Debunked! - Epicurus Hates Atheists
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- A widely shared quote attributed to Epicurus was NEVER written by Epicurus, who, in fact, thought atheists were insane. Watch and find out who really wrote this famous maxim.
Tim Whitmarsh discussing the "Epicurean" trilemma with me: bit.ly/2ZPzzml
Tim on @MythVisionPodcast discussing atheism in Classical Antiquity
Jason's note: if you ask ChatGPT who wrote this trilemma, it will now respond with Sextus, citing the relevant passage, after I fed this information into the algorithm.
My first book, Manifest Insanity, on the evolution of Judeo-Christianity, published under my previous pseudonym: amzn.to/42x5yWw
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In his Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus says "The gods do indeed exist, since our knowledge of them is a matter of clear and distinct peprception; but they are not like what the masses suppose them to be, because most people do not maintain the pure conception of the gods. The irreligious man is not the person who detroys the gods of the masses but the person who imposes the ideas of the masses on the gods."
The "pure conception of the gods" in question is that the gods must be perfect, and perfect beings do not intervene in the world because to intervene denotes a want or need, and perfect beings cannot have a want or need. I couldn't find where Epicurus says that directly, but Lucretius, a later Roman Epicurean poet, writes in The Nature of Things that "Those who have rightly learned that the gods lead lives of unconcern may yet marvel at times how things take place, particularly those occurrences that we observe overhead in the spaces of heaven; and they may again lapse into the antique notions of religion by acknowledging gods as the fierce lords of nature; and... they may believe them omnipotent, not understanding the manner in which each thing's natural power is hedged by a limit set deep within..."
So basically, Epicurus thought of the gods similarly to how Chrisitan Deists think of God, but Epicurus, or at least Epicureans, held that they were formed by and subject to nature while Deists hold that God still created everything. It is also worth noting that Lucretius seems much more antagonistic towards the gods and religion, and that may be the source of more atheistic interpretations of Epicureanism or even symbolic of later Epicurean thought.
Thanks! I always wondered why Epicurus would have said this as he was respectful of the gods though not conventionally religious.
He didn't say it, i did
Cool, you proved that Epicurus didn't say this. Congratulations.
Nice Video!
Interesting very good explanation and quite convincing. "Epikoros" was a heretic Hebrew, possible atheist. There is ample evidence that Epicurus believed in the Gods, in his special way. The most compelling is the dedication to Venus in "De Rerum Natura", also there are several passages that recommend respect to the Gods. Cheers
There are tons of quotes like this. Don't research your favorite quotes, you will be disappointed lmfao
nice video. congrats!!!
But i came here for that arguments denunk...
He might have said it. You don't know.
He might have flew to the moon using his ears as wings. You don't know.
Yes, but it doesn't match what he said in his other writings.