Saturday, February 22, 2014

New Philodemus series at Society of Epicurus


  • The following are the first two in a series of reasonings based on the writings of 1st Century Epicurean philosopher Philodemus of Gadara, who taught philosophy in Rome and whose scrolls were kept in the Herculaneum and, in the year 70, mostly destroyed by the Mount Vesuvius explosion.

  • His scrolls were rediscovered in recent centuries and fragments have been brought back to see the light of day, which allows us to be able to taste the ripened fruits of Epicurean philosophy as it was taught in a second layer of culture --wealthy Rome, no longer the philosophy's Hellenic Greek cradle.

Peri Oikonomias (On Property Management) is a commentary on a previous work by the same name that emerged from another school of philosophy.  It presents an Epicurean manual on how to manage our estate.  In these two pieces written for the Society of Friends of Epicurus, I distill the teachings of Philodemus for a contemporary audience and considering how the teachings can be applied in the contemporary world.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Boycotting Homophobia

A list of sponsors of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is graciously provided by the host country.  It includes Coca Cola and McDonalds among its sponsors.

For more on why there is a boycott, you may want to visit the Boycott Sochi facebook page.  An article from the Spectator argues that Putin chose to pick on the wrong minority, and on how it will backfire.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Happy 20th! is live

January 2014 saw the inaugural issue of the Society of Friends of Epicurus' newsletter, titled Happy 20th.  SFE is the first contemporary attempt a Humanist missionary work of this kind and is dedicated to the teaching mission of the Epicurean Gardens.  If you're interested in Humanism, philosophy, prudence, criticizing consumerism, living a frugal and simple lifestyle, minimalism, Zen, and critical thinking, please subscribe and share!