While later centuries have come to associate Epicurus's name with hedonism, Mills discovered that he extolled simplicity and prudence as the surest means to pleasure, and his thinking offers an important touchstone for the book.".

This very short introudction corrects the prevalent view of Epicureanism that often conjures up ideas of tasty delights and hedonism. Wilson explains the philosophical and scientific ideas of Epicurus and his followers and the legacy of Epicureanism on later European thought.

Simplicity Lessons is a practical guide for those who long for a slower pace of life with more time for relationships, fulfilling work, and living ones dreams. Working on your own or as part of a simplicity study group, you will explore the major a

"Graceful Simplicity is a marvelously textured analysis of the elusive ideal of simple living. For those eager to find a way to get off the 'more is better' treadmill, Jerome Segal offers insight and hope…. A must read."—David Shi, author of The Simple Life "Segal articulates a message that is both revolutionary and just plain sensible—consume less and take time to enjoy life more. He rescues us from a consumerism gone haywire without advocating isolationism. In a new and better way we are still our brother's keeper."—Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work "Segal wants a political movement to create a functioning public sector, complete with universal health insurance and a sturdy safety net. Numerous and powerful interest groups will fight such reforms with bitter determination. But what could provide a better source of drama and adventure than the struggle to make the simpler life a viable option for all?"—Barbara Ehrenreich, Civilization

Over the centuries leading up to their composition many genres and authors have emerged as influences on Horace's Satires, which in turn has led to a wide variety of scholarly interpretations. This study aims to expand the existing dialogue by exploring further the intersection of ancient satire and ethics, focusing on the moral tradition of Epicureanism through the lens of one source in particular: Philodemus of Gadara. Philodemus was an Epicurean philosopher who wrote for a Roman audience and was one of Horace's contemporaries and neighbours in Italy. His works, which were preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 but have nevertheless not been widely read on account of their fragmentary nature, feature a range of ethical treatises on subjects including patronage, friendship, flattery, frankness, poverty, and wealth. Epicurean Ethics in Horace: The Psychology of Satire offers a serious consideration of the role of Philodemus' Epicurean teachings in Horace's Satires and argues that the central concerns of the philosopher's work not only lie at the heart of the poet's criticisms of Roman society and its shortcomings, but also lend to the collection a certain coherence and overall unity in its underlying convictions. The result is a ground-breaking study of the deep and pervasive influence of Epicurean ethical philosophy on Horace's Satires, which also reveals something of the poet behind the literary mask or persona by demonstrating the philosophical consistency of his position throughout the two books.

This landmark study examines the role played by the rediscovery of the writings of the ancient atomists, Epicurus and Lucretius, in the articulation of the major philosophical systems of the seventeenth century, and, more broadly, their influence on the evolution of natural science and moral and political philosophy. The target of sustained and trenchant philosophical criticism by Cicero, and of opprobrium by the Christian Fathers of the early Church, for its unflinching commitment to the absence of divine supervision and the finitude of life, the Epicurean philosophy surfaced again in the period of the Scientific Revolution, when it displaced scholastic Aristotelianism. Both modern social contract theory and utilitarianism in ethics were grounded in its tenets. Catherine Wilson shows how the distinctive Epicurean image of the natural and social worlds took hold in philosophy, and how it is an acknowledged, and often unacknowledged presence in the writings of Descartes, Gassendi, Hobbes, Boyle, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley. With chapters devoted to Epicurean physics and cosmology, the corpuscularian or "mechanical" philosophy, the question of the mortality of the soul, the grounds of political authority, the contested nature of the experimental philosophy, sensuality, curiosity, and the role of pleasure and utility in ethics, the author makes a persuasive case for the significance of materialism in seventeenth-century philosophy without underestimating the depth and significance of the opposition to it, and for its continued importance in the contemporary world. Lucretius's great poem, On the Nature of Things, supplies the frame of reference for this deeply-researched inquiry into the origins of modern philosophy. .

The idea that happiness is a choice accessible to all is far from new; the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus developed the Natural Philosophy of life over two thousand years ago, providing practical, contemporary guidelines to finding meaning and happiness. Unlike Plato, who valued the divine logic above all, Epicurus argued that the pursuit of ideals produced by logic alone leads to inner conflict, cognitive dissonance, dissatisfaction, and even depression. He suggested that by first embracing our natural desires, then using logic to determine which choices will increase pleasure over time, and using our will to take action, we could learn and change, and achieve happiness. Join the author Haris Dimitriadis on a journey through the history of philosophical thought, as well as an in-depth look at the modern neuroscience, psychology, and astrophysics, and discover why the ancient Epicurean Philosophy of Nature matters as much today as it did two thousand and three hundred years ago!

Happiness is a challenging, multifaceted topic, which obviously calls for an interdisciplinary approach. This work is a collection of papers which explores the phenomenon of happiness from a variety of angles, and from both theoretical and practical perspectives. They deal with the general nature and conditions of happiness, methods and measures for studying happiness, the consequences of happiness policies and discourses and the significance of specific factors, like landscapes or educational environments, for happiness. Some of the papers investigate the thoughts of ancient, 19th-century or 20th-century philosophers. Others employ theories and techniques from contemporary psychology to get a firmer grip on the elusive phenomenon of happiness. Contributors include Ranjeeta Basu, Valeriu Budeanu, Sarah A. Bushey, Mustafa Cihan Camci, Emily Corrigan-Kavanagh, Carolina Escobar-Tello, Julia Hotz, Søren Harnow Klausen, Kathy Pui Ying Lo, Andrea-Mariana Marian, Bryon Martin, Andrew Molas, Sean Moran, Liza Ortiz, Shelomi Panditharatne, Sheila M. Rucki, Jane Russel-O’Connor and Marie Thomas.

PIERIDES III, Editors: Myrto Garani and David Konstan Despite the Romans' reputation for being disdainful of abstract speculation, Latin poetry from its very beginning was deeply permeated by Greek philosophy. Philosophical elements and commonplaces have been identified and appreciated in a wide range of writers, but the extent of the Greek philosophical influence, and in particular the impact of Pythagorean, Empedoclean, Epicurean and Stoic doctrines, on Latin verse has never been fully in...

This Companion presents both an introduction to the history of the ancient philosophical school of Epicureanism and also a critical account of the major areas of its philosophical interest. Chapters span the school's history from the early Hellenistic Garden to the Roman Empire and its later reception in the Early Modern period, introducing the reader to the Epicureans' contributions in physics, metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, ethics and politics. The international team of contributors includes scholars who have produced innovative and original research in various areas of Epicurean thought and they have produced essays which are accessible and of interest to philosophers, classicists, and anyone concerned with the diversity and preoccupations of Epicurean philosophy and the state of academic research in this field. The volume emphasises the interrelation of the different areas of the Epicureans' philosophical interests while also drawing attention to points of interpretative difficulty and controversy.