Ben Bradley
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199557967
- eISBN:
- 9780191721205
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557967.001.1
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This book addresses philosophical questions about death and well‐being. It defends two main theses. The first is hedonism, or the view that pleasure is what has intrinsic value for us. The second is ...
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This book addresses philosophical questions about death and well‐being. It defends two main theses. The first is hedonism, or the view that pleasure is what has intrinsic value for us. The second is a difference‐making principle about value, according to which (i) the value of an event for a person is determined by the difference it makes to the intrinsic value of that person's life, and (ii) the value of an event for someone at a time is determined by the difference it makes to how well‐off the person is at that time. These views have the following implications: things that happen after someone has died cannot harm that person; death itself, however, is bad for people after they die (contrary to what Epicurus thought), by making its victim worse off at those later times; death is worse the earlier it occurs, so it is worse to die as an infant than as a young adult; death is bad for fetuses and animals in essentially the same way as it is for adult humans; the only sensible way to make death less bad is to live so long that no more of a good life is possible.Less
This book addresses philosophical questions about death and well‐being. It defends two main theses. The first is hedonism, or the view that pleasure is what has intrinsic value for us. The second is a difference‐making principle about value, according to which (i) the value of an event for a person is determined by the difference it makes to the intrinsic value of that person's life, and (ii) the value of an event for someone at a time is determined by the difference it makes to how well‐off the person is at that time. These views have the following implications: things that happen after someone has died cannot harm that person; death itself, however, is bad for people after they die (contrary to what Epicurus thought), by making its victim worse off at those later times; death is worse the earlier it occurs, so it is worse to die as an infant than as a young adult; death is bad for fetuses and animals in essentially the same way as it is for adult humans; the only sensible way to make death less bad is to live so long that no more of a good life is possible.
James Warren
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199252893
- eISBN:
- 9780191601408
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199252890.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
A comprehensive study and articulation of the interlocking Epicurean arguments against the fear of death found not only in the writings of Epicurus himself but also in Lucretius' poem De Rerum Natura ...
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A comprehensive study and articulation of the interlocking Epicurean arguments against the fear of death found not only in the writings of Epicurus himself but also in Lucretius' poem De Rerum Natura and in Philodemus' work De Morte. These arguments are central to the Epicurean project of providing ataraxia (tranquillity, freedom from anxiety) and therefore central to an understanding of Epicureanism as a whole. They also offer significant resources for modern discussions of the value of, and possible harm of, death. A number of modern philosophers' criticisms or defences of the Epicureans' views are examined and evaluated in the light of a detailed study of the precise form and intention of the Epicureans' original arguments. The Epicureans were interested in showing also that mortality is not to be regretted and that premature death is not to be feared. Their arguments for these conclusions are to be found in their positive conception of the nature of a good and complete life, which divorce the completeness of a life as far as possible from considerations of its duration. Later chapters investigate the nature of a life lived without the fear of death and pose serious problems for the Epicureans being able to allow any concern for the post mortem future and being able to offer a positive reason for prolonging a life which is already complete in their terms.Less
A comprehensive study and articulation of the interlocking Epicurean arguments against the fear of death found not only in the writings of Epicurus himself but also in Lucretius' poem De Rerum Natura and in Philodemus' work De Morte. These arguments are central to the Epicurean project of providing ataraxia (tranquillity, freedom from anxiety) and therefore central to an understanding of Epicureanism as a whole. They also offer significant resources for modern discussions of the value of, and possible harm of, death. A number of modern philosophers' criticisms or defences of the Epicureans' views are examined and evaluated in the light of a detailed study of the precise form and intention of the Epicureans' original arguments. The Epicureans were interested in showing also that mortality is not to be regretted and that premature death is not to be feared. Their arguments for these conclusions are to be found in their positive conception of the nature of a good and complete life, which divorce the completeness of a life as far as possible from considerations of its duration. Later chapters investigate the nature of a life lived without the fear of death and pose serious problems for the Epicureans being able to allow any concern for the post mortem future and being able to offer a positive reason for prolonging a life which is already complete in their terms.
J. C. B. Gosling and C. C. W. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 1982
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198246664
- eISBN:
- 9780191681035
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198246664.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book aims to provide a critical and analytical history of ancient Greek theories of the nature of pleasure and of its value and role in human life, from the earliest times down to the period of ...
