A Hypertext Notebook on Epicureanism: Containing a Reading Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Quotations, Links
Contextual Information, Quotations, Philosophy, Resources, Reconnoitering, Research, and Miscellanies. 
 

Bibliography     Quotations     Fiction     Notes     Chronology     Key Ideas     Best Reads  

Research by Michael P. Garofalo
Green Way Research, Vancouver, Washington

Epicurus, 341-270 BCE 

Epicureanism, Hedonism, Cyrenaics, Utilitarianism 

Bibliography, Resources, Links

I favor ethical and lifestyle philosophies from authors who emphasize viewpoints such as Epicureanism, hedonism, utilitarianism, liberalism, pragmatism, democracy, skepticism, practicality, empiricism, secularism, reasoning, liberty, humanism, Enlightenment, materialism, science, etc.  I believe that most Hedonists and Epicureans support these viewpoints.  Most hedonists are non-religious, anti-religious, or atheists, including myself.  If you favor theocracy, conservatism, religious codes of conduct, revelation, absolutism, authoritarian societies, clerics, asceticism, supernaturalism, biblio-idolatry, body hating, believing without evidence, or Platonic-Christian idealism, then you will not find much material of interest to you on this webpage. 

I began reading books on these subjects in 1961, received my B.A. degree in Philosophy in 1967, and have continued to read and study my entire life.   

I can only use the English language in my philosophical studies.  Therefore, there are few references below to books and articles in languages other than English.  Many of the books listed below, written by serious scholars, researchers, and academics, include excellent bibliographies including many non-English books and articles.  We also all need to thank those translators who have helped to reveal to us the thoughts of non-English writers of the past and present.  You can read this hypertext document in many languages thanks to the Google Translator drop down menu at the top of this webpage. 

There are many books on this webpage that I am currently reading, studying, or have read that are in my home library in Red Bluff, California (1998-2017). 
Books in my current home library (2020) at the Valley Spirit Center in Vancouver, Washington, are coded "VSCL." 

If you click on any underlined book title or any book image, the embedded link will take you to Amazon for purchasing that book.  Please purchase some of these fine books. 

Generally, this bibliography and links are arranged by the titles of the books or webpages; and sometimes around themes or persons. 
To search by author or topics, press the Ctrl+F keys to open the search box in your favorite web browser. 

A

Advice from Wise Persons: How to Live a Good Life.  Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo. 

Aesthetic Movement in Art and Literature 

Agnosticism, Religious Doubts, Atheism, Theological Fictions.  Notes, recommended reading, and personal opinions of Mike Garofalo. 

Anarchy, State and Utopia.  By Robert Nozick.  Basic Books, 1974, 2nd Edition, 2013.  Index, bibliography, notes, 400 pages.  ISBN: 978-0465051007.  "Translated into 100 languages, winner of the National Book Award, and named one of the 100 Most Influential Books since World War II by the Times Literary Supplement, Anarchy, State and Utopia remains one of the most theoretically trenchant and philosophically rich defenses of economic liberalism to date, as well as a foundational text in classical libertarian thought."  Professor Nozick argues for the primacy of the individual, individual rights and liberties, acceptance of inequality, restriction of intrusion by the State, and a minimalist government (i.e., military, police, and courts).  Those who support the Tea Party agenda would agree with many of Nozick's arguments.  VSCL. 

Ancient Greek Philosophy

Ancient Scepticism.  By Harald Thorsrud.  Berkeley, University of California Press, 2009.  Index, notes, references, bibliography, sources, 264 pages.  Ancient Philosophy Series, Book 5.  ISBN: 9780520260269.  VSCL. 

Appetites for Thought: Philosophers and Food.  By Michel Onfray.  Translated by Stephen Meucke and Donald Barry.  Reaktion Books, 2015.  128 pages.  ISBN: 9781780234458. 

