Eikas cheers to all our friends! This month, the Philosophy Tube channel posted a video presentation titled Transhumanism, which poses some of the same questions concerning the role and utility of technology that were posed when we did meleta on the myth of Prometheus. Someone recommended An Antidote to Dissatisfaction, an educational video on the anthropology and utility of gratitude, and I gave an interview to Argentinian Spanish-language podcaster Pablo Veloso on the book by Norman DeWitt St. Paul and Epicurus, for which I have published a transcript of the English translation for all my Patreon subscribers, regardless of level of support.
The Doctrine of Epilogismos, or Empirical Thinking
Following up on last month’s indictment of the philosophers of the polis (those who “philosophize” for the state) who are willing to place a spurious stamp of “truth” on disinformation, today I wish to continue expounding the Canon (our “standard” of truth, which comprises our epistemology) by sharing a few notes on the Kyriai Doxai. The Canon is an essential part of the Epicurean philosophical Toolkit. Principal Doctrines 22-25 constitute the “Canonics” portion of the Doxai. To these, we may add many commentaries by Lucretius, Norman DeWitt, Philodemus, Diogenes of Oenoanda, and others.
The Literal Interpretation of Doxa 22
You must reflect on the fundamental goal and everything that is clear, to which opinions are referred; if you do not, all will be full of trouble and confusion.
τὸ ὑφεστηκὸς δεῖ τέλος ἐπιλογίζεσθαι καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐνάργειαν, ἐφʼ ἣν τὰ δοξαζόμενα ἀνάγομεν· εἰ δὲ μὴ πάντα ἀκρισίας καὶ ταραχῆς ἔσται μεστά.
The following are the transliterations and translations for this Doxa:
- To yfestekos – you must reflect on
- Dei telos epilogizesthai – on the pragmatic goal
- Kai pasan tes enargeian – and all clear things
- Ef en ta doxazomena anagomen – To which opinions (doxa) are referred
- Ei de me panta akrisias – if you do not, all will be full of confusion (akrisias, or not knowing how to proceed or how to think)
- Kaj taraxes estai mesta – and trouble / perturbation
The second and third sentences in this Doxa remind us of how much of a reality-based philosophy this is. “Enargeia” refers to clear, direct, evident, and immediate / unmediated experience. “Telos Epilogizesthai” implies that this telos (goal) is not an abstract or imaginary goal. It has (if we are to judge from the adjective added to it in this Doxa) a goal that is more than mere telos, it’s PRACTICAL THINKING based. It is defined by “epilogismos”. This is our methodology of empirical and pragmatic thinking. Epilogismos is most often translated as the faculty of empirical thinking.
Part of what this Doxa is saying is that the telos (or goal of nature) can be discerned easily by what is known and experienced directly (enargeia), so that it’s pragmatic, useful to our nature. It’s also implying that, in all things, it is important to think clearly on what we are trying to accomplish. This serves the purposes of clear thinking and clear speech, which are among the benefits of the Canon.
Later on in the Doxai, PD 25 deepens our understanding of the Epicurean type of Telos, where it says that the goal of nature is practical while other goals lead to apraxia (impracticality, inability to practice): “your thoughts and your actions will not be in harmony”. I sometimes associate this with inauthenticity, but it seems that the main argument made in the Doxai is against apraxia, and that praxis or practicality is being affirmed here as a positive value.
In the next sentence, this Doxa says that our opinions must be referred to the directly experienced things (pasan tes enargeian) and to the pragmatic goal (telos epilogizesthai). These two criteria are part of the filter for inherited or posited ideas that philosophy furnishes. All our views must pass through this filter. In this way, the Canon is the great purifier of knowledge, helping us to separate that which is clear and evident from that which is not yet clear or evident.
Of this fourth sentence, we should also note that the second of the four Doxai that deal with the canon (PD 23), which follows this one, also mentions that we need something to refer to when investigating the truth of things. PD 24 then warns us against rejecting the criterion or standard of truth. That is the central theme of the four canonical Doxai: that we MUST have clear and practical standards of truth, with the Doctrines elaborating on what must be included as part of it, and leaving us to carry out meleta in order to fill the gaps–for instance, on how to apply these standards specifically in each instance, or in each field of knowledge.
The Therapeutic Interpretation of Doxa 22
This Doxa names two specific types of evil–taraxes and akrisia. In doing so, it invites us to consider how we may identify them by concrete signs, and diagnose them.
When we consider this, epilogismos and enargeia come into relief not only as standards of a reality-based philosophy, but also as medicines for these named evils. In order to deepen our understanding of this teaching, the ancient Epicurean Guides (like Philodemus) helped their disciples to consider how to study, diagnose, and treat these two types of evil.
- Taraxes translates as perturbations, sometimes as troubles. Within the therapeutic interpretation, this Doxa brings the medicine of a-taraxia (non-perturbation) if practiced.
- Akrisia means confusion–as in not knowing how to proceed, or how to act, or even how to think. Within the therapeutic interpretation, this Doxa (together with the other Doxai in the canonics) brings the medicine of clarity and diffuses confusion, helping us to think, speak, and act with clarity.
The Hegemon said that philosophy that does not heal the soul is no better than medicine that does not heal the body. At the Society of Friends of Epicurus, we therefore consider the therapeutic method of interpretation to be one of the correct ways of interpreting them. However, it’s not the only correct interpretation, since we accept a method of multiple interpretations, which allows for a type of multiverse of perspectives that can be correct (Please indulge my Doctor Strange reference–I recently watched it and enjoyed it!).
Final Note
I hope that I’ve brought some new aspect of the Doxai to your attention. If you are a sincere student of Epicurean philosophy, my hope is that you will at least learn, deliberate on, and practice these two canonical concepts in greater depth: enargeia and epilogismos. They will equip you to think clearly and usefully, and protect you from akrisia (confusion) and taraxes (perturbations), as well as from apraxia (impracticality).
