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Ideas of Epicurus, by Text

[Greek, 341 - 271 BCE, Born on Samos. Taught by Nausiphanes. Founded own school, at 'The Garden', near the Academy in Athens. Died in Athens.]

293BCE Letter to Herodotus
38 p.6 14027 If we are to use words in enquiry, we need their main, unambiguous and uncontested meanings
38 p.6 14028 Nothing comes to be from what doesn't exist
39 p.6 14029 If disappearing things went to nothingness, nothing could return, and it would all be gone by now
39 p.6 14030 The totality is complete, so there is no room for it to change, and nothing extraneous to change it
40 p.6 14031 Space must exist, since movement is obvious, and there must be somewhere to move in
41 p.7 14032 Totality has no edge; an edge implies a contrast beyond the edge, and there can't be one
42 p.7 14033 Bodies are unlimited as well as void, since the two necessarily go together
42 p.7 14034 There exists an infinity of each shape of atom, but the number of shapes is beyond our knowledge
44 schol p.8 14035 Atoms just have shape, size and weight; colour results from their arrangement
45 p.8 14036 There are endless cosmoi, some like and some unlike this one
47-53 p.347 6010 Illusions are not false perceptions, as we accurately perceive the pattern of atoms [Modrak]
54 p.10 14037 Atoms only have shape, weight and size, and the properties which accompany shape
56 p.11 14038 There cannot be unlimited division, because it would reduce things to non-existence
60 p.12 14039 Above and below us will never appear to be the same, because it is inconceivable
62 p.13 14040 Observation and applied thought are always true
63 p.13 14041 The soul is fine parts distributed through the body, resembling hot breath
67 p.14 14043 The void cannot interact, but just gives the possibility of motion
67 p.14 14042 The soul cannot be incorporeal, because then it could neither act nor be acted upon
68 p.14 14044 The perceived accidental properties of bodies cannot be conceived of as independent natures
69 p.14 14045 Accidental properties give a body its nature, but are not themselves bodies or parts of bodies
69 p.14 14046 A 'body' is a conception of an aggregate, with properties defined by application conditions
70 p.15 14047 Bodies have impermanent properties, and permanent ones which define its conceived nature
76 p.17 14048 Astronomical movements are blessed, but they don't need the help of the gods
78 p.17 14049 We aim to know the natures which are observed in natural phenomena
82 p.18 14050 We aim to dissolve our fears, by understanding their causes
292BCE Letter to Pythocles
p.459 1828 God does not intervene in heavenly movements, but is beyond all action and perfectly happy
88 p.20 14051 A cosmos is a collection of stars and an earth, with some sort of boundary, movement and shape
94 p.22 21386 We should accept as explanations all the plausible ways in which something could come about
291BCE Letter to Menoeceus
122 p.28 14052 Begin philosophy when you are young, and keep going when you are old
125 p.29 14053 It is absurd to fear the pain of death when you are not even facing it
125 p.29 14054 Fearing death is absurd, because we are not present when it occurs
126 p.29 14055 The wisdom that produces a good life also produces a good death
128 p.30 1833 Pleasure is the first good in life
128 p.30 14056 We only need pleasure when we have the pain of desire
129 p.30 14057 All pleasures are good, but it is not always right to choose them
131 p.30 14058 Pleasure is the goal, but as lack of pain and calm mind, not as depraved or greedy pleasure
131 p.471 1835 True pleasure is not debauchery, but freedom from physical and mental pain
132 p.31 14060 Prudence is the greatest good, and more valuable than philosophy, because it produces virtue
132 p.31 14059 The best life is not sensuality, but rational choice and healthy opinion
132 p.471 1836 Prudence is more valuable than philosophy, because it avoids confusions of the soul
133 p.31 14061 Our own choices are autonomous, and the basis for praise and blame
133 p.472 1837 We should not refer things to irresponsible necessity, but either to fortune or to our own will
134 p.31 14062 Sooner follow mythology, than accept the 'fate' of natural philosophers
135 p.31 14063 Sooner a good decision going wrong, than a bad one turning out for the good
290BCE Principle Doctrines ('Kuriai Doxai') (frags)
p.89 14524 Bodies are combinations of shape, size, resistance and weight
15 p.36 14517 We value our own character, whatever it is, and we should respect the characters of others
27 p.37 14518 In the study of philosophy, pleasure and knowledge arrive simultaneously
31 p.35 14513 Justice is a pledge of mutual protection
32 p.38 14519 It is a great good to show reverence for a wise man
33 p.294 3560 Justice is merely a contract about not harming or being harmed
37 p.35 14515 A law is not just if it is not useful in mutual associations
38 p.38 14520 It is small-minded to find many good reasons for suicide
40 p.38 14521 If everything is by necessity, then even denials of necessity are by necessity
5 p.340 3563 Pleasure and virtue entail one another
71 p.40 14522 What happens to me if I obtain all my desires, and what if I fail?
