aquinas v. Epicurus – On The Nature of Pleasure
I have been continuing to research the philosophical background against which Epicurus constructed his Principle Doctrines, and I decided to let a more recent writer do some of the work...
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Pleasure and Time – Stoics v. Epicureans
A recent post on the Epicurean Philosophy facebook page pointed out that Pierre Hadot has written in “Philosophy as a Way of Life” that “both Stoicism and Epicureanism … posit …...
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If Death Is Nothing To Us, What Is Everything To Us?
Subtitled: “Why We Must Fight For Joy And Delight.” The second most important doctrine in the list left to us by the ancient Epicureans is “Death is nothing to us;...
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Are “Static” Pleasures Always Preferred?
Are static pleasures (call them katastematic, abiding, or whatever term you prefer) always to be preferred over active pleasures? I believe Epicurus would say – and did say – “Certainly...
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Can’t You Hear That This Thermometer Is Wrong?
Epicurus is often accused of holding that “all sensations are true,” but Norman Dewitt has exhaustively shown through numerous Epicurean texts that Epicurus knew very well that sensations cannot be...
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Of Mice, Syllables, Thermometers, and The Complete Life
Suppose you are talking with a friend who knows next to nothing about formal philosophy. You tell him that you have been reading about Epicurus, and what you have read...
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Twilight of the “Absence of Pain”
In a recent discussion a friend wrote: “Cassius’ fictional man who suggests suicide to prevent desires is, as Elli Pensa said, a very ridiculous man.” Why? What if Pythocles were...
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Peace and Safety For Your Twentieth of February: Epicurus vs. Aristotle and Plato on Pleasure
Peace and Safety to the Epicureans of today, no matter where you might be! To summarize some observations from a recent thread on the Epicurean Philosophy Facebook group, it appears...
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Is Pleasure An “Attitude” or a “Sense”?
Is Pleasure an “attitude”? I am currently reading up on the background of PD3 and PD4, because I think they need to be viewed in the context of the world...
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New Page Dedicated to Gassendi’s “Life And Doctrines of Epicurus”
I have today taken a step toward correcting a major oversight. Last year several of us undertook the work of transcribing a copy of Pierre Gassendi’s “Life and Doctrine of...