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Tag Archives: hedonism
Nietzsche on Pleasure as Subservient to Power
See Will to Power Reasonings I and II Epicureans have devoted numerous writings in defense of pleasure as the end. One of the central ideas in Epicurean philosophy is that NATURE is the guide, and that when we fail to … Continue reading
Posted in Atheism, Epicurus, Nietzsche, Philosophy
Tagged ethics, hedonism, pleasure, power, will
2 Comments
Cyrenaic Reasonings V: an Aesthetic Education
While discussing the literature of Walter Pater, Kurt Lampe argues that the function of (rational hedonistic) philosophy is “to remove impediments to the purest and most immediate reception of … experiences”. Here, as I discussed in Tending the Epicurean Garden, philosophy … Continue reading
Posted in Ataraxia, Atheism, Books, Naturalism, Philosophy
Tagged aesthetics, cyrenaics, education, hedonism, pleasure
2 Comments
Cyrenaic Reasonings IV: Walter Pater’s Neo-Cyrenaic Philosophy
In his book, Lampe discusses Walter Pater’s literature. Walter is the author of Marius the Epicurean, and also an advocate of naturalist and hedonistic philosophy that focuses on aesthetics as a way to capture and live life in the moment. … Continue reading
Cyrenaic Reasonings II: Hegesias and Anniceris
Hegesias Magnanimous people seem disdainful. – Hegesias Hegesias had a huge difference of opinion with Anniceris on what makes up the ideal life. Among his anti-social views, we find that he believed that the sage is like a king, has no peer and … Continue reading
Posted in Humanism, Naturalism, Philosophy
Tagged anniceris, cyrenaic, cyrene, hedonism, hegesias, pleasure
3 Comments
Cyrenaic Reasonings I: Aristippus the Older and Aristippus the Younger
Cyrene: a Philosophical Atlantis Two great intellectual currents converged to create the great river of Epicurean philosophy. The first one is the atomist school founded by Leucippus and Democritus, the laughing philosopher, which concerned itself with the need for scientific and … Continue reading
Utilitarian Reasonings II: Of the Higher Pleasures
One of the archaeological objects found in the villa of the papyri at Herculaneum, together with the Epicurean scrolls written by Philodemus of Gadara, was the leaping pig sculpture which has become symbolic of the Epicurean community. The origin of … Continue reading
Review of Sam Harris’ Waking Up, Part III
Part II On Harris’ Insight into Katastematic Pleasure Harris refuses to label abiding pleasure as such, however in his approach to happiness he does make a case for it while discussing the logic of retreating from the world. If there exists … Continue reading
Posted in Ataraxia, Atheism, Books, Humanism, Naturalism, Review
Tagged asceticism, desires, harris, hedonism, pleasure, sam, up, waking
2 Comments
Stages of Development in Hedonist Spirituality
I recently had the pleasure of reading Sam Harris’ Waking Up, which raised many interesting philosophical questions. The author proposes that non-religious people can develop a coherent, rational spirituality based on a science of contemplation and wellbeing, and on experimenting … Continue reading
Posted in Ataraxia, Epicurus, Humanism, Naturalism, Philosophy
Tagged dewitt, hedonism, norman, pleasure, sam harris, spirituality
2 Comments
The Pleasure-Aversion Faculty: An Introduction
Having explored the third leg of the Canon, and established some premises–most important among them the connection between the Canon and Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection–I’d like to explore another misunderstood aspect of the Canon. We teach that … Continue reading
Posted in Epicurus, Naturalism, Philosophy
Tagged aversion, biology, canon, darwin, epistemology, happiness, hedonism, natural, pleasure, selection
13 Comments
Should an Epicurean Humanist Support the #BaltimoreUprising?
I just finished reading Salon.com‘s republishing of an article titled Baltimore’s violent protesters are right: Smashing police cars is a legitimate political strategy. The piece reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a reader of my book who had … Continue reading
Posted in Humanism, Politics
Tagged anger, crow, happiness, hedonism, herculaneum, jim, philodemus, scroll, state, violence
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