Projects

This is the jumping off page for all projects at NewEpicurean.com. These include:

• Gassendi’s Epicurus In English.  Transcription and republication on the internet of Gassendi’s work on Epicurus as translated into English by Thomas Stanley in Volume 3 of his “History of Philosophy” from 1660.
• Research into Cicero’s Letters to Atticus.  Atticus was Cicero’s best friend and a strong Epicurean.  The letters preserved between them should contain valuable information on Epicurean thought.
• Common Objections to Epicureanism – with Responses.   This list is based on a lecture given by a philosophy professor who analyzed and criticized Epicurus from the point of view of Aristotelian philosophy. It includes some of the most powerful objections to Epicurus that have been repeated for thousands of years, and it is important to have a ready reference for them. A summary of the list is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gardenofepicurus/permalink/564692006953188/
• A  chart of the major philosophical questions showing where Epicurus fits in contrast to other philosophers. Here I am referring to the big questions such as 1. How do we know what we know? 2. What is the nature of the universe? and 3. How should men live? Much work has already been done with the roadmap from “A Few Days in Athens” http://newepicurean.com/a-map-view-of-a-few-days-in-athens-and-the-world-of-epicurus/ but this project will be aimed at producing a chart for general purpose use.
• A reading list “curriculum” for those who want to help educate young people not only on the philosophy of Epicurus specifically, but on Greco-Roman civilization particularly. This project is still in the planning stages, but for those who wish a reading list now, a good one is included in the English translation of Dimitri Liantinis’ GEMMA available here: http://www.amazon.com/Gemma-Dimitris-Liantinis-ebook/dp/B00EFET8PA
• A graphic “meme” workshop.  A productive way of getting Epicurean ideas in front of new eyes is through the use of graphic memes for sharing on social media sites. I prepared a prototype of one here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151924835729005&set=a.381781194004.167645.227256659004&type=1&theater&notif_t=like In the coming weeks I will be setting up a special website section devoted to the production of more of these, with not only easy access to each graphic, but also easy access to the raw materials to make new ones quickly and easily.
• A website section devoted to recovering and transcribing hard-to-find pro-Epicurean works in addition to Gassendi. There are numerous other significant English, French, and Italian writers (such as Walter Charleton) whose works are virtually inaccessible. These men were important in the transmission of Epicurean ideas to the modern world, so we can hope to find much interesting material as we unearth their works in Google Books and other online (and physical) libraries.
• A new “Introduction to Epicureanism” youtube video which focuses on the core ideas. There are a number of good ones already, but much can be done in this area to focus not only on the tactics for living (such as “living simply”) but also on the philosophy which underlies those tactics.
• A new “Forum of the Lucretians” for the hard-core students of Epicurus who want to share materials and discussions in private, and under full private control, rather than solely through public discussion at Facebook.  This will not be an attempt to replace Facebook or any other forums.   The “open” nature of Facebook can be a chill on speaking freely, and the structure of that site makes it very difficult to retrieve information once it has scrolled into the past. The Forum of the Lucretians will be a traditional “Simple Machines” forum which provides much greater control over attachments and organization.  It will allow permalinks to important posts, with fine-grain control over the way all services function.  If you are interested in participating, please email me, or check out the prototype here: http://newepicurean.com/forum/index.php