Epicurus: The Art of Happiness (Pre Read)

Exercise yourself in these and kindred precepts day and night, both by yourself and with him who is like to you; then never, either in waking or in dream, will you be disturbed, but will live as a god among people. For people lose all appearance of mortality by living in the midst of immortal blessings. (Epicurus)

Though popular, Epicurean teachings were controversial from the beginning. Throughout the Middle Ages Epicurus was popularly, though inaccurately, remembered as a patron of drunkards, whoremongers, and gluttons. His teachings gradually became more widely known in the fifteenth century with the rediscovery of important texts, but his ideas did not become acceptable until the seventeenth century, when the French Catholic priest Pierre Gassendi revived a modified version of them. His influence grew considerably during and after the Enlightenment, profoundly impacting the ideas of major thinkers, including John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Jeremy Bentham, and Karl Marx. (Wikipedia)

We will read the Letter to Menoeceus and the Principal Doctrines (aka Leading Doctrines) by Epicurus.

You can find them in this pdf of Penguin's 2012 edition of Epicurus: The Art of Happiness, or here on Wikimedia. (They are different translations.)

The second letter (the Letter to Herodotus) we might read on a separate meeting in the History of Science group.

Wikipedia backgrounder on Epicurus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicurus

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We all seek meaning in our lives and dread futility. Philosophy doesn't provide facile answers, but the philosophical quest to make sense of our fleeting lives is one that we all share.

This group will explore possible answers by looking at a mixture of approaches. Not only philosophical writing, but also literature, history, poetry and films.

The organizer is not an expert in any of these writers but has a long experience in organizing similar meetings. He also has an Oxford PhD in European History as well as a Cambridge MPhil on the same discipline. He currently teaches foreign languages.