Very Short Introductions
(VSI) series combines a small format with authoritative analysis and
big ideas for hundreds of topic areas. Written by our expert authors,
these books can change the way you think about the things that interest
you and are the perfect introduction to subjects you previously knew
nothing about. Grow your knowledge with OUPblog and the VSI series every Friday, subscribe to Very Short Introductions articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS, and like Very Short Introductions on Facebook. This series is also available online, and you can recommend it to your local librarian.
Most people have a good idea what it is to have a Stoical attitude to life, but what it means to have an Epicurean attitude
is not so obvious. When attempting to decipher the true nature of
Epicureanism it is first necessary to dispel the impression that fine
dining is its central theme. From its introduction in the third century
BCE, Epicureanism has revolved around a set of interrelated and
compelling ideas about nature, morality, and politics. It contributed to
scientific enquiry, social progress, and human self-understanding.
Epicureanism was treated as a serious, though wrong-headed philosophy by
its Stoic rivals and has gone on to be caricatured and maligned down
throughout the ages.
The letters and sayings of Greek philosopher Epicurus,
along with his many manuscripts on nature and society (long lost but
recently partially recovered), were reworked by his first century BCE
Roman follower, Titus Carus Lucretius, into the six-part poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things).
In this beautiful text, you will find an exposition of ancient materialism
based on the claim that nothing really exists except atoms, in motion
and at rest, and the void. According to the system there are multiple
worlds, or cosmoi. Each of these has emerged from chaos, producing its
own stars and planets, people, animals, and plants, and each will
eventually return to chaos.
The mind is material, and all living beings are mortal. The ancient
Epicureans denied any involvement of a God or Gods in the creation of
worlds or their maintenance, and Lucretius in particular saw religion as
superstitious and cruel. Death, they maintained, is not to be feared
but is a condition of nothingness from which all experience, hence all
suffering is excluded. This claim was central to a philosophy whose aim
was to banish fear and its often dreadful consequences, including the
persecution of others, from human experience. Marble bust of Epicurus. Roman copy of Greek original, 3rd century BC/2nd century BC. British Museum. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
In moral philosophy, the Epicureans argued that the avoidance of
pain, inflicting it and experiencing it, and the enjoyment of harmless
pleasures ought to guide human ‘choice and avoidance.’ Unlike the
Stoics, they did not suppose that the human mind has unlimited power
over the body; insofar as we are fully material beings, we act and
suffer as one psycho-physical unity. They cautioned against excess,
pointing out that that while eating, drinking, and sex are pleasurable
and so to be enjoyed, moderation is called for. Overindulgence or
imprudent choice brings on all manner of vexation, pain, social
punishment, and remorse.
Epicurean political philosophy is based on the idea that humans
created their institutions by trial and error over many years, taught by
no one, and that unstable forms of government and social practice will
inevitably give way to other forms. All social distinctions that for are
imaginary or conventional; there are no natural authorities or natural
hierarchies. The school of Epicurus was exceptional in Athens in
allowing women as members.
The Epicurean legacy is impressive. It has left an imprint in the writings of Hobbes, Cavendish, Locke, Newton, Hume, Rousseau, Bentham, Mill, Darwin and Marx,
as well as in more recent philosophical writing. There have been
numerous detractors as well, from the Fathers of the Early Church, who
regarded the Epicurean teachings with consternation, all the way to Kant
who wanted to draw a sharp line between the pursuit of happiness and
the pursuit of moral goodness. This led him to produce his own opposing
theory of the noumenal substratum of reality to the Epicurean atoms. Featured image credit: Greek Antiquity. Public domain via Pixabay.
Catherine Wilson is Professor of
Philosophy at The University of York and visits the USA regularly to
teach at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She
has written a number of books and articles on early modern science and
philosophy including Leibniz’s Metaphysics; The Invisible World; Descartes’s Meditations: A New Introduction; and Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity, along with two books on moral philosophy: Moral Animals: Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory, and Metaethics from a First-Person Standpoint. She is the author of Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2015).
- See more at:
http://blog.oup.com/2016/02/epicureanism-vsi-philosophy/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=oupacademic&utm_campaign=oupblog#sthash.2fb4ixMB.dpuf
Epicureanism: eat, drink, and be merry?
Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction
Very Short Introductions
(VSI) series combines a small format with authoritative analysis and
big ideas for hundreds of topic areas. Written by our expert authors,
these books can change the way you think about the things that interest
you and are the perfect introduction to subjects you previously knew
nothing about. Grow your knowledge with OUPblog and the VSI series every Friday, subscribe to Very Short Introductions articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS, and like Very Short Introductions on Facebook. This series is also available online, and you can recommend it to your local librarian.
Most people have a good idea what it is to have a Stoical attitude to life, but what it means to have an Epicurean attitude
is not so obvious. When attempting to decipher the true nature of
Epicureanism it is first necessary to dispel the impression that fine
dining is its central theme. From its introduction in the third century
BCE, Epicureanism has revolved around a set of interrelated and
compelling ideas about nature, morality, and politics. It contributed to
scientific enquiry, social progress, and human self-understanding.
Epicureanism was treated as a serious, though wrong-headed philosophy by
its Stoic rivals and has gone on to be caricatured and maligned down
throughout the ages.
The letters and sayings of Greek philosopher Epicurus,
along with his many manuscripts on nature and society (long lost but
recently partially recovered), were reworked by his first century BCE
Roman follower, Titus Carus Lucretius, into the six-part poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things).
In this beautiful text, you will find an exposition of ancient materialism
based on the claim that nothing really exists except atoms, in motion
and at rest, and the void. According to the system there are multiple
worlds, or cosmoi. Each of these has emerged from chaos, producing its
own stars and planets, people, animals, and plants, and each will
eventually return to chaos.
The mind is material, and all living beings are mortal. The ancient
Epicureans denied any involvement of a God or Gods in the creation of
worlds or their maintenance, and Lucretius in particular saw religion as
superstitious and cruel. Death, they maintained, is not to be feared
but is a condition of nothingness from which all experience, hence all
suffering is excluded. This claim was central to a philosophy whose aim
was to banish fear and its often dreadful consequences, including the
persecution of others, from human experience. Marble bust of Epicurus. Roman copy of Greek original, 3rd century BC/2nd century BC. British Museum. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
In moral philosophy, the Epicureans argued that the avoidance of
pain, inflicting it and experiencing it, and the enjoyment of harmless
pleasures ought to guide human ‘choice and avoidance.’ Unlike the
Stoics, they did not suppose that the human mind has unlimited power
over the body; insofar as we are fully material beings, we act and
suffer as one psycho-physical unity. They cautioned against excess,
pointing out that that while eating, drinking, and sex are pleasurable
and so to be enjoyed, moderation is called for. Overindulgence or
imprudent choice brings on all manner of vexation, pain, social
punishment, and remorse.
Epicurean political philosophy is based on the idea that humans
created their institutions by trial and error over many years, taught by
no one, and that unstable forms of government and social practice will
inevitably give way to other forms. All social distinctions that for are
imaginary or conventional; there are no natural authorities or natural
hierarchies. The school of Epicurus was exceptional in Athens in
allowing women as members.
The Epicurean legacy is impressive. It has left an imprint in the writings of Hobbes, Cavendish, Locke, Newton, Hume, Rousseau, Bentham, Mill, Darwin and Marx,
as well as in more recent philosophical writing. There have been
numerous detractors as well, from the Fathers of the Early Church, who
regarded the Epicurean teachings with consternation, all the way to Kant
who wanted to draw a sharp line between the pursuit of happiness and
the pursuit of moral goodness. This led him to produce his own opposing
theory of the noumenal substratum of reality to the Epicurean atoms. Featured image credit: Greek Antiquity. Public domain via Pixabay.
Catherine Wilson is Professor of
Philosophy at The University of York and visits the USA regularly to
teach at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She
has written a number of books and articles on early modern science and
philosophy including Leibniz’s Metaphysics; The Invisible World; Descartes’s Meditations: A New Introduction; and Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity, along with two books on moral philosophy: Moral Animals: Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory, and Metaethics from a First-Person Standpoint. She is the author of Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2015).
- See more at:
http://blog.oup.com/2016/02/epicureanism-vsi-philosophy/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=oupacademic&utm_campaign=oupblog#sthash.2fb4ixMB.dpuf
Epicureanism: eat, drink, and be merry?
Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction
Very Short Introductions
(VSI) series combines a small format with authoritative analysis and
big ideas for hundreds of topic areas. Written by our expert authors,
these books can change the way you think about the things that interest
you and are the perfect introduction to subjects you previously knew
nothing about. Grow your knowledge with OUPblog and the VSI series every Friday, subscribe to Very Short Introductions articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS, and like Very Short Introductions on Facebook. This series is also available online, and you can recommend it to your local librarian.
Most people have a good idea what it is to have a Stoical attitude to life, but what it means to have an Epicurean attitude
is not so obvious. When attempting to decipher the true nature of
Epicureanism it is first necessary to dispel the impression that fine
dining is its central theme. From its introduction in the third century
BCE, Epicureanism has revolved around a set of interrelated and
compelling ideas about nature, morality, and politics. It contributed to
scientific enquiry, social progress, and human self-understanding.
Epicureanism was treated as a serious, though wrong-headed philosophy by
its Stoic rivals and has gone on to be caricatured and maligned down
throughout the ages.
The letters and sayings of Greek philosopher Epicurus,
along with his many manuscripts on nature and society (long lost but
recently partially recovered), were reworked by his first century BCE
Roman follower, Titus Carus Lucretius, into the six-part poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things).
In this beautiful text, you will find an exposition of ancient materialism
based on the claim that nothing really exists except atoms, in motion
and at rest, and the void. According to the system there are multiple
worlds, or cosmoi. Each of these has emerged from chaos, producing its
own stars and planets, people, animals, and plants, and each will
eventually return to chaos.
The mind is material, and all living beings are mortal. The ancient
Epicureans denied any involvement of a God or Gods in the creation of
worlds or their maintenance, and Lucretius in particular saw religion as
superstitious and cruel. Death, they maintained, is not to be feared
but is a condition of nothingness from which all experience, hence all
suffering is excluded. This claim was central to a philosophy whose aim
was to banish fear and its often dreadful consequences, including the
persecution of others, from human experience. Marble bust of Epicurus. Roman copy of Greek original, 3rd century BC/2nd century BC. British Museum. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
In moral philosophy, the Epicureans argued that the avoidance of
pain, inflicting it and experiencing it, and the enjoyment of harmless
pleasures ought to guide human ‘choice and avoidance.’ Unlike the
Stoics, they did not suppose that the human mind has unlimited power
over the body; insofar as we are fully material beings, we act and
suffer as one psycho-physical unity. They cautioned against excess,
pointing out that that while eating, drinking, and sex are pleasurable
and so to be enjoyed, moderation is called for. Overindulgence or
imprudent choice brings on all manner of vexation, pain, social
punishment, and remorse.
Epicurean political philosophy is based on the idea that humans
created their institutions by trial and error over many years, taught by
no one, and that unstable forms of government and social practice will
inevitably give way to other forms. All social distinctions that for are
imaginary or conventional; there are no natural authorities or natural
hierarchies. The school of Epicurus was exceptional in Athens in
allowing women as members.
The Epicurean legacy is impressive. It has left an imprint in the writings of Hobbes, Cavendish, Locke, Newton, Hume, Rousseau, Bentham, Mill, Darwin and Marx,
as well as in more recent philosophical writing. There have been
numerous detractors as well, from the Fathers of the Early Church, who
regarded the Epicurean teachings with consternation, all the way to Kant
who wanted to draw a sharp line between the pursuit of happiness and
the pursuit of moral goodness. This led him to produce his own opposing
theory of the noumenal substratum of reality to the Epicurean atoms. Featured image credit: Greek Antiquity. Public domain via Pixabay.
Catherine Wilson is Professor of
Philosophy at The University of York and visits the USA regularly to
teach at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She
has written a number of books and articles on early modern science and
philosophy including Leibniz’s Metaphysics; The Invisible World; Descartes’s Meditations: A New Introduction; and Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity, along with two books on moral philosophy: Moral Animals: Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory, and Metaethics from a First-Person Standpoint. She is the author of Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2015).
- See more at:
http://blog.oup.com/2016/02/epicureanism-vsi-philosophy/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=oupacademic&utm_campaign=oupblog#sthash.2fb4ixMB.dpuf
Yoga for Kids: 5 Fun Asanas for Your Little One
Yoga
has been a popular form of art with the adults, so why shouldn't the
kids embark it and reap the benefits in the long run? Yoga improves
concentration, self-confidence…
Unitarian minister
w. sympathies towards Christian Atheism & religious naturalism.
Communalist, member of DiEM25, jazz bassist, photographer, cyclist &
walker.
ExplosiveEarth
Andrea Harrn
SmartCooky
Andrew James Brown
