#epicureanism โ Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #epicureanism, aggregated by home.social.
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CW: CW: a little philosophy, existential shrugging, and cats claiming divine authority.
I am an Epicurean agnostic deist.
Which sounds terribly complicated, but is actually quite simple.
I don't know whether there is a God, or several. Maybe there is. Maybe there isn't. I don't really know, and (this is the important bit) I don't particularly feel the need to know.
The universe is under no obligation to explain itself to me, and I am under no obligation to invent certainty where none is available.
But if there is a creator, I imagine them rather like an author who finished an enormous, complicated, occasionally beautiful manuscript, put down their pen, and walked away.
The work continues. The characters are on their own. The author is not popping back in every five minutes to rearrange the furniture, punish someone for wearing the wrong trousers, or decide which football team deserves divine favour.
And the Epicurean part?
That may be the most important bit of all.
I don't believe in living in fear. Not of gods. Not of death. Not of punishment. Not of some cosmic headteacher waiting to tell me I've been very naughty indeed. Been there, done that, minus the cosmic part. ;)
I believe in tranquillity. Friendship. Love. Thinking carefully. Being kind. Causing as little unnecessary suffering as possible.
And pleasure. Not endless excess, but the quiet, genuine pleasures of being alive.
Good food. Good coffee. Good conversation. People you love. A comfortable place to sit. A long walk. An afternoon in a park beneath old trees, watching the world happen around you.
And cats.
Obviously, cats are divine.
Perhaps Thor exists. Perhaps Bastet exists. Perhaps they are both busy. Perhaps neither exists in the way people imagine gods exist.
But when a cat climbs onto my lap, looks at me with ancient and absolute authority, and demands worship in the form of snacks, I feel that the theological evidence is at least worth considering.
So there you have it.
I don't know.
Maybe.
The creator, if there was one, has probably walked away from their work.
And in the meantime, I intend to love my friends, sit in parks, drink cocktails, pet cats, think deeply, be occasionally mischievous, and enjoy this strange little bit of existence while I've got it.
That seems quite enough theology for one lifetime. ๐๐ณ๐โจ
#Epicurean #Agnostic #Deist #Epicureanism #Philosophy #Ataraxia #SimplePleasures #CatsAreDivine #Bastet #Thor #Kindness
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We have entire industries devoted to not thinking about death. Epicurus had a two-sentence rebuttal that still hasn't been answered.
#Philosophy #DeathAndDying #Secularism #Epicureanism #Humanism
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"Weary mortals." From "The Nature of the Universe", Lucretius (c.โ99 โ 55 BC). Published by Penguin Books, 1962. #Books #Literature #Philosophy #Poetry #AncientRome #History #Epicureanism
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"Itโs a kind of memento mori, a reminder that life is short and you should enjoy it while you can. Or so thatโs how many have interpreted the message of the mosaic." #art #history #philosophy #greece #mosaic #epicureanism #stoicism
https://www.openculture.com/2025/07/archaeologists-discover-a-2400-year-old-skeleton-mosaic.html
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๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐: ๐ช๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ -
How far away are we from the original meaning of carpe diem? And does it matter?
https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/carpe-all-over-the-place/
#carpediem #seizetheday #deadpoetssociety #philosophy #epicureanism #horace #tohiscoymistress #ataraxia
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Exploring the Mind: An Enchanting Journey Through Psychiatry, Philosophy, and Psychology
#Psychiatry #Philosophy #Psychology #HistoryOfThought #Hippocrates #Plato #Aristotle #Stoicism #Epicureanism #Sociology #Ethics #PhilosophicalCounseling #Mind #HumanExperience #MentalHealth #IntellectualJourney #CulturalTapestry
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Online #Seminar: The Making and Unmaking of Selfhood
Which strategies do human beings develop to relate to themselves and to others? How do discourses and practices affect the way in which selfhood is conceptualized and transformed?
The seminar offers intercultural perspectives on self-cultivation at the encounter of philosophy and religious studies, including engagement with #Aristotle, #Epicureanism, #Neoplatonism, #Judaism, and #Foucault
Program and registration: https://www.rug.nl/filosofie/organization/news-and-events/events/2024/seminar-making-unmaking-selfhood
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Director of IICADD Rafael Ziegler answers to 12 questions in an interview with GAiA Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to inter- and transdisciplinary research on sustainability transformations. Open access link: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oekom/gaia/2024/00000033/00000004/art00002;jsessionid=j5in4p7cfdfx.x-ic-live-03
#coop #sustainability #circulareconomy #epicureanism -
โAll the major philosophical schools in antiquity regarded #eudaimonia as the highest good, often even the very aim and purpose of philosophy, although the various schools, such as the Cynics, the Stoics, and the Epicureans, may have conceived of it in somewhat different terms.โ
#Cynicism #Stoicism #Epicureanism #Buddhism #FirstPrinciples #eudaimonia
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/202006/what-is-eudaimonia -
Education, Philosophy > Greedy Authoritarian Bullshit
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Today in my Foundations of Philosophy class, we started exploring Epicurean ethics by looking at book 1 of Cicero's On The Ends. Here's a post reflecting upon what we covered in the morning class session
https://gregorybsadler.substack.com/p/class-reflections-ciceros-on-the
#Cicero #Epicureanism #Virtue #Friendship #Pleasure -
๐งช ๐
When you encounter a young person, introduce them to Lucretius' De Rerum Natura...
