Congratulations!!! I think it is a reflection full of wisdom, what seems most relevant to me is that philosophy teaches you how to live, but in reality we do not fully understand what that means.
Thank you! I think we forget too that to be worth anything, it has to be an ongoing pursuit. It’s tempting to want the quick fix or the “hack” but a little improvement at a time feels more sustainable and fulfilling.
I became interested in Epicurean philosophy after realizing that it was an obscure, mostly-forgotten philosophical school founded in Athens roughly contemporaneously with Stoicism. Now there are legions of Stoics but practically no Epicureans. Why? Nobody is spreading the virtues of this particular way of thinking. That's why I'm doing.
I have wondered at times why there isn't more of an interest in Epicureanism (or perhaps there is and I just haven't encountered it). Obviously it lacks the popularization that Stoicism has had from writers like Ryan Holiday etc, and doesn't have well-known figures like Marcus Aurelius that can be compelling for those new to philosophy. From my understanding, it tends to be misunderstood too - often mistaken for hedonism. Have you found any other reasons or is it mostly that the virtues aren't talked about enough?
One simple reason is that most who know something about it tend to dismiss it out of hand. The rest have simply never heard of it. It has few champions, even among academics. This makes people who do encounter it assume it has some fatal flaw they just can’t see. Certainly it can’t have helped that most of what Epicurus wrote has been lost to history. But Roman Epicurean Lucretius inspired many thinkers and helped jumpstart the Enlightenment. Stephen Greenblatt details this in his book “The Swerve.” As a philosophy it has at least as much to offer as Stoicism does, though its value is different.
He does. Pigliucci has a complicated relationship to Epicureanism. He flirted with Epicureanism before becoming a Stoic. Sometimes he praises it, sometimes he dismisses it.
Ever feel like you’re just running through life on autopilot, handling whatever’s thrown at you without ever stopping to ask, Why am I doing this? Reading this reminds me how much we overcomplicate things that are, at their core, simple—like philosophy. It’s not about big, abstract ideas or quoting dead Greeks. It’s about asking better questions and living with intention.
Absolutely! It's less about providing all the solutions and more about learning to ask ourselves better questions (that, hopefully, eventually lead to good solutions.)
I am an 81 year old widow who was a practicing psychotherapist for 50 years. The discovery of the Stoic Philosophy became the underpinning of my therapeutic work, and my own life guide. I use it to navigate grief and the daily experience of being single after 52 years of a loving marriage. Your words today eloquently explain my own discoveries as I use philosophy to live the “virtuous” life. Thank you!
Thank you Connie! I do think it's something that can benefit anyone if practiced with some intention. The inspiration that different forms of psychotherapy took from Stoicism seems to be good evidence of this. On that note, I would recommend Donald Robertson's book The Philosophy of CBT if you haven't already read it!
Congratulations!!! I think it is a reflection full of wisdom, what seems most relevant to me is that philosophy teaches you how to live, but in reality we do not fully understand what that means.
Thank you! I think we forget too that to be worth anything, it has to be an ongoing pursuit. It’s tempting to want the quick fix or the “hack” but a little improvement at a time feels more sustainable and fulfilling.
I became interested in Epicurean philosophy after realizing that it was an obscure, mostly-forgotten philosophical school founded in Athens roughly contemporaneously with Stoicism. Now there are legions of Stoics but practically no Epicureans. Why? Nobody is spreading the virtues of this particular way of thinking. That's why I'm doing.
I have wondered at times why there isn't more of an interest in Epicureanism (or perhaps there is and I just haven't encountered it). Obviously it lacks the popularization that Stoicism has had from writers like Ryan Holiday etc, and doesn't have well-known figures like Marcus Aurelius that can be compelling for those new to philosophy. From my understanding, it tends to be misunderstood too - often mistaken for hedonism. Have you found any other reasons or is it mostly that the virtues aren't talked about enough?
I also tackle the question of why Stoicism is more popular than Epicureanism in more detail here: https://open.substack.com/pub/everydayepicurean/p/why-are-stoics-more-popular-than?r=48zswf&utm_medium=ios
One simple reason is that most who know something about it tend to dismiss it out of hand. The rest have simply never heard of it. It has few champions, even among academics. This makes people who do encounter it assume it has some fatal flaw they just can’t see. Certainly it can’t have helped that most of what Epicurus wrote has been lost to history. But Roman Epicurean Lucretius inspired many thinkers and helped jumpstart the Enlightenment. Stephen Greenblatt details this in his book “The Swerve.” As a philosophy it has at least as much to offer as Stoicism does, though its value is different.
Thanks for sharing, I'll add The Swerve to my ever-growing "to-read" list.
I think Massimo Pigliucci's latest book "Beyond Stoicism" looks at Epicureanism to some extent, although I haven't read it yet.
He does. Pigliucci has a complicated relationship to Epicureanism. He flirted with Epicureanism before becoming a Stoic. Sometimes he praises it, sometimes he dismisses it.
Ever feel like you’re just running through life on autopilot, handling whatever’s thrown at you without ever stopping to ask, Why am I doing this? Reading this reminds me how much we overcomplicate things that are, at their core, simple—like philosophy. It’s not about big, abstract ideas or quoting dead Greeks. It’s about asking better questions and living with intention.
Absolutely! It's less about providing all the solutions and more about learning to ask ourselves better questions (that, hopefully, eventually lead to good solutions.)
legendary
I am an 81 year old widow who was a practicing psychotherapist for 50 years. The discovery of the Stoic Philosophy became the underpinning of my therapeutic work, and my own life guide. I use it to navigate grief and the daily experience of being single after 52 years of a loving marriage. Your words today eloquently explain my own discoveries as I use philosophy to live the “virtuous” life. Thank you!
Thank you Connie! I do think it's something that can benefit anyone if practiced with some intention. The inspiration that different forms of psychotherapy took from Stoicism seems to be good evidence of this. On that note, I would recommend Donald Robertson's book The Philosophy of CBT if you haven't already read it!