289BCE fragments/reports
p.35 22733 Epicurus accepted God in his popular works, but not in his writings on nature [Sext.Empiricus]
p.46 13291 Slavery to philosophy brings true freedom
p.48 7814 It was Epicurus who made the question of the will's freedom central to ethics [Grayling]
p.62 6035 Soul is made of four stuffs, giving warmth, rest, motion and perception [Aetius]
p.81 14523 We should come to philosophy free from any taint of culture
p.87 2633 Epicurus saw that gods must exist, because nature has imprinted them on human minds [Cicero]
p.89 12044 Only Epicurus denied purpose in nature, for the whole world, or for its parts [Annas]
p.92 14525 Stoics say time is incorporeal and self-sufficient; Epicurus says it is a property of properties of things
p.94 14526 The rational soul is in the chest, and the non-rational soul is spread through the body
p.96 2637 For Epicureans gods are made of atoms, and are not eternal [Cicero]
p.98 14527 If god answered prayers we would be destroyed, because we pray for others to suffer
p.104 2639 Some say Epicurus only pretended to believe in the gods, so as not to offend Athenians [Cicero]
p.107 6018 Epicurus was the first to see the free will problem, and he was a libertarian [Long/Sedley]
p.109 20907 Democritus says atoms have size and shape, and Epicurus added weight [Ps-Plutarch]
p.188 3557 The end for Epicurus is static pleasure [Annas]
p.201 1482 If two people disagree over taste, who is right? [Plutarch]
p.201 1483 Bath water is too hot for some, too cold for others [Plutarch]
p.203 1484 We should say nothing of the whole if our contact is with the parts [Plutarch]
p.209 1487 When entering a dark room it is colourless, but colour gradually appears
p.217 21668 Epicurus rejected excluded middle, because accepting it for events is fatalistic [Cicero]
p.219 21669 Atoms don't swerve by being struck, because they move in parallel, so the swerve is uncaused [Cicero]
p.235 21676 Epicureans say disjunctions can be true whiile the disjuncts are not true [Cicero]
p.243 21680 What causes atomic swerves? Do they draw lots? What decides the size or number of swerves? [Cicero]
p.252 1909 How can pleasure or judgement occur in a heap of atoms? [Sext.Empiricus]
p.310 4549 Epicurus denied knowledge in order to retain morality or hedonism as the highest values [Nietzsche]
p.340 3562 Fine things are worthless if they give no pleasure
p.435 1820 The criteria of truth are senses, preconceptions and passions [Diog. Laertius]
p.435 1821 Sensations cannot be judged, because similar sensations have equal value, and different ones have nothing in common [Diog. Laertius]
p.435 1822 Reason can't judge senses, as it is based on them [Diog. Laertius]
p.436 1823 We can't seek for things if we have no idea of them [Diog. Laertius]
p.436 1824 To name something, you must already have an idea of what it is [Diog. Laertius]
p.459 20922 Epicurus showed that the swerve can give free motion in the atoms [Diogenes of Oen.]
p.465 22758 Philosophy aims at a happy life, through argument and discussion
p.466 1829 A wise man would be happy even under torture [Diog. Laertius]
p.467 1831 Wise men should partake of life even if they go blind [Diog. Laertius]
p.473 1840 Pleasure is the chief good because it is the most natural, especially for animals [Diog. Laertius]
p.473 1841 We choose virtue because of pleasure, not for its own sake [Diog. Laertius]
p.473 1839 Pains of the soul are worse than pains of the body, because it feels the past and future [Diog. Laertius]
p.475 1842 Pleasures only differ in their duration and the part of the body affected
p.477 1843 Friendship is by far the most important ingredient of a complete and happy life
p.478 1845 Justice has no independent existence, but arises entirely from keeping contracts
p.567 2668 Epicurus says if one of a man's senses ever lies, none of his senses should ever be believed [Cicero]
p.591 2670 Epicurus despises and laughs at the whole of dialectic [Cicero]
9 p.36 14516 There is no necessity to live with necessity
fr 221 p.78 22240 The aim of medicine is removal of sickness, and philosophy similarly removes our affections
Fr 30 p.207 5949 Epicurus says colours are relative to the eye, not intrinsic to bodies [Plutarch]