... and now they possibly love it even more than you do ๐๐ฅฐ
#Philosophy #Lucretius #Latin #Epicureanism #Poetry #Physics #AtomicTheory #QuantumPhysics #Cosmology #UniverseOrigins #MustRead #ClassicBooks #LiveLongLearning
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Here's the last of the Sadler's Lectures podcast episodes on book 1 of Cicero's On The Nature of the Gods, this one looking at the Skeptics' criticism of Epicureans view of the gods, which makes them blessed through inactivity
https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/cicero-on-the-nature-of-the-gods-book-1-skeptical-criticism-of-the-inactivity-of-the-divine
#Cicero #Podcast #Philosophy #Theology #Epicureanism #Skepticism #Gods #Criticism -
Here's the next Sadler's Lectures podcast episode on Cicero's On The Nature Of The Gods book 1. We now look at the Skeptic's takedown of the Epicurean's argument from common consent for the existence of god(s).
https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/cicero-on-the-nature-of-the-gods-book-1-skeptical-criticism-of-the-argument-from-common-consent
#Podcast #Cicero #Argument #Skepticism #Epicureanism #God -
In On The Nature Of The Gods, Cicero has the Skeptic Cotta offer criticisms of Epicurean views on the divine. Here's a Sadler's Lectures looking at the Skeptic criticism of anthropomorphism
https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/cicero-on-the-nature-of-the-gods-book-1-skeptical-criticism-of-epicurean-anthropomorphism
#Cicero #Podcast #Divinity #Philosophy #Skepticism #Epicureanism -
Here's the next Sadler's Lectures podcast episode on book 1 of Cicero's On The Nature Of The Gods, where Velleius presents the Epicurean position on what the gods are like. Turns out they have a quasi-human shape, among other things
https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/cicero-on-the-nature-of-the-gods-book-1-epicureans-on-the-nature-of-the-divine
#Podcast #Cicero #Gods #Divinity #Theology #Philosophy #Epicureanism -
Here is the next Sadler's Lectures podcast episode on book 1 of Cicero's dialogue On The Nature of the Gods, this one looking at the criticisms the Epicurean Velleius raises specifically against the Stoic school's theology
https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/cicero-on-the-nature-of-the-gods-book-1-epicurean-criticisms-of-stoics-views-on-the-divine
#Podcast #Stoicism #Epicureanism #Cicero #Philosophy #Theology #Criticism #Dialogue -
Moving now into the Epicurean Velleius' portion of the dialogue in Cicero's On The Nature Of The Gods book 1, here's a Sadler's Lectures podcast looking at his criticisms of other ancient philosopher's views on the gods
https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/cicero-on-the-nature-of-the-gods-book-1-epicurean-criticisms-of-philosophers-views-on-the-divine
#Podcast #Cicero #Philosophy #Gods #Criticism #Epicureanism -
I created another resource page in my Substack for my 16 video lectures and 16 podcast episodes on books 1 and 3 of Cicero's work On The Ends, presenting key ideas of Epicurean and Stoic ethics
https://gregorybsadler.substack.com/p/video-and-podcast-resources-on-ciceros-968
#Resource #Cicero #Philosophy #Ethics #Stoicism #Epicureanism -
In book 1 of Cicero's On The Nature of the Gods, the Epicurean Velleius makes a number of criticisms of other philosophers' views on the gods. Here's a core concept video discussing those
https://youtu.be/tsL7aowAq6g
#Video #Philosophy #God #Divinity #Criticism #Plato #Epicureanism -
My latest video is about the #Philosophy of #life . It is actually the first of 3 in a series on the subject, covering most of the #Hellenistic philosophy schools, #cynicism #epicureanism #skepticism #eclecticism
https://youtu.be/PWiyyDA4Za0 -
Added my latest publication to my PhilPeople profile. It discusses some of the robust resources we can draw from schools of ancient philosophy for understanding and managing anger in philosophical practice
https://philpapers.org/rec/SADAPR-2
#Anger #Philosophy #Platonism #Aristotle #Stoicism #Epicureanism #Emotion -
Pretty interesting piece here by Hiram Crespo discussing and advocating for the Epicurean practice of regular common meals in order to (among other things) promote friendship
https://hiramcrespo.substack.com/p/an-eikas-manifesto
#Epicureanism #Philosophy #Meals #Food #Practice #Friendship #Fellowship #Epicurus -
Here is the next core concept video on Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, this one on a theme running through the work as a whole. Whether it's providence or atoms (and randomness), we have a choice about our lives and values
https://youtu.be/PtZY4yC7dbk
#Marcus #Aurelius #Video #Stoicism #Epicureanism #Atoms #Providence #Philosophy -
Here is the last new core concept video (for now) on key ideas in Seneca's On The Shortness of Life. This one looks at his claim that studying philosophy actually gives us more time and life, by placing us into conversations.
https://youtu.be/3J0k0dvdLTs
#Video #Philosophy #Seneca #Life #Time #Stoicism #Epicureanism #Cynicism #Platonism #Skepticism #Aristotelianism