Bertrand Russell (History of Western Philosophy; I am in no position to judge his accuracy here) describes Epicureanism as dominated by the avoidance of pain. Small helpings of simple food, for fear of indigestion. Avoid sexual entanglements, for fear of heartache. Very different from the modern concept.
When a friend said, “You are a Buddhist and don’t even know it.” (Living in the now with minimal possessions.) I replied, “No...I’m closer to a Stoic.” He laughed, “You?...Mr. Complainer?” (We studied at NYU together so he can get away with saying that to me at my age.) This article should be email blasted to everyone’s inbox like a pandemic advisory. It’s on par with taking the red or the blue pill in The Matrix. Well done. 👏
What a good description of the main streams of ancient philosophy and how the distortions of Christian polemics impacted our common modern understanding of these terms. Thanks for your ongoing efforts to reclaim these helpful, therapeutic approaches to life.
Not sure I agree with all of your description of the modern usages.
Isn't a cynic especially someone who expects bad motives from other people? (esp. their self-interest)
Among the self-declared skeptics we have climate and vax skeptics. They don't really fit the gloom label as they believe that things will turn out well without the measures they dislike.
Not sure if the present-day word for epicureans is pejorative. We don't use that word for a 20-beers-a-night type? But rather for someone who is able to distinguish 20 different grapes (wine). With hedonists this is less clear, sure.
Thank you, I wondered about that. I wasn’t sure if their pejorative sense was unique to the English language or was widely shared with other European languages
Bertrand Russell (History of Western Philosophy; I am in no position to judge his accuracy here) describes Epicureanism as dominated by the avoidance of pain. Small helpings of simple food, for fear of indigestion. Avoid sexual entanglements, for fear of heartache. Very different from the modern concept.
Massimo, you might find the derivation of the Hebrew word Apikoros interesting:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epikoros
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfp8xrNAS6I
When a friend said, “You are a Buddhist and don’t even know it.” (Living in the now with minimal possessions.) I replied, “No...I’m closer to a Stoic.” He laughed, “You?...Mr. Complainer?” (We studied at NYU together so he can get away with saying that to me at my age.) This article should be email blasted to everyone’s inbox like a pandemic advisory. It’s on par with taking the red or the blue pill in The Matrix. Well done. 👏
What a good description of the main streams of ancient philosophy and how the distortions of Christian polemics impacted our common modern understanding of these terms. Thanks for your ongoing efforts to reclaim these helpful, therapeutic approaches to life.
Not sure I agree with all of your description of the modern usages.
Isn't a cynic especially someone who expects bad motives from other people? (esp. their self-interest)
Among the self-declared skeptics we have climate and vax skeptics. They don't really fit the gloom label as they believe that things will turn out well without the measures they dislike.
Not sure if the present-day word for epicureans is pejorative. We don't use that word for a 20-beers-a-night type? But rather for someone who is able to distinguish 20 different grapes (wine). With hedonists this is less clear, sure.
Thank you, I wondered about that. I wasn’t sure if their pejorative sense was unique to the English language or was widely shared with other European languages