Aristippus of Cyrene (435 BCE – 356 BCE) was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy.  The school was was located in the ancient Greco-Roman city of Cyrene; with the ruins of this ancient city lying in a lush valley in present day Libya. 'Aristippus was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity.  Among his pupils was his daughter Arete.' ....  Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar uplands in Libya. The city was named after a spring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo. It was also the seat of the Cyrenaics, a famous school of philosophy in the 3rd century BC, founded by Aristippus, a disciple of Socrates. It was then nicknamed the "Athens of Africa." ' 

Aristippus of Cyrene.  By Joshua J. Mark. 

Aristippus of Cyrene.  Diogenes Laërtius, Life of Aristippus, translated by Robert Drew Hicks (1925).

Aristotle (384–322 BCE)   Information on Aristotle:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  

Aristotle.  The Basic Works of Aristotle.  Edited with an Introduction by Richard McKeon.  New York, Random House, 1941.  1487 pages.  VSCL. 

Art and Experience in Classical Greece  By J. J. Pollitt.  Cambridge University Press, 1972, 1999.  Index, bibliography, 208 pages.  ISBN: 0521096626.  VSCL.

The Art of Frugal Hedonism: A Guide to Spending Less While Enjoying Everything More.  By Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb.  Melliodora Pub., 2017, 256 pages. 

The Art of Happiness.  By Epicurus.  Translation, introduction, and commentary by George K. Strodach.  A foreword by Daniel Klein,  Penguin Classics, Reissue edition, 2012.  272 pages.  ISBN:  978-0143107217.  VSCL. 

Art in the Hellenistic Age   By Jerome J. Pollitt. Cambridge University Press, 1986.  Index, notes, bibliography, 329 pages.  ISBN: 0521276721.  VSCL. 

Ataraxia   A lucid state of robust tranquility.  A calm and tranquil state of mind cultivated by the Skeptics and Stoics. 

Atheism   Notes, recommended reading, and personal opinions of Mike Garofalo. 

Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam  By Michel Onfray.  Translator: ?.  Arcade Publishing, 2011.  264 pages.  ISBN: 978-1611450088.  VSCL.  Epicureans held irreligious views, rejected the superstitions of popular religions, thought that the gods might exist is some remote realm but had no interest or involvement with earthly matters.  Professor Onfray offers another post-modern critique of organized religions.  I personally hold many of these irreligious views. 

Atoms, Pneuma, and Tranquillity: Epicurean and Stoic Themes in European Thought.  Edited by Margaret J. Osler.   Cambridge University Press, Reissue Edition, 2005.  320 pages.  ISBN: 978-0521018463.  'This volume examines the influence that Epicureanism and Stoicism, two philosophies of nature and human nature articulated during classical times, exerted on the development of European thought to the Enlightenment. Their influence in the areas of literature, philosophy, theology, and science are considered.'

Aurelius, Marcus.  Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180 AD) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. 'He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.  During his reign, the Empire defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire in the East: Aurelius' general Avidius Cassius sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. In central Europe, Aurelius fought the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians with success during the Marcomannic Wars, although the threat of the Germanic tribes began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately.  Marcus Aurelius' Stoic tome Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration."

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE)   Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 

Awaken the Giant Within.  By Anthony Robbins.  Free Press, 1992.  Index, 544 pages.  ISBN: 98-0671791544.  VSCL. 

B

Beauty - Pleasures

Jeremy Bentham, 15 February 1748 - 6 June 1832, was a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer.  "He is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism.  He strongly endorsed acting on the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong."  He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism.  He advocated individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalising of homosexual acts.  He called for the abolition of slavery, the abolition of the death penalty, and the abolition of physical punishment, including that of children.  He has also become known in recent years as an early advocate of animal rights.  Though strongly in favour of the extension of individual legal rights, he opposed the idea of natural law and natural rights, calling them "nonsense upon stilts".  Bentham's students included his secretary and collaborator James Mill, the latter's son, John Stuart Mill, the legal philosopher John Austin, as well as Robert Owen, one of the founders of utopian socialism." - Wikipedia

Bentham, Jeremy   Principles of Morals and Legislation,  1789. 

Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832)  Information:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 

Behtham Project, UCL

The Birth of Hedonism: The Cyrenaic Philosophers and Pleasure as a Way of Life.  By Kurt Lampe.  Princeton University Press, 2014.  304 pages.  ISBN: 978-0691161136.  VSCL. 

