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Single Idea 1845

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 1. Contractarianism ]

Full Idea

Justice has no independent existence; it results from mutual contracts, and establishes itself wherever there is a mutual engagement to guard against doing or sustaining mutual injury.

Gist of Idea

Justice has no independent existence, but arises entirely from keeping contracts

Source

Epicurus (fragments/reports [c.289 BCE]), quoted by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 10.31.35

Book Ref

Diogenes Laertius: 'Diogenes Laertius', ed/tr. Yonge,C.D. [Henry G. Bohn 1853], p.478

The 101 ideas from Epicurus

14027 If we are to use words in enquiry, we need their main, unambiguous and uncontested meanings [Epicurus]
14028 Nothing comes to be from what doesn't exist [Epicurus]
14029 If disappearing things went to nothingness, nothing could return, and it would all be gone by now [Epicurus]
14030 The totality is complete, so there is no room for it to change, and nothing extraneous to change it [Epicurus]
14031 Space must exist, since movement is obvious, and there must be somewhere to move in [Epicurus]
14032 Totality has no edge; an edge implies a contrast beyond the edge, and there can't be one [Epicurus]
14033 Bodies are unlimited as well as void, since the two necessarily go together [Epicurus]
14034 There exists an infinity of each shape of atom, but the number of shapes is beyond our knowledge [Epicurus]
14035 Atoms just have shape, size and weight; colour results from their arrangement [Epicurus]
14036 There are endless cosmoi, some like and some unlike this one [Epicurus]
6010 Illusions are not false perceptions, as we accurately perceive the pattern of atoms [Epicurus, by Modrak]
14037 Atoms only have shape, weight and size, and the properties which accompany shape [Epicurus]
14038 There cannot be unlimited division, because it would reduce things to non-existence [Epicurus]
14039 Above and below us will never appear to be the same, because it is inconceivable [Epicurus]
14040 Observation and applied thought are always true [Epicurus]
14041 The soul is fine parts distributed through the body, resembling hot breath [Epicurus]
14042 The soul cannot be incorporeal, because then it could neither act nor be acted upon [Epicurus]
14043 The void cannot interact, but just gives the possibility of motion [Epicurus]
14044 The perceived accidental properties of bodies cannot be conceived of as independent natures [Epicurus]
14045 Accidental properties give a body its nature, but are not themselves bodies or parts of bodies [Epicurus]
14046 A 'body' is a conception of an aggregate, with properties defined by application conditions [Epicurus]
14047 Bodies have impermanent properties, and permanent ones which define its conceived nature [Epicurus]
14048 Astronomical movements are blessed, but they don't need the help of the gods [Epicurus]
14049 We aim to know the natures which are observed in natural phenomena [Epicurus]
14050 We aim to dissolve our fears, by understanding their causes [Epicurus]
14052 Begin philosophy when you are young, and keep going when you are old [Epicurus]
14054 Fearing death is absurd, because we are not present when it occurs [Epicurus]
14053 It is absurd to fear the pain of death when you are not even facing it [Epicurus]
14055 The wisdom that produces a good life also produces a good death [Epicurus]
14056 We only need pleasure when we have the pain of desire [Epicurus]
1833 Pleasure is the first good in life [Epicurus]
14057 All pleasures are good, but it is not always right to choose them [Epicurus]
14058 Pleasure is the goal, but as lack of pain and calm mind, not as depraved or greedy pleasure [Epicurus]
1835 True pleasure is not debauchery, but freedom from physical and mental pain [Epicurus]
14059 The best life is not sensuality, but rational choice and healthy opinion [Epicurus]
14060 Prudence is the greatest good, and more valuable than philosophy, because it produces virtue [Epicurus]
1836 Prudence is more valuable than philosophy, because it avoids confusions of the soul [Epicurus]
14061 Our own choices are autonomous, and the basis for praise and blame [Epicurus]
1837 We should not refer things to irresponsible necessity, but either to fortune or to our own will [Epicurus]
14062 Sooner follow mythology, than accept the 'fate' of natural philosophers [Epicurus]
14063 Sooner a good decision going wrong, than a bad one turning out for the good [Epicurus]
1828 God does not intervene in heavenly movements, but is beyond all action and perfectly happy [Epicurus]
14051 A cosmos is a collection of stars and an earth, with some sort of boundary, movement and shape [Epicurus]
21386 We should accept as explanations all the plausible ways in which something could come about [Epicurus]
14526 The rational soul is in the chest, and the non-rational soul is spread through the body [Epicurus]
6035 Soul is made of four stuffs, giving warmth, rest, motion and perception [Epicurus, by Aetius]
1831 Wise men should partake of life even if they go blind [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
