The philosophy of Epicurus

This meetup we will be learning about Epicurus (341–270 BCE), the founder of Epicureanism, one of the four the great schools that dominated philosophy from the Hellenistic period into the Roman Empire.

Epicureanism contain a multitude of radical ideas. When Stoics and Platonists believed in an divinely ordered universe, Epicurus believed the universe to be just atoms and void. The gods, if they exist, take no interest in us. Death is the end of sensation, and so is nothing to fear. What remains according to Epicurus, is the question of how to live well in the short time we have. His answer centers on friendship, modest desires, and the removal of needless fear.

Despite Epicurus standing as one of the greatest ancient philosophers, very few of his writings has survived. Complete texts from Epicurus mainly stem from a single source. Part 10 of the Roman scholar Diogenes Laertus' (3rd century CE) book “Live's of the Eminent Philosophers”
During the meetup we will discuss book 10 by Diogenes Laertus (about 50 pages), letting us access pretty much all surviving works from Epicurus in a single reading. If you want to focus your reading, Epicurus letters to Herodotus (about physics/ontology) to Menoceus (about ethics) and his Maxims are probably the most philosophically interesting parts, whereas his letter to Phytocles (about meterology/astronomy) is a bit further away from what we today might consider philosophy.
The full text can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/epicurus2

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Stockholm Philosophy Study group is a group for thoughtful discussion on philosophical topics. Everyone is welcome regardless of previous philosophical experience, but we would like everyone you to read the text ahead of time as the conversation will revolve around it. This is a space were we learn from and listen to each other, our focus is on deliberation, not debate. If we are a large group, remember to leave room for everybody's voices to be heard. We read all sorts of philosophical texts, some are easier and some are difficult. If you don't understand everything, don't worry, we will make sense of it together. Our meetups are at a public café, so if you participate, please buy something from the café to support them.

Please note that this is a cross-post for an event being arranged via the Discord server. Discussion between meetups happens on Discord, and this group may be unmonitored. If you join the server you also get to vote on our coming readings, so please consider joining.

Hope to see you at the meetup!