Epicurean Philosophy
The Three Basic Parts & Epicurus' Works
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The source for the following text is
Book 10 of Diogenes Laertius’ Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.
All section numbers are part of Book 10. For example, section 29, or [29], is 10.29.
This reading comes from the Cave’s
The Best of Epicurus: The Life, Writings & Teachings of Epicurus the Greek Philosopher.
__________
IN WHAT COMES, I, DIOGENES Laertius, will endeavor to give Epicurus’ views that are expressed in his works. I will quote three of his letters in which he has given an epitome of his whole philosophical system. [29] I will also set down his Principal Teachings and any other of his views that seem worth citing. I will do this so that you may be in the position to study the philosopher from every angle and know how to judge him.
The first letter is addressed to Herodotus. It is about natural philosophy, or physics. The second letter is to Pythocles. It deals with things high in the sky, or celestial phenomena. The third letter is addressed to Menoeceus. It is about human life.
The Three Basic Parts of Philosophy
We must begin with … some preliminary remarks about Epicurus’ division of philosophy. He divides philosophy into three parts—the canonical, the physical, and the ethical, which is to say, canonics, physics, and ethics.
[30] The canonical serves as an introduction to Epicurus’ system. It is contained in a single work of his titled The Canon. The physical part includes his entire theory of nature. It is covered in the thirty-seven books of his work On Nature and, in summary form, in his letters. The ethical part is about matters having to do with choice and avoidance. It may be found in his work On Human Life, in his letters, and in his treatise On the Goal of Human Life.
Most people usually join the canonical part of Epicurus’ philosophy with the physical part. The canonical part deals with the standard or criterion of truth, that is, the means by which one may judge what is true. It also deals with the first principle, or the elementary part, of philosophy. The physical part is about becoming and perishing, as well as other aspects of nature. The ethical part, on the other hand, considers human life, that is, what is best to choose and what is best to avoid, as well as the end or goal of human life.
[31] Epicurus and his followers reject dialectic, that is, the art of discussion, as superfluous. They hold that in their inquiries, natural philosophers should be content to employ the ordinary terms for things.
Selected Works of Epicurus Having to Do with the Three Parts of Philosophy [27-28]
Canonics
On the Criterion, or The Canon
On Vision
On the Sense of Touch
Teachings on the Feelings—addressed to Timocrates
On Images
On Presentations
Physics
On Nature
On Atoms and Void
Epitome of Objections to the Natural Philosophers
On the Gods
On the Angle in the Atom
On Music
Teachings about Disease—addressed to Mithras
Ethics
On Desire
Principal Teachings
On Choice and Avoidance
On the Goal of Human Life
On Piety
On Human Life—four books
On Just and Honest Dealing
On Fate
Discovery of the Future
Exhortation
On Justice and Other Virtues
On Gifts and Gratitude
On Kingship
So ends Reading 1. See you in another reading or item.