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This book aims to provide a critical and analytical history of ancient Greek theories of the nature of pleasure and of its value and role in human life, from the earliest times down to the period of Epicurus and the early Stoics. While there have been many valuable studies of particular aspects of the topic, and several surveys of the treatment of pleasure by individual ancient writers (notably the monographs of Tenkku and Voigthinder on Plato, and Lieberg and Rieken on Aristotle), this is the first attempt at a comprehensive review of the contribution of the ancient Greeks to the theoretical understanding of pleasure. In view both of the central position which the major thinkers of the period accorded to the topic and of the inter-connectedness of many of their theories, the authors believe that the lack of such a study was a lacuna in the literature which they should attempt to fill.Less
This book aims to provide a critical and analytical history of ancient Greek theories of the nature of pleasure and of its value and role in human life, from the earliest times down to the period of Epicurus and the early Stoics. While there have been many valuable studies of particular aspects of the topic, and several surveys of the treatment of pleasure by individual ancient writers (notably the monographs of Tenkku and Voigthinder on Plato, and Lieberg and Rieken on Aristotle), this is the first attempt at a comprehensive review of the contribution of the ancient Greeks to the theoretical understanding of pleasure. In view both of the central position which the major thinkers of the period accorded to the topic and of the inter-connectedness of many of their theories, the authors believe that the lack of such a study was a lacuna in the literature which they should attempt to fill.
J. T. Vallance
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198242482
- eISBN:
- 9780191680489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198242482.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
The Asclepiadean corpuscular hypothesis can be seen for what it was. It was not Epicurean as to the extent that it stands in a tradition of ‘monistic theories’, the theory might broadly be termed ...
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The Asclepiadean corpuscular hypothesis can be seen for what it was. It was not Epicurean as to the extent that it stands in a tradition of ‘monistic theories’, the theory might broadly be termed ‘atomistic’, but this misrepresents it seriously. It was not Heraclidean either though this may come as a big surprise to those scholars who have assumed that Asclepiades is a transparent source for the Heraclidean theory. The corpuscular hypothesis of Asclepiades marks a notable attempt at pairing down the multiplicity of explanations of physiological and pathological phenomena. Not only does this type of activity lie in a well-attested Hippocratic tradition, but in one whose importance in the development of Hellenistic medicine seems often to be overlooked.Less
The Asclepiadean corpuscular hypothesis can be seen for what it was. It was not Epicurean as to the extent that it stands in a tradition of ‘monistic theories’, the theory might broadly be termed ‘atomistic’, but this misrepresents it seriously. It was not Heraclidean either though this may come as a big surprise to those scholars who have assumed that Asclepiades is a transparent source for the Heraclidean theory. The corpuscular hypothesis of Asclepiades marks a notable attempt at pairing down the multiplicity of explanations of physiological and pathological phenomena. Not only does this type of activity lie in a well-attested Hippocratic tradition, but in one whose importance in the development of Hellenistic medicine seems often to be overlooked.
Fred Feldman
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199265169
- eISBN:
- 9780191601385
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019926516X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Hedonism is the view that the Good Life is the pleasant life. The central aim of this book is to show that, when carefully and charitably interpreted, certain forms of hedonism yield plausible ...
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Hedonism is the view that the Good Life is the pleasant life. The central aim of this book is to show that, when carefully and charitably interpreted, certain forms of hedonism yield plausible evaluations of human lives. The forms defended understand pleasure as intrinsic attitudinal pleasure. Rejects all forms of sensory hedonism. Defends preferred forms of hedonism against a barrage of classic objections derived from Plato, Aristotle, Brentano, Moore, Ross, Rawls, and many others. Compares the author's forms of hedonism to the hedonistic views of Aristippus, Epicurus, Bentham, and Mill. Some views in value theory are typically thought to be anti‐hedonistic. Shows that some of these views are equivalent to forms of hedonism. Also defends the claim that all the allegedly hedonistic theories discussed in the book are properly classified as forms of ‘hedonism’. Near the end of the book, the author presents his vision of the Good Life and mentions some remaining problems.Less
Hedonism is the view that the Good Life is the pleasant life. The central aim of this book is to show that, when carefully and charitably interpreted, certain forms of hedonism yield plausible evaluations of human lives. The forms defended understand pleasure as intrinsic attitudinal pleasure. Rejects all forms of sensory hedonism. Defends preferred forms of hedonism against a barrage of classic objections derived from Plato, Aristotle, Brentano, Moore, Ross, Rawls, and many others. Compares the author's forms of hedonism to the hedonistic views of Aristippus, Epicurus, Bentham, and Mill. Some views in value theory are typically thought to be anti‐hedonistic. Shows that some of these views are equivalent to forms of hedonism. Also defends the claim that all the allegedly hedonistic theories discussed in the book are properly classified as forms of ‘hedonism’. Near the end of the book, the author presents his vision of the Good Life and mentions some remaining problems.
John Marenbon
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691142555
- eISBN:
- 9781400866359
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691142555.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter considers the highly paradoxical position occupied by ancient pagans, who are considered genuinely and outstandingly virtuous and yet at the same are condemned to Hell. This paradox is ...
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This chapter considers the highly paradoxical position occupied by ancient pagans, who are considered genuinely and outstandingly virtuous and yet at the same are condemned to Hell. This paradox is discussed in detail before the chapter goes on to explain Dante's position in this paradox, by looking at Dante's attitude to pagan wisdom and its relation to Christianity, especially his adoption, but transformation, of the position of limited relativism which strictly separates the spheres of philosophical enquiry and Christian doctrine. The damnation of virtuous pagans turns out to be the price required by this approach, which remains deliberately paradoxical, despite Dante's innovation of placing them in a special part of Hell, where there are no physical torments. Furthermore, the chapter looks at another aspect of Dante's discussion of paganism — his treatment of Epicurus and his followers — and links it to a comparison with his great admirer and commentator, Boccaccio.Less
This chapter considers the highly paradoxical position occupied by ancient pagans, who are considered genuinely and outstandingly virtuous and yet at the same are condemned to Hell. This paradox is discussed in detail before the chapter goes on to explain Dante's position in this paradox, by looking at Dante's attitude to pagan wisdom and its relation to Christianity, especially his adoption, but transformation, of the position of limited relativism which strictly separates the spheres of philosophical enquiry and Christian doctrine. The damnation of virtuous pagans turns out to be the price required by this approach, which remains deliberately paradoxical, despite Dante's innovation of placing them in a special part of Hell, where there are no physical torments. Furthermore, the chapter looks at another aspect of Dante's discussion of paganism — his treatment of Epicurus and his followers — and links it to a comparison with his great admirer and commentator, Boccaccio.
Catherine Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199238811
- eISBN:
- 9780191716492
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238811.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This book examines the role played by the rediscovery of the writings of the ancient atomists — the Greek philosopher Epicurus and his Latin successor, Titus Carus Lucretius — in the articulation of ...
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This book examines the role played by the rediscovery of the writings of the ancient atomists — the Greek philosopher Epicurus and his Latin successor, Titus Carus Lucretius — in the articulation of the major philosophical systems of the 17th century and the evolution of natural science, and moral and political philosophy. The book shows how the distinctive Epicurean image of the natural world as a product of time and chance — unsupervised by any god or gods — and of the social world as a sphere of human invention and moral equality, took hold in philosophy, and how Epicureanism is an acknowledged and often unacknowledged presence in the writings of Descartes, Gassendi, Hobbes, Boyle, Locke, Leibniz, and Berkeley. With chapters devoted to Epicurean physics and cosmology, the corpuscularian or ‘mechanical’ philosophy, the question of the mortality of the soul, the grounds of political authority, the contested nature of the experimental philosophy, sensuality, curiosity, and the role of pleasure and utility in ethics, the book makes a case for the significance of materialism in 17th-century philosophy, and for its continued importance in the contemporary world, without underestimating the depth and significance of the opposition to it in the Platonic and Stoic traditions. Lucretius's great poem, On the Nature of Things, supplies the frame of reference for this extended inquiry into the origins of modern philosophy.Less
This book examines the role played by the rediscovery of the writings of the ancient atomists — the Greek philosopher Epicurus and his Latin successor, Titus Carus Lucretius — in the articulation of the major philosophical systems of the 17th century and the evolution of natural science, and moral and political philosophy. The book shows how the distinctive Epicurean image of the natural world as a product of time and chance — unsupervised by any god or gods — and of the social world as a sphere of human invention and moral equality, took hold in philosophy, and how Epicureanism is an acknowledged and often unacknowledged presence in the writings of Descartes, Gassendi, Hobbes, Boyle, Locke, Leibniz, and Berkeley. With chapters devoted to Epicurean physics and cosmology, the corpuscularian or ‘mechanical’ philosophy, the question of the mortality of the soul, the grounds of political authority, the contested nature of the experimental philosophy, sensuality, curiosity, and the role of pleasure and utility in ethics, the book makes a case for the significance of materialism in 17th-century philosophy, and for its continued importance in the contemporary world, without underestimating the depth and significance of the opposition to it in the Platonic and Stoic traditions. Lucretius's great poem, On the Nature of Things, supplies the frame of reference for this extended inquiry into the origins of modern philosophy.
