Category: Pleasure
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An Important Observation About A Test of “Natural and Necessary”
Epicurean passages from Seneca must be scrutinized strictly to determine whether Seneca is reporting accurately, or warping an Epicurean doctrine for a Stoic misuse. Below is a passage I first posted...
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Peace and Safety For Your Twentieth of May – Reading Epicurus Reasonably – Children and PD5
Peace and Safety to the Epicureans of today, no matter where you might be! On this twentieth of May, here is another example in the category “how to read Epicurus...
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“Follow That Dream”
To follow: “to accept as a guide or leader; accept the authority of or give allegiance to; to conform to, comply with, or act in accordance with; obey.” Cassius to...
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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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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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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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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...
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Lucretius’ Hymn To Venus and The Defense of Pleasure
When I first started reading Lucretius as an introduction to Epicurus, I was consumed with the religious issues, and I found it very difficult to understand how Lucretius could begin...