RE: Epicureanism: a sucular doctrine for happiness
January 9, 2013 at 10:31 pm
(This post was last modified: January 9, 2013 at 10:32 pm by Hiram.)
(January 9, 2013 at 10:12 pm)jonb Wrote: It is not a bad way of thinking if you don't mind about your waste-line, and you can avoid the tendency of epicureans to blame others for being in bad situations, because of the dogma evil is easy to avoid.
... Philosophical hedonism is not the hedonism that is understood today (due, in part to Christian propaganda throughout the dark ages). Epicurus spoke against overeating or overindulging in any desire (desires, when they generate pain or suffering, or when driven to excess, are to be avoided in his teaching). Thomas Jefferson in his letter to Short spoke about this in particular.
Not sure where you derive the bit on blaming others. Sources? Epicurus expounded this through the discernment of desires (necessary versus unnecessary). Unnecessary desires are those that generate pain / ergo are evil because pain in inherently an evil.
