borumi's review against another edition
2.0
I needed some help in figuring out what Lucretius or Epicurus was trying to convey in De Rerum Natura, so I started reading 'The Art of Happiness'. I was surprised to find out that some ideas that I believed to belong to Epicurus may have been misinterpreted. (Of course, I might be wrong in my interpretation of THIS book as well...) I started reading Lucretius after reading the Swerve by Greenblatt and now I'm trying to get a firmer grasp on it through the discussion in our group and this book on Epicurus' Art of Happiness. It seems that he tried to overlook some faults in the physical and etymological theories in order to focus on the ethical impact of atomism. The book has a bit too much commentary and I don't recommend reading this before reading Lucretius but it might be of some help.
As Epicurus' own writings are scant, it IS more of Strodach's book, but it offered me a chance to see the prose translation of Lucretius' De Rerum Natura (which is just as beautiful as the verse translation) and made me realize how extremely dry and bland Epicurus' style of composition is in comparison. Before, I was a bit doubtful about the efficiency of Lucretius's poetic format in presenting a scientific theory but after reading this, I fully appreciate it. :-) Kudos to Luc. Though it did help me understand some less clear points of epicurism and provided some background knowledge and I liked the Vatican collection of epicureanist aphorisms, I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Lucretius version of epicureanism.
As Epicurus' own writings are scant, it IS more of Strodach's book, but it offered me a chance to see the prose translation of Lucretius' De Rerum Natura (which is just as beautiful as the verse translation) and made me realize how extremely dry and bland Epicurus' style of composition is in comparison. Before, I was a bit doubtful about the efficiency of Lucretius's poetic format in presenting a scientific theory but after reading this, I fully appreciate it. :-) Kudos to Luc. Though it did help me understand some less clear points of epicurism and provided some background knowledge and I liked the Vatican collection of epicureanist aphorisms, I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Lucretius version of epicureanism.
ratitabovary_09's review against another edition
3.0
•12-02-2022•
«...no nos referimos a los placeres de los viciosos [•••], ...si no al no sufrir dolor en el cuerpo ni al estar perturbados en el alma.»
Mi filosofía de vida. No necesitamos mucho en nuestro día a día más allá de los placeres naturales y las amistades. La verdadera felicidad se puede encontrar en un simple picnic rodeado de tus amistades cercanas, hablando del placer de vivir.
«...no nos referimos a los placeres de los viciosos [•••], ...si no al no sufrir dolor en el cuerpo ni al estar perturbados en el alma.»
Mi filosofía de vida. No necesitamos mucho en nuestro día a día más allá de los placeres naturales y las amistades. La verdadera felicidad se puede encontrar en un simple picnic rodeado de tus amistades cercanas, hablando del placer de vivir.
rvandenboomgaard's review against another edition
4.0
5 stars for the letter itself, 4 stars for the translation that seemed — to me — a bit to modern.
Good to revisit this, new things I noticed now which completely went over my head when reading this in a study-context.
Good to revisit this, new things I noticed now which completely went over my head when reading this in a study-context.
erstarrungggg's review against another edition
5.0
baca karena dorongan tugas
lumayan bagus sih, jadi tertarik lanjut baca de rerum natura nya lucretius
semoga nilaiku bagus amiin
lumayan bagus sih, jadi tertarik lanjut baca de rerum natura nya lucretius
semoga nilaiku bagus amiin
jachso's review against another edition
2.0
This was a slog of a read for me. I picked up this after reading Seneca bash Epicurus and his followers, curious to see what an absolute libertine the man was and what kind of philosophy he had developed for degenerates everywhere.
Unfortunately, Epicurus' philosophy is not a tenth as exciting and rebellious to human nature as his rivals suggested. In fact, many of his teachings are shockingly similar to the tenets of stoicism (learn to derive pleasures from the bare minimum; do not fret over that which you cannot change or fully understand; treasure friendships, etc.).
The main entertainment I got from this was learning the basics of Epicurus' materialism, his theories on the natural world, and the revelation on the massive misrepresentation he suffered at the hands of his contemporaries and future philosophers.
Unfortunately, Epicurus' philosophy is not a tenth as exciting and rebellious to human nature as his rivals suggested. In fact, many of his teachings are shockingly similar to the tenets of stoicism (learn to derive pleasures from the bare minimum; do not fret over that which you cannot change or fully understand; treasure friendships, etc.).
The main entertainment I got from this was learning the basics of Epicurus' materialism, his theories on the natural world, and the revelation on the massive misrepresentation he suffered at the hands of his contemporaries and future philosophers.
subane's review against another edition
4.0
• lu pour le bac de philo
• une philosophie très intéressante !
• une philosophie très intéressante !