Zygmunt G. Baranński
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264133
- eISBN:
- 9780191734649
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264133.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter examines the structure of Petrarch's De Sui Ipsius et Multorum Ignorantia and his opinion on philosophers Epicurus and Averroës' views on the immortality of the soul. It discusses ...
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This chapter examines the structure of Petrarch's De Sui Ipsius et Multorum Ignorantia and his opinion on philosophers Epicurus and Averroës' views on the immortality of the soul. It discusses Petrarch's views on Epicurus and Averroës in the invective on ignorance in order to reach an overall perspective on his mature views of the intellectual life. It analyses De Ignorantia and suggests that it is appropriate to be run through with elements taken from both academic and popular Christianity given its concern with salvation and with the relationship between God and humanity.Less
This chapter examines the structure of Petrarch's De Sui Ipsius et Multorum Ignorantia and his opinion on philosophers Epicurus and Averroës' views on the immortality of the soul. It discusses Petrarch's views on Epicurus and Averroës in the invective on ignorance in order to reach an overall perspective on his mature views of the intellectual life. It analyses De Ignorantia and suggests that it is appropriate to be run through with elements taken from both academic and popular Christianity given its concern with salvation and with the relationship between God and humanity.
Bernard Schweizer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751389
- eISBN:
- 9780199894864
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751389.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Contrasting Swinburne’s carefree misotheistic candor, Zora Neal Hurston remained cryptic about her conflicted relationship with God. Partly because she was black and female, readers tend to overlook ...
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Contrasting Swinburne’s carefree misotheistic candor, Zora Neal Hurston remained cryptic about her conflicted relationship with God. Partly because she was black and female, readers tend to overlook indications of misotheism, even when they seem plain. Few, if any, critics have taken the words “all gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason” in Their Eyes Were Watching God as potentially targeting Yahweh as well as any other gods. Instead, critics have either ignored such passages in her work or tried to explain them away. This chapter offers fresh readings of Hurston’s acclaimed works, and it draws on private writings, letters, and memoirs to fill in the picture of Hurston’s latent misotheism. Finally, the author reveals a surprising web of concealed references to writers ranging from Epicurus to Proudhon and Nietzsche, to bolster his claim that Hurston was indeed as hostile to God as the thinkers who influenced her.Less
Contrasting Swinburne’s carefree misotheistic candor, Zora Neal Hurston remained cryptic about her conflicted relationship with God. Partly because she was black and female, readers tend to overlook indications of misotheism, even when they seem plain. Few, if any, critics have taken the words “all gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason” in Their Eyes Were Watching God as potentially targeting Yahweh as well as any other gods. Instead, critics have either ignored such passages in her work or tried to explain them away. This chapter offers fresh readings of Hurston’s acclaimed works, and it draws on private writings, letters, and memoirs to fill in the picture of Hurston’s latent misotheism. Finally, the author reveals a surprising web of concealed references to writers ranging from Epicurus to Proudhon and Nietzsche, to bolster his claim that Hurston was indeed as hostile to God as the thinkers who influenced her.
Bernard Schweizer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751389
- eISBN:
- 9780199894864
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751389.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter reveals the misotheistic core of Rebecca West’s ethos of heroism and rebellion. It also shows how carefully West mediated her private misotheism as if dreading to admit the full ...
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This chapter reveals the misotheistic core of Rebecca West’s ethos of heroism and rebellion. It also shows how carefully West mediated her private misotheism as if dreading to admit the full implications of this view even to herself. Historically, one of the most searing indictments of God is her unpublished manuscript, written during World War I, in which West rails against God as a “master criminal.” Traces of misotheism can be found throughout her fiction and non-fiction, if one looks for them. Indeed, just like Hurston, West has not heretofore been known as an opponent of God. By connecting the dots, the author reveals a tortured spiritual journey. Indeed, West went from being a fervent misotheist in her twenties, to trying to convert to Catholicism in middle age in an attempt to stop wrestling with God; but the reconciliation failed, and she became again hostile to God toward the end of her life.Less
This chapter reveals the misotheistic core of Rebecca West’s ethos of heroism and rebellion. It also shows how carefully West mediated her private misotheism as if dreading to admit the full implications of this view even to herself. Historically, one of the most searing indictments of God is her unpublished manuscript, written during World War I, in which West rails against God as a “master criminal.” Traces of misotheism can be found throughout her fiction and non-fiction, if one looks for them. Indeed, just like Hurston, West has not heretofore been known as an opponent of God. By connecting the dots, the author reveals a tortured spiritual journey. Indeed, West went from being a fervent misotheist in her twenties, to trying to convert to Catholicism in middle age in an attempt to stop wrestling with God; but the reconciliation failed, and she became again hostile to God toward the end of her life.