The Birth of Pleasure.  By Carol Gilligan.  Vintage, Reprint edition, 2003.  272 pages.  A discussion of love.  ISBN: 9780679759430. 

The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.  Edited with an introduction by Richard Kraut.  Wiley-Blackwell, 2006 pages.  396 pages.  ISBN: 978-1405120210. 

Bohemian Lifestyle

Bohemian Manifesto: A Field Guide to Living on the Edge  By Laren Stover.  New York, Bulfinch Press, 2004.  271 pages.  ISBN: 9780821228906.  A lighthearted and free flowing discussion of the five variations of Bohemians (Nouveau, Gypsy, Beat, Zen and Dandy) and of Bohemian philosophy generally.  VSCL. 

Broadmindedness, Tolerance, Openess.  Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.

C

The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Skepticism.  Edited by Richard Bett.  Cambridge University Press, 2010.  392 pages. ISBN: 978-0521697545. 

The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle.  Edited by Johathan Barnes.  Cambridge University Press, 1995.  434 pages.  ISBN: 978-0521422949

The Cambridge Companion to Epicureanism.  By Edited by James Warren.  Cambridge University Press, 2009.  Index, extensive bibliography, citation index, 342 pages.  Cambridge Companions to Philosophy.  ISBN: 978-0521695305.  VSCL.

The Cambridge Companion to Lucretius.  Edited by Stuart Gillespie.  Cambridge University Press, 2007.  384 pages. 

Carnal Alchemy, Sexual Magick

Carnal Philosophy: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Erotics  By Julien Offray de La Mettrie.  Translated from the French by Kirk Watson.  Amazon Digital, 2015.  32 pages.  ASIN: B014RGHWZI.  Kindle Format.  VSCL. 

Cheerfulness   Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.

Cloud Hands Blog.  By Michael P. Garofalo.  Over 2,500 indexed posts on well being, philosophy, Epicureanism, somaesthetics, taijiquan, qigong, walking, gardening, yoga, Taoism, hedonism, and spirituality.  Over 1.4 million page views as of 9/23/2020.    

The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good.  By David J. Linden.  Penguin Books, Reprint Edition 2012.  240 pages.  ISBN: 9780143120759. 

The Conquest of Happiness   By Bertrand Russell.  Introduction by Daniel Dennett.  Liveright, 1930, 2013.  224 pages.  ISBN: 9780871406736.  VSCL. 

The Consolations of Mortality: Making Sense of Death.  By Andrew Stark.  Yale University Press, 2016, 288 pages. 

Contemplation Pleasures

Cynicism.  Wikipedia

The Cynic Philosophers: From Diogenes to Julian.  Translated with an introduction by Robert Dobbin.  New York, Penguin Classics, Reprint 2013.  Notes, glossary, 352 pages.  ISBN: 978-0141192222.  VSCL. 

Cyrenaics

The Cyrenaics  By Ugo Zilioli.  Routledge, 2014.  240 pages.  ISBN: 9781844657636.  

Cyrenaics  Aristippus and the Pursuit of Pleasure 

Cyrenaics   Aristippus of Cyrene (435 BCE – 356 BCE) was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy.  The school was was located in the ancient Greco-Roman city of Cyrene; with the ruins of this ancient city lying in a lush valley in present day Libya. 'Aristippus was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity.  Among his pupils was his daughter Arete.' ....  Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar uplands in Libya. The city was named after a spring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo. It was also the seat of the Cyrenaics, a famous school of philosophy in the 3rd century BC, founded by Aristippus, a disciple of Socrates. It was then nicknamed the "Athens of Africa." ' 

Cyrenaics - The Birth of Hedonism: The Cyrenaic Philosophers and Pleasure as a Way of Life.  By Kurt Lampe.  Princeton University Press, 2014.  304 pages.  ISBN: 978-0691161136. 

Cyrenaics Handbook  Compiled, annotated and edited by Frank Redmond.  The Cyrenaic School was founded by Aristippus of Cyrene (435 BCE - