An introduction to Epicurean philosophy, in six self-paced sessions — about 4 hours in total, spread across as many sittings as you like. Each session follows the same pattern: read the session's book, work through its self-test lesson for practice, then take its graded quiz. See the site's front page for a full explanation of how this works.
What's In This Course
- The Big Picture – A fast overview of Epicurus's key conclusions, so you can see how the details in later sessions fit together before you get to them.
- Historical Perspectives – Where Epicurus fits into the history of philosophy, the common myths about him corrected, and the five traditions (Stoicism, Platonism, Supernatural Religion, Skepticism, and Humanism) that have distorted how he has been read ever since.
- Physics – Why the universe is entirely natural, with no supernatural gods and no intelligent design behind it, and how atoms and void account for everything that exists.
- Canonics – How knowledge is possible at all: the senses, anticipations, and feelings that Nature gives every person as the tools for telling truth from falsehood.
- Ethics – Why pleasure, not virtue or tranquility, is the goal of life; what that actually means in practice; and how friendship and justice fit into a pleasurable life.
- Recap – A comprehensive review pulling together the whole course, with one last self-test and quiz to confirm everything has sunk in.
Complete every session's lesson and pass every session's quiz to unlock your certificate of completion.
- Guide: Cassius Amicus
- Guide: Kalosyni Eos