I hope you are all having a Happy and Safe Automn Equinox Eikas. This month, I published an essay series On Gastronomy, where I delved into the types of activities and human values that were practiced in the kitchen and table of the Garden of Epicurus and the role of the belly in our ethical education:

• The Autarchy Portion of Epicurus’ Epistle to Menoeceus delves into the role of the belly in our ethical education by reminding us that the belly tells us when we are hungry, when we are sated, and in general teaches us about the limits of nature.
• The Kitchen and the Table of the Kepos delves into the types of activities and human values that were practiced in the kitchen and table of the Garden of Epicurus.
• Metrodorus’ Epistle to Timocrates evaluates the possible arguments that Metrodorus may have used against his brother Timocrates. This includes ideas about the role of the belly as a standard of nature.

• Theoxenia: a Practice of Epicurean Hospitality shows us how the first Epicureans practiced traditional hospitality towards strangers. Theoxenia was made popular in the recently released film The Odyssey, where it’s called “the Law of Zeus”.

•  Four Foods that Epicurus Enjoyed has some historical information on the dietary practices of the Hellenistic Era.

Other Literary and Philosophy Updates:

Save the Date! Hiram Crespo (founder of SoFE) will be participating in Convergence on November 7-8. This is a conference organized by the Spiritual Naturalist Community, which advances a spirituality rooted in the natural world and in natural philosophy. The conference will be a meeting of like-minded tribes and individuals that will include philosophers, scholars, authors, artists, humanist chaplains, and others.

Seneca’s Epistle 11: On Honoring the Sage – A Theory and Praxis of Philosophical Transmission is a commentary on Epicurus’ instructions to his students to choose a role model and to visualize a sage or a good man or woman as a long-term practice for developing good character. I also acknowledge and evaluate the complicated role of Seneca (a Stoic) as a link in the chain of transmission of Epicurean wisdom.

Christos Yapijakis and Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos, the co-founders of the Epicurean Garden of Athens, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence and in conjunction with the Hellenic American Women’s Council, gave a presentation titled “The pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence and Epicurean philosophy” on July 25th. This is a PDF of the presentation given on that day.

I am happy to see the proliferation of Epicurean or Epicurus-friendly content creators. Here are some recent highlights:

• Dr. Johannes Achill Niederhauser has published the vlog The Death of Stoicism: Why We Can’t Handle the Hard Truth Anymore. Dr. Achill is critical of both pop Stoicism and pop Epicureanism. He is promoting a course he is giving on Philosophy as an art of living.

In recent months, Jack Gedney of the Substack blog Untroubled has published the following essays:

• Inviting All Pyrrhonists: I think many Skeptics should convert to Epicureanism
• Don’t Be a Skeptic: Principal Doctrines 23 and 24
• Why Pleasure Should Be Our Goal: John Stuart Mill is smarter than his critics
• Jane Austen, Epicurean Ally? – The Epicurean virtues are traditional virtues
• More Qualities of the Wise Man: Diogenes Laertius on Epicurean Ethics

He also wrote an essay series on Michel Onfray’s Epicurean influences:

• Part 1: The man bringing back the ancient scorn for philosophical idealists
• Part 2: Reviving the story of the defeated