The following is a continuation of the essay Meléta: Epicurus’ Instructions for Students. Upar and Onar: on correct and incorrect modes of leisure and activity is the sequel. Please read them in order for maximum benefit.
During our last Eikas meeting, we discussed the Meléta portion of Epicurus’ Epistle to Menoeceus, with is found towards the end of the letter and contains instructions for his true and sincere disciples, and some theory to help us understand what the final outcome of our practice should be. One of our SoFE members lamented his being unable to attend the meeting, and so for his benefit (and that of other students of EP), I am posting some of the notes from our discussion.
Both Private Learning and Communal Transmission
In the previous essay, we learned that there are two fields of practice. In our last Twentieth discussion, we brainstormed some ideas for what constitutes Meléta:
- “Meleta by oneself” (introspection), which includes things like repetition, memorization, inner work on our character usually meant to remove bad habits and form new ones, (this can include journaling), and being informed by the Doctrines while carrying out our choices and avoidances, and
- “Meleta with others of like mind” (philía, or Epicurean friendship), which involves studying together, practicing friendship, kindly giving and accepting frank criticism, practicing suavity and clear speech, teaching and collaborating and creating educational content together, observing Eikas with other Epicureans, carrying out autarchy projects, piety projects, and other experiments by which we may have pragmatic encounters with the Doctrines, looking at case studies for the Doctrines, and other ways to deliberate together.
This second field of Meléta creates an oral tradition, and opportunities for direct, interpersonal transmission of the philosophy. This is not an accidental feature: I believe this is essential, and that it helps to make philosophy tangible and to keep it relevant for practitioners.
After several years of practice, it’s clear to me that this second field of praxis contains an intangible curriculum of human values that is not found in the texts, and can only be acquired through the process of having Epicurean friends who are invested in our happiness and have noble expectations of us. When Epicurus says that we must practice both by ourselves and with others, he is giving us the additional social, intellectual challenges that come from friendship, and which contribute greatly to our moral development, and provide necessary checks and balances in our practice.
“Imeras kai Nuktos”: the Case for a Morning Practice and an Evening Practice
Epicurus is making a promise (that we will not be disturbed whether waking or sleeping), but if we read it within its context, we see that it’s contingent on carrying out proper Meléta. The practice must include both fields (introspection and friendship), as well as either a constant practice (one possible reading of “day and night”), or two separate instances of daily and nightly practice (imeras kai nuktos).
The portion “whether waking or sleeping” (úpar out ónar) seems to indicate that there are two types of perturbations that philosophy helps us to overcome, otherwise why would the Hegemon speak specifically of not being perturbed either while awake or while sleeping? We discussed how this might indicate the recognition of the existence of the unconscious / subconscious part of the psyche.
Waking perturbations could be interpreted as the conscious ones, which we are aware of and we can argue with / against in order to transform our habits of thinking or acting. It may be that we are aware of our tiredness or laziness, of our excessive cravings for food or some other pleasure, of some irrational fear, or maybe we’re deeply aware of some other aspect of our daily disposition that perturbs our happiness.
Epicurus’ mention of perturbations while we sleep may indicate the unconscious ones that we are not fully aware of due to lack of introspective and philosophical hygiene, or perhaps dormant ones. Ignored or repressed feelings of guilt often perturb people and keep them up at night. Epicurus does mention that some of our dispositions, tendencies, or habits are like germs or seeds in his “On Moral Development”. By using these words he is recognizing that we carry certain unrealized potentials within us that, under certain conditions, may become realized. These may be part of what the Hegemon calls our “initial constitution” (genetic, physical and/or natural), or “seeds” acquired through upbringing. As we mature and develop morally, Epicurus teaches that we are in charge of transforming the content of our character, and even the physical structure of our psyche … but we cannot do that if we do not become aware of what these “seeds” are that keep us up at night. Here, we must carry out psychotherapy, introspection, expose ourselves to parrhesia (the frankness of our friends), or figure out other techniques to uncover and treat these perturbations. Epicurean philosophy requires its disciples to manage their mental health diligently so as to be–as Epicurus says–“armed for happiness”.
If we place before our eyes what a morning practice and an evening practice look like, immediately it becomes clear that most people who have morning rituals are attempting to prepare for the day ahead, and most people who have evening rituals are preparing for sleep. ES 11 helps to clarify the utility of both imeras meléta (a day practice) and nuktos meléta (a night practice).
For most people, to be quiet is to be numb and to be active is to be frenzied. – Epicurean Saying 11
Here, ἡσυχάζον ναρκᾷ (hesuchason narka) uses a form of the word used in Principal Doctrine 14 (hesuchía) for the technique of “retreating from the crowd”, which can be done alone or with friends … but could also refer to preparing for bed. Here, (since we are not “most people”, and they are other-ized in this Saying) the Founders of our tradition (for ES is a post-Epicurus compilation) are saying that this Epicurean art of retreat involves real and sober pleasures, not numbness or narcotic-like states (narka). Similarly, the words κινούμενον λυττᾷ (kinóumenon lytta) set the standard for the utility of a morning practice: just as rest should not be numb, similarly we should prepare for our day so that activity or productivity will be pleasant, and not frenzied or mindless. The first word here reminds me of kinetic, or active, pleasures, while the practice of retreating for the evening reminds me of katastematic, or calm, pleasures.
Epicurean Saying 41 elaborates further on what repetition and memorization looks like if the practice is constant or daily, or while we are working (managing our household and business). Some students dismiss practices of repetition or anything that feels like chanting, but this is in my view a mistake. Many insights in the Doctrines remain unexplored if we arrogantly dismiss them, thinking we already know them. We must not dismiss the actual practice of repeating and memorizing the Doctrines, because there are habitual patterns in our subconscious that require treatment, and also associations in our mind with certain ideas that are unanalyzed or that we may remain unaware of. Using the technique of offa, as described in ES 41, requires that we utter the words of true philosophy out loud (fonás afientas), and produces an instant encounter with the Doctrine that allows the mind to seek out whatever subconscious associations and pragmatic repercussions the words bring up in our minds.
Epicurus taught that the words of true philosophy are medicines (pharmakos). Studying and assimilating the Doctrines constitutes the taking of some dose of these Doctrines so that they may bring health to the soul (psyche).
“Diataraxthesi”: Perturbations
Let us now put aside the possibility of different kinds of perturbations while waking or sleeping, and let us look at the prolepsis of the word used. The first definition of this word “diataraxi” (to which “diataraxthesi” points) is “anxiety, mental uneasiness“. The second one I found was “a deviation of a system or process from its regular or normal state or path, caused by an outside influence“. Some of the synonyms are: disturbance, perturbation, maze, agitation, riot, turmoil, scrimmage.
Similar Things: our Expanding Discourse
The words “similar things” (τούτοις συγγενῆ, toutois syggeni) open the door to the expansion of meléta beyond the words of Epicurus, so long as the object of our study qualifies as things that are “similar” to the contents of the Epistle to Menoeceus. This is where we can bring into our studies many case studies and intellectuals from our own tradition, or even from other traditions, so long as the ethical framework for meléta is Epicurean. We see that during the days of Diogenes of Sidon and Philodemus, the Epicureans were commenting on many works by philosophers like Theophrastus (Peri Oikonomias) and others who were well known in their day. This is how new arguments were able to emerge to defend against attacks from the other schools, and it’s how we adapt philosophy to new and highly particular situations.
It is up to us to determine what falls under “similar things” for the purposes of meléta. My theory is that the matters being studied should be approached with epilogismos (that is, we must apply empirical methods, as per Principal Doctrine 24) and should be beneficial to our happiness (Principal Doctrine 28). We must apply the canon and derive utility from the practice of philosophy. If we speculate endlessly and pointlessly, neglect the study of nature, and/or make ourselves miserable instead of happy by how we practice philosophy, this is clearly not meléta.
Gods Among Men: an Epicurean Transhumanism?
If we carry out meléta in the way Epicurus advises, and take the recommended doses of philosophy’s medicine, we will start living like immortals and we will be surrounded by “athanatois agathois” (immortal goods). This doctrine of immortal goods deserves further elaboration, since these goods are the necessary features of the ambience, environment or context within which we live like immortals. If a person lives like a god among mortals, there have to be god-like inner states (of varied pleasures) as well as a god-like field of action because, in Epicureanism, all things are relational and contextual. There is one other instance where an immortal goods are mentioned, and it refers to philía (holy friendships).
The noble soul is devoted most of all to wisdom and to friendship — one a mortal good, the other immortal. – Epicurean Saying 78
This is probably because friendships help us to build memories, and that which is memorable stays with us over the long-term, providing us with happy memories, thoughts, and feelings as frequently as we revisit these memories. If we cultivate a grateful disposition, we can strengthen and extend these grateful memories. What other things in our lives carry a similar power to help us abide in pleasure easily? These things could serve as considerations for our exploration of the Doctrine of Immortal Goods.
It is up to us to determine how we can best live like immortals based on Epicurean teachings. This is where Epicurean theology serves ethical purposes. Epicurus invites us to place before our eyes the Gods so that they may serve as images and carriers of our destiny, our happiness, our healthy soul, and our future self. This is because we are invited to carry out our choices and avoidances so that we live like gods among mortals; our life-state and the goods we surround ourselves with are a conscious imitation of the gods. Our practice is an attempt to sculpt ourselves in their image. By setting up the gods as our ethical models, Epicurus is calling us to a transcendental life-state, lifestyle and environment.
Let us look at the specific qualities that Epicurus says we must attribute to the gods: he says we may believe anything about them so long as it does not contradict their blessedness and their immortality. This involves invulnerability (autarchy) and ever-blissful states.
During our Eikas meeting, we speculated: “Can this be interpreted as a transhumanist manifesto?“, however we did not have time to delve into this question in enough depth. Transhumanism is a worldview that calls for the enhancement of human beings in order to advance a longer life-span, together with the enjoyment of health, and a variety of mental and physical enhancements. However, since any modern or future transhumanist technologies were not in existence when Epicurus wrote his Epistle to Menoeceus, these questions–while interesting and worthy of further consideration–are not immediately relevant to meléta and its benefits.
We therefore assume that the first Epicureans proved to themselves and to each other that it was, indeed, possible to live transcendentally, like a god among mortals, regardless of the current or future state of science. Through meléta, we train ourselves to do the same.
Upar and Onar: on correct and incorrect modes of leisure and activity
We’d like to thank my supporters on Patreon and substack. If you enjoy our content, feel free to support either with a one-time donation, or by subscribing. You may also watch, subscribe to, comment on, and share the videos on SoFE’s YouTube channel.
