Epicurus

existence of God. People on both sides have provided a variety of interesting arguments to support their positions. Perhaps no argument is as famous as one by Hume which has come to be known as the problem of evil. The argument goes as follows, “Epicurus’ old questions are yet unanswered. Is he willing to prevent evil, but no able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil.” I am going to break down this argument…

Lucian of Samosata is well known to be the Supreme Ancient Greek Satirist and one of the most famous satirists in European history. He was born at Samosata (Samsat), a small town in the Adyman Province of Turkey on the Euphrates during the Ancient Roman Era. When Lucian was 14 years of age, he began working on his uncle’s statue shop as an apprentice sculptor. When he was on his early apprenticeship he accidentally broke a marble by striking it too hard with his chisel and his uncle gave him…

Utilitarianism is the philosophical theory that shows us how we should evaluate a wide range of things that involve choices that people in general face and it is a philosophy which focuses on happiness, pleasure and consequences. Utilitarianism rests on consequentialism which mean that they the consequences of actions that determine whether they are good or bad. Utilitarian reasoning can be used for various ideas and actions. This reasoning can both be used for moral reasoning and even other…

Ultimately, since providence is the ultimate and only source of causation – chance lies in direct opposition. Providence precludes the possibility of chance because it essentially presupposes a final cause: ‘In no way can one deny the wondrous traces in the generation of the world, and the parts of the heavens and the parts of the animal and the plants. All that does not proceed (sadara) from chance (ittifàq), but presupposes a certain arrangement (tadbìr)’. (Cited in Belo, 109, Avicenna, Al…

The Odyssey represented a cunning hero, named Odysseus, King of Ithaca. This work of literature highlighted the tantalizing journey he and his man were forced to make fueled by the Trojan War coupled with the Fall of Troy. Odysseus and his men were antagonized by an innumerable amount of hindrances and misfortunes in their ten year journey back to Ithaca. Critics emphasize that although Homeric characters are generally static. Odysseus and his son are fairly different. “Odysseus’s love of…

Gilgamesh and The Acceptance of Death “Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which cannot exist when I do?” —Epicurus The Epic of Gilgamesh speaks to the human fear of death and the death of the people who they love and care for. It answers to the existential question of what comes with death and what of the life and connections that have been made during our time one Earth. The character Gilgamesh goes through different stages while…

I really enjoy writing about the philosophical thought that is at the root of this lifestyle we call minimalism. I especially like to write about the ideas of the ancient greek and roman thinkers like Epicurus, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. At the same time, I 've been trying to cover a variety of topics over this first year-and-a-half of blogging, so I haven 't been writing about that particular subject lately. It 's also been a while since I 've read…

struggle, which in practicality, this overshadows humanity’s genuine need for pain. This presents the need for emotional equilibrium, which contributes to the betterment of society through the balance of pleasure and pain. The thoughts presented by both Epicurus and Keats speak to the necessity of failure, as it is essential to create balance within society, fueling the world’s hunger for perpetual motion. Humanity’s need for failure, the requirement of an emotional equalization system, and the…

simply trying to forget. Kierkegaard had this same problem with how many previous philosophers described death, they tried to defeat the idea of death, and viewed it not as a “teacher” as Kierkegaard calls it, but regarded it as an enemy to life. Epicurus specifically philosophized death away with “Where it is I am not, and where I am it is not.” (Kierkegaard, 73) Which like the drunkards around Watanabe merely leads to forgetting about death, and leaves the danger of living a meaningless life.…

imagination, which can draw up anything, and it works to reconcile these things. Though there comes the challenges of the Dhammapada, which claims that the senses and the mind can misperceive, Kant, who says that common reason can often fail, and Epicurus, who points out that imagination can run wild. Indeed, there are challenges to understanding which should be treated seriously. In Mill’s On Liberty, it is written that it unwise to assume infallibility in judgement for or against something,…