Category: Norman W. DeWitt
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On Conflicting Interpretations And Translations
Competing interpretations and translations are a fact of life in studying Epicurus. Recently several of us have been talking about issues with Vatican Saying 21, and I think we may...
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Describing, Without Answering, An Important Issue – the Nature of “Anticipations” and “Present Impressions of the Mind”
We have many new readers and participants on the Facebook Epicurean Philosophy group, so now is a good time to post again on a topic that I think is very...
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“The True Nature of Pleasure” – Norman DeWitt’s Analysis of Epicurean Pleasure
The following extended excerpt is from Chapter XII of Norman DeWitt’s “Epicurus and His Philosophy.” It is presented here without comment as part of our ongoing investigation of Epicurus’ views...
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Epicurus On The Meaning of “Good”
This is just a short post to make it easier to find a quotation that I seem to be coming back to more and more lately on the subject of...
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Epicurus On The Importance Of Gratitude
To mark this “Thanksgiving Day” in the United States, the following guidance on Epicurean gratitude is taken directly from the introductory paragraph of Chapter XIV of Norman DeWitt’s Epicurus and...
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The True Context of Virtue Is Not Original Sin But “Original Honesty”
I return again and again to the topic of “virtue” because I have a concept of virtue embedded in my mind from pre-Epicurean days which I need to un-learn. Epicurus’...
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St. Paul vs. Epicurus
Norman DeWitt, who is in my opinion the author of the best book on Epicurus written since the ancient world, also wrote a second book: “St. Paul and Epicurus” (“SPAE”). ...
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Leave Apathy To The Stoics, and Strive to “Never Be Taken By Surprise.”
There is an unfortunate strain of thought which poses a significant danger for those who do not discern the important differences between Epicurean and Stoic theory. Straying onto the Stoic...
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The Key To Distinguishing The “Greatest Good” from the “Goal” of Life: “Every supreme good … is meaningless to the dead; every supreme good presumes life.”
Because the terms are so regularly discussed, it is necessary to work to gain and keep a clear view of the difference between the “greatest good” of life and the...
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“It was Epicurus’ Determination to Dethrone Reason and Set Up Nature As the Norm.”
A recent Facebook discussion and a particular reminder from Stefan bring to mind Norman DeWitt’s argument against the fallacy of thinking that Epicurus held “pleasure” to be the “highest good.”...