6018 Epicurus was the first to see the free will problem, and he was a libertarian [Epicurus, by Long/Sedley]
20922 Epicurus showed that the swerve can give free motion in the atoms [Epicurus, by Diogenes of Oen.]
14525 Stoics say time is incorporeal and self-sufficient; Epicurus says it is a property of properties of things [Epicurus]
1909 How can pleasure or judgement occur in a heap of atoms? [Sext.Empiricus on Epicurus]
7814 It was Epicurus who made the question of the will's freedom central to ethics [Epicurus, by Grayling]
1845 Justice has no independent existence, but arises entirely from keeping contracts [Epicurus]
1839 Pains of the soul are worse than pains of the body, because it feels the past and future [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1842 Pleasures only differ in their duration and the part of the body affected [Epicurus]
1840 Pleasure is the chief good because it is the most natural, especially for animals [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1841 We choose virtue because of pleasure, not for its own sake [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1843 Friendship is by far the most important ingredient of a complete and happy life [Epicurus]
1829 A wise man would be happy even under torture [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
2633 Epicurus saw that gods must exist, because nature has imprinted them on human minds [Epicurus, by Cicero]
3557 The end for Epicurus is static pleasure [Epicurus, by Annas]
1823 We can't seek for things if we have no idea of them [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1821 Sensations cannot be judged, because similar sensations have equal value, and different ones have nothing in common [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1822 Reason can't judge senses, as it is based on them [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1482 If two people disagree over taste, who is right? [Epicurus, by Plutarch]
1483 Bath water is too hot for some, too cold for others [Epicurus, by Plutarch]
4549 Epicurus denied knowledge in order to retain morality or hedonism as the highest values [Nietzsche on Epicurus]
2668 Epicurus says if one of a man's senses ever lies, none of his senses should ever be believed [Epicurus, by Cicero]
3562 Fine things are worthless if they give no pleasure [Epicurus]
21668 Epicurus rejected excluded middle, because accepting it for events is fatalistic [Epicurus, by Cicero]
21676 Epicureans say disjunctions can be true whiile the disjuncts are not true [Epicurus, by Cicero]
13291 Slavery to philosophy brings true freedom [Epicurus]
22733 Epicurus accepted God in his popular works, but not in his writings on nature [Epicurus, by Sext.Empiricus]
2670 Epicurus despises and laughs at the whole of dialectic [Epicurus, by Cicero]
22758 Philosophy aims at a happy life, through argument and discussion [Epicurus]
14523 We should come to philosophy free from any taint of culture [Epicurus]
1484 We should say nothing of the whole if our contact is with the parts [Epicurus, by Plutarch]
1824 To name something, you must already have an idea of what it is [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1820 The criteria of truth are senses, preconceptions and passions [Epicurus, by Diog. Laertius]
1487 When entering a dark room it is colourless, but colour gradually appears [Epicurus]
2639 Some say Epicurus only pretended to believe in the gods, so as not to offend Athenians [Epicurus, by Cicero]
2637 For Epicureans gods are made of atoms, and are not eternal [Epicurus, by Cicero]
12044 Only Epicurus denied purpose in nature, for the whole world, or for its parts [Epicurus, by Annas]
20907 Democritus says atoms have size and shape, and Epicurus added weight [Epicurus, by Ps-Plutarch]
21669 Atoms don't swerve by being struck, because they move in parallel, so the swerve is uncaused [Cicero on Epicurus]
21680 What causes atomic swerves? Do they draw lots? What decides the size or number of swerves? [Cicero on Epicurus]
14527 If god answered prayers we would be destroyed, because we pray for others to suffer [Epicurus]
14516 There is no necessity to live with necessity [Epicurus]
22240 The aim of medicine is removal of sickness, and philosophy similarly removes our affections [Epicurus]
5949 Epicurus says colours are relative to the eye, not intrinsic to bodies [Epicurus, by Plutarch]
14524 Bodies are combinations of shape, size, resistance and weight [Epicurus]
14517 We value our own character, whatever it is, and we should respect the characters of others [Epicurus]
14518 In the study of philosophy, pleasure and knowledge arrive simultaneously [Epicurus]
14513 Justice is a pledge of mutual protection [Epicurus]
14519 It is a great good to show reverence for a wise man [Epicurus]
3560 Justice is merely a contract about not harming or being harmed [Epicurus]
14515 A law is not just if it is not useful in mutual associations [Epicurus]
14520 It is small-minded to find many good reasons for suicide [Epicurus]
14521 If everything is by necessity, then even denials of necessity are by necessity [Epicurus]
3563 Pleasure and virtue entail one another [Epicurus]
14522 What happens to me if I obtain all my desires, and what if I fail? [Epicurus]