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The philosophy of Epicureanism – of which this book by the
Roman poet Lucretius is a classic account – has been very dear to my heart and
mind for some 45 years, since I first discovered it in my explorations in
philosophy while in high school. But I
never completely finished reading this long poem On the Nature of
Things until this year. It is
not an easy read, mainly because of some rudimentary – although astoundingly
ahead of their time – physics in the early chapters.
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The Greek thinker Epicurus (341-270 BC) was my kind of
philosopher. Unfortunately, his
reputation has been scandalized through millennia by quite outrageous lies from
those of opposing worldviews. Epicurus’
ethical goal of “pleasure” meant the dispelling of pain and anxiety, and then
achieving “tranquility of soul” or “imperturbability” while living a simple
life of scholarship and conversation among friends. His philosophy is not one
of over-indulgence or gluttony, as his detractors allege. Quite the opposite.
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In this long poem, On the Nature of
Things, Lucretius presents Epicureanism in Latin to the
Romans, and the philosophy became very popular among them. Lucretius’ work is one of our
best sources on it, but the
poem itself barely survived. One copy
was discovered in 1417 in a monastery by Poggio Bracciolini, an avid document
hunter from Florence, and then re-copied. Its re-discovery gave a big stimulus to modern
science. Thomas Jefferson – who wrote that
“I too am an Epicurean” – had five Latin editions of this work plus
translations in English, French and Italian.
Montaigne also loved the poem.
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Epicurus had developed Democritus’ materialistic theory of atoms,
the entire universe being made up of their interactions in a void. Natural laws rule the universe, not
supernatural causes. For us, it is Chance,
not deities, that explains many of the things that happen to us, and we should
abandon all superstitious fears. The
gods do not interfere in our lives, so we shouldn’t worry about them. Death “is nothing to us” – since our soul/ consciousness/
mind dies with our bodies – and so we shouldn’t fear it. We are all mortal, but we should enjoy life
without worry or anxiety. This kind of
tranquility they called ataraxia in Greek. Reminds me of some Buddhist traditions.
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If you do wade into On the Nature of
Things, here is a rough outline.
Of six books, the first two treat the physics of atomism – and these
always stalled me out. But they grade
into book three which I find very good, tracing the materialistic roots of
living things and of consciousness. It
is very modern in spirit. Book four speculates on
the senses, dreams, and sex. The last
two books again talk about natural phenomena.
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I’m looking forward to reading it again someday.
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-Zenwind.
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