Week 3: Epicurus (Jan. 14-18)

Monday Jan. 14

Read the following before class:

This is a letter that the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote to someone named Menoeceus. There are few surviving documents written by Epicurus, so some of what we know of his views come from letters like this one.
Focus here on Epicurus' argument for why we shouldn't fear death, and see what you can get from the rest of the letter about how he thinks we should live (what things to focus on to live happily).
This reading can be found on the Library Online Course Reserves page for this course.

These short sayings espouse Epicurean principles, meant to be memorized and repeated to oneself so they can be ingrained in one's life and actions.
Many of these require further explanation to fully get, because they are so condensed and assume some background knowledge. So just read them, get what you can, and then get more from our class meetings!
You can read Epicurus' Principal Doctrines on the epicurism.info page Links to an external site..
- you can focus on numbers 1-8, 14-21, and 26-38 only

Tim O'Keefe, entry on Epicurus from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: section 5, letters a-f on Epicurus' ethics Links to an external site. (from Hedonism to Friendship) is most relevant to our discussion of Epicurus.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a clear discussion of Epicurus’ views on what kinds of pleasures are best Links to an external site. (as well as a discussion of the nature of the soul, and fate).

The Australian Broadcasting Company has a podcast series called The Philosophers’ Zone, and they have an episode on Epicurus. Links to an external site.

Here’s another podcast on Epicurus, by Peter Adamson, in the “History of Philosophy Without Gaps” podcast series. This one is called “Am I Bothered? Epicurean Ethics”. Links to an external site.

A video on Epicurus’ prescription for a happy life, from Wi-Phi: open access philosophy

We'll continue discussing Epicurus...

There will be student-led discussions in discussion meetings this week.

If you are leading a discussion in discussion meetings this week, be sure to post your discussion summary by 5pm on Monday, Jan. 21.
Do the readings on Nagel and ethical relativism for next week (see week 4)
If you want to earn participation marks through the discussion board, post on the board for Plato/Socrates, Epicurus, Nagel.

Image attribution: Bust of Epicurus Links to an external site., public domain on Wikimedia Commons