Catherine Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199238811
- eISBN:
- 9780191716492
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238811.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter contains an historical sketch of the circumstances surrounding the recovery of the text of Lucretius's On the Nature of Things and the spread of Epicureanism from Italy to France and ...
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This chapter contains an historical sketch of the circumstances surrounding the recovery of the text of Lucretius's On the Nature of Things and the spread of Epicureanism from Italy to France and Great Britain. The main tenets of Epicureanism, including the theory of atoms, the denial of providence, the mortality of the soul, the role of pleasure in ethics, and the existence of a plurality of independent worlds, are surveyed. The opposition of the Stoics and the distortions introduced by early Christian writers are discussed, along with Gassendi's role as an apologist for Epicurus in the mid-17th century, and the contributions of Galileo, Descartes, Cavendish, and Charleton to the positive reception and visibility of the recovered doctrine.Less
This chapter contains an historical sketch of the circumstances surrounding the recovery of the text of Lucretius's On the Nature of Things and the spread of Epicureanism from Italy to France and Great Britain. The main tenets of Epicureanism, including the theory of atoms, the denial of providence, the mortality of the soul, the role of pleasure in ethics, and the existence of a plurality of independent worlds, are surveyed. The opposition of the Stoics and the distortions introduced by early Christian writers are discussed, along with Gassendi's role as an apologist for Epicurus in the mid-17th century, and the contributions of Galileo, Descartes, Cavendish, and Charleton to the positive reception and visibility of the recovered doctrine.
Brad Inwood
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203956
- eISBN:
- 9780191708244
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203956.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines what makes Seneca's philosophical letters work the way they do for their readers and why they were written the way they were. In this discussion, it is suggested that some of ...
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This chapter examines what makes Seneca's philosophical letters work the way they do for their readers and why they were written the way they were. In this discussion, it is suggested that some of the striking features of the letters owe more than has yet been appreciated to the influence of the models Seneca had in view when he composed the collection and the formal constraints imposed by the epistolary genre. Based on Seneca's character and motivation, the chapter explores why he wrote in epistolary form, or why, at the end of a long life and a long and tumultuous political career, and (perhaps most relevant) at the end of a brilliant literary career of unmatched versatility, he wrote letters in the first place.Less
This chapter examines what makes Seneca's philosophical letters work the way they do for their readers and why they were written the way they were. In this discussion, it is suggested that some of the striking features of the letters owe more than has yet been appreciated to the influence of the models Seneca had in view when he composed the collection and the formal constraints imposed by the epistolary genre. Based on Seneca's character and motivation, the chapter explores why he wrote in epistolary form, or why, at the end of a long life and a long and tumultuous political career, and (perhaps most relevant) at the end of a brilliant literary career of unmatched versatility, he wrote letters in the first place.
Voula Tsouna
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199292172
- eISBN:
- 9780191711770
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199292172.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter outlines the fundamental principles of Philodemus' ethics in connection with the canonical views of the Epicurean school, and points to his own original contributions. It examines the ...
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This chapter outlines the fundamental principles of Philodemus' ethics in connection with the canonical views of the Epicurean school, and points to his own original contributions. It examines the central features of Philodemus' hedonism, which sometimes are stated but often merely presupposed, and also looks at elements of his approach to the virtues and friendship. It draws evidence from the text [On Choices and Avoidances] and from the eulogy On Epicurus both of which can confidently be attributed to Philodemus, and also from the first and the second books of Cicero's De finibus.Less
This chapter outlines the fundamental principles of Philodemus' ethics in connection with the canonical views of the Epicurean school, and points to his own original contributions. It examines the central features of Philodemus' hedonism, which sometimes are stated but often merely presupposed, and also looks at elements of his approach to the virtues and friendship. It draws evidence from the text [On Choices and Avoidances] and from the eulogy On Epicurus both of which can confidently be attributed to Philodemus, and also from the first and the second books of Cicero's De finibus.
Gerard Passannante
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226648491
- eISBN:
- 9780226648514
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226648514.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This book offers a radical rethinking of a familiar narrative: the rise of materialism in early modern Europe. It begins by taking up the ancient philosophical notion that the world is composed of ...
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This book offers a radical rethinking of a familiar narrative: the rise of materialism in early modern Europe. It begins by taking up the ancient philosophical notion that the world is composed of two fundamental opposites: atoms, as the philosopher Epicurus theorized, intrinsically unchangeable and moving about the void; and the void itself, or nothingness. The book considers the fact that this strain of ancient Greek philosophy survived and was transmitted to the Renaissance primarily by means of a poem that had seemingly been lost—a poem insisting that the letters of the alphabet are like the atoms that make up the universe. By tracing this elemental analogy through the fortunes of Lucretius's On the Nature of Things, it argues that, long before it took on its familiar shape during the Scientific Revolution, the philosophy of atoms and the void reemerged in the Renaissance as a story about reading and letters—a story that materialized in texts, in their physical recomposition, and in their scattering. From the works of Virgil and Macrobius to those of Petrarch, Poliziano, Lambin, Montaigne, Bacon, Spenser, Gassendi, Henry More, and Newton, the book recovers a forgotten history of materialism in humanist thought and scholarly practice, and asks us to reconsider one of the most enduring questions of the period: what does it mean for a text, a poem, and philosophy to be “reborn”?Less
This book offers a radical rethinking of a familiar narrative: the rise of materialism in early modern Europe. It begins by taking up the ancient philosophical notion that the world is composed of two fundamental opposites: atoms, as the philosopher Epicurus theorized, intrinsically unchangeable and moving about the void; and the void itself, or nothingness. The book considers the fact that this strain of ancient Greek philosophy survived and was transmitted to the Renaissance primarily by means of a poem that had seemingly been lost—a poem insisting that the letters of the alphabet are like the atoms that make up the universe. By tracing this elemental analogy through the fortunes of Lucretius's On the Nature of Things, it argues that, long before it took on its familiar shape during the Scientific Revolution, the philosophy of atoms and the void reemerged in the Renaissance as a story about reading and letters—a story that materialized in texts, in their physical recomposition, and in their scattering. From the works of Virgil and Macrobius to those of Petrarch, Poliziano, Lambin, Montaigne, Bacon, Spenser, Gassendi, Henry More, and Newton, the book recovers a forgotten history of materialism in humanist thought and scholarly practice, and asks us to reconsider one of the most enduring questions of the period: what does it mean for a text, a poem, and philosophy to be “reborn”?
Richard Fletcher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199794959
- eISBN:
- 9780199949694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794959.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy, European History: BCE to 500CE
In “Epicurus’s Mistresses: Pleasure, Authority, and Gender in the Reception of the Kuriai Doxai in the Second Sophistic,” Richard Fletcher faces head-on the “willful misrepresentation” of ...
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In “Epicurus’s Mistresses: Pleasure, Authority, and Gender in the Reception of the Kuriai Doxai in the Second Sophistic,” Richard Fletcher faces head-on the “willful misrepresentation” of Epicureanism by some of its earliest critics who were active in the lively intellectual milieu of the second-century CE Greco-Roman world. Fletcher advocates a “contextual” reading of Epicureanism, one that embeds it in the sexual and philosophical politics of self-fashioning in this period. By way of illustration, he zeroes in on one of Alciphron’s fictional Letters of Courtesans, purportedly written by the Epicurean courtesan Leontion. Fletcher shows how the common accusations against Epicurus at this time (and for centuries)—too little spirituality, too much sensuality—become creative and complex challenges to philosophical authority in Alciphron’s playful text. Leontion complains not only about her sexual enslavement to Epicurus, but also, jealously, about her lover’s devotion to the master’s “windy doctrines.” She thus draws an analogy between her subordination to her master’s pleasures and her lover’s blind attachment to the pleasure promised by his philosophical master.Less
In “Epicurus’s Mistresses: Pleasure, Authority, and Gender in the Reception of the Kuriai Doxai in the Second Sophistic,” Richard Fletcher faces head-on the “willful misrepresentation” of Epicureanism by some of its earliest critics who were active in the lively intellectual milieu of the second-century CE Greco-Roman world. Fletcher advocates a “contextual” reading of Epicureanism, one that embeds it in the sexual and philosophical politics of self-fashioning in this period. By way of illustration, he zeroes in on one of Alciphron’s fictional Letters of Courtesans, purportedly written by the Epicurean courtesan Leontion. Fletcher shows how the common accusations against Epicurus at this time (and for centuries)—too little spirituality, too much sensuality—become creative and complex challenges to philosophical authority in Alciphron’s playful text. Leontion complains not only about her sexual enslavement to Epicurus, but also, jealously, about her lover’s devotion to the master’s “windy doctrines.” She thus draws an analogy between her subordination to her master’s pleasures and her lover’s blind attachment to the pleasure promised by his philosophical master.
Adam Rzepka
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199794959
- eISBN:
- 9780199949694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794959.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy, European History: BCE to 500CE
Exploring the limitations of current scholarly discourse on the presence of Lucretius in literature of Elizabethan England, Adam Rzepka, in his paper “Discourse ex nihilo: Epicurus and Lucretius in ...
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Exploring the limitations of current scholarly discourse on the presence of Lucretius in literature of Elizabethan England, Adam Rzepka, in his paper “Discourse ex nihilo: Epicurus and Lucretius in sixteenth-century England,” confronts the notion that the De Rerum Natura figures the poetics of its own subsequent transmission. Drawing upon Michel Serres and Jacques Lezra, who have both used Lucretian terms (swerve, eventum [“accident”]) to figure discourse, he urges the need for a more mobile, complex model of discursive interaction during the Elizabethan period, which heretofore has presented Lucretian influence as a sudden, ex nihilo (and therefore highly un-Lucretian) occurrence.Less
Exploring the limitations of current scholarly discourse on the presence of Lucretius in literature of Elizabethan England, Adam Rzepka, in his paper “Discourse ex nihilo: Epicurus and Lucretius in sixteenth-century England,” confronts the notion that the De Rerum Natura figures the poetics of its own subsequent transmission. Drawing upon Michel Serres and Jacques Lezra, who have both used Lucretian terms (swerve, eventum [“accident”]) to figure discourse, he urges the need for a more mobile, complex model of discursive interaction during the Elizabethan period, which heretofore has presented Lucretian influence as a sudden, ex nihilo (and therefore highly un-Lucretian) occurrence.
James A. Steintrager
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199794959
- eISBN:
- 9780199949694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794959.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy, European History: BCE to 500CE
In “Oscillate and Reflect: La Mettrie, Materialist Physiology, and the Revival of the Epicurean Canonic,” James Steintrager studies the radical wing of French Enlightenment philosophy, which tended ...
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In “Oscillate and Reflect: La Mettrie, Materialist Physiology, and the Revival of the Epicurean Canonic,” James Steintrager studies the radical wing of French Enlightenment philosophy, which tended towards implicit atheism and more open materialism, two positions often called (by proponents and scholars) “Epicurean.” Intellectual historians have understood this Epicureanism to entail a materialist physics—chiefly, atomism—and an ethics that eschews above all fear of the gods. In its more libertine guise, this “Epicurean” ethics also advocates sensual pleasure as the sovereign good. Steintrager argues that while associating radical philosophie with Epicurean physics and ethics makes good sense, limiting ourselves to these branches of philosophy overlooks the crucial revival of the Epicurean “canonic” (its explanation of the empirical bases of knowledge) in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Less
In “Oscillate and Reflect: La Mettrie, Materialist Physiology, and the Revival of the Epicurean Canonic,” James Steintrager studies the radical wing of French Enlightenment philosophy, which tended towards implicit atheism and more open materialism, two positions often called (by proponents and scholars) “Epicurean.” Intellectual historians have understood this Epicureanism to entail a materialist physics—chiefly, atomism—and an ethics that eschews above all fear of the gods. In its more libertine guise, this “Epicurean” ethics also advocates sensual pleasure as the sovereign good. Steintrager argues that while associating radical philosophie with Epicurean physics and ethics makes good sense, limiting ourselves to these branches of philosophy overlooks the crucial revival of the Epicurean “canonic” (its explanation of the empirical bases of knowledge) in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Anthony Curtis Adler
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199794959
- eISBN:
- 9780199949694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794959.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy, European History: BCE to 500CE
In “Sensual Idealism: The Spirit of Epicureanism and the Politics of Finitude in Kant and Hölderlin,” Anthony Adler studies Kant’s idiosyncratic and surprisingly positive reception of Epicureanism. ...
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In “Sensual Idealism: The Spirit of Epicureanism and the Politics of Finitude in Kant and Hölderlin,” Anthony Adler studies Kant’s idiosyncratic and surprisingly positive reception of Epicureanism. Adler argues that despite his rejection of Epicureanism as dogmatic doctrine, Kant nonetheless endorses, and remains engaged with, the spirit of Epicureanism throughout his critical philosophy. Particularly important to this discussion is Kant’s reading of the Epicurean technical term, prolēpsis, which the German views as an anticipation of his own a priori concepts. As a coda to his study of Kant, Adler examines Hölderlin’s largely unrecognized engagement with Kant’s reformulation of Epicureanism in his Death of Empedocles.Less
In “Sensual Idealism: The Spirit of Epicureanism and the Politics of Finitude in Kant and Hölderlin,” Anthony Adler studies Kant’s idiosyncratic and surprisingly positive reception of Epicureanism. Adler argues that despite his rejection of Epicureanism as dogmatic doctrine, Kant nonetheless endorses, and remains engaged with, the spirit of Epicureanism throughout his critical philosophy. Particularly important to this discussion is Kant’s reading of the Epicurean technical term, prolēpsis, which the German views as an anticipation of his own a priori concepts. As a coda to his study of Kant, Adler examines Hölderlin’s largely unrecognized engagement with Kant’s reformulation of Epicureanism in his Death of Empedocles.
Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199794959
- eISBN:
- 9780199949694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794959.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy, European History: BCE to 500CE
Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft, with his paper “From Heresy to Nature: Leo Strauss’s History of Modern Epicureanism,” traces the varying roles of the “Epicurean” throughout Strauss’s ...
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Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft, with his paper “From Heresy to Nature: Leo Strauss’s History of Modern Epicureanism,” traces the varying roles of the “Epicurean” throughout Strauss’s corpus. Wurgaft shows that, despite Strauss’s leanings towards and frequent association with Platonism, Epicureanism nonetheless plays a substantial role in defining his conception of philosophy. In particular, Strauss’s early reflection on Epicureanism as heretical religious critique seems to bear a certain attraction (if only by implication) for Strauss, who denies philosophers the ability to submit to the “salutary law” of religion. At the heart of this attraction lies a particular cross-linguistic pun: apikores (Hbr. “heretic”) phonetically (and perhaps etymologically) suggests Epicurean.Less
Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft, with his paper “From Heresy to Nature: Leo Strauss’s History of Modern Epicureanism,” traces the varying roles of the “Epicurean” throughout Strauss’s corpus. Wurgaft shows that, despite Strauss’s leanings towards and frequent association with Platonism, Epicureanism nonetheless plays a substantial role in defining his conception of philosophy. In particular, Strauss’s early reflection on Epicureanism as heretical religious critique seems to bear a certain attraction (if only by implication) for Strauss, who denies philosophers the ability to submit to the “salutary law” of religion. At the heart of this attraction lies a particular cross-linguistic pun: apikores (Hbr. “heretic”) phonetically (and perhaps etymologically) suggests Epicurean.
Ben Bradley
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199557967
- eISBN:
- 9780191721205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199557967.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Epicurus argued that death cannot be bad for its victim, because there is no time at which it could be bad; it is not bad before it occurs, because the victim is still alive, and it is not bad once ...
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Epicurus argued that death cannot be bad for its victim, because there is no time at which it could be bad; it is not bad before it occurs, because the victim is still alive, and it is not bad once it occurs, because from that moment on the victim ceases to exist as a subject of harm. This chapter argues for a position called subsequentism, or the view that death is bad for its victim at moments after the person dies–in particular, at those moments at which the victim would have been well‐off had she not died when she did. It is argued that an individual need not exist at a time in order to have a well‐being level at that time. Other responses to Epicurus are shown to be inadequate.Less
Epicurus argued that death cannot be bad for its victim, because there is no time at which it could be bad; it is not bad before it occurs, because the victim is still alive, and it is not bad once it occurs, because from that moment on the victim ceases to exist as a subject of harm. This chapter argues for a position called subsequentism, or the view that death is bad for its victim at moments after the person dies–in particular, at those moments at which the victim would have been well‐off had she not died when she did. It is argued that an individual need not exist at a time in order to have a well‐being level at that time. Other responses to Epicurus are shown to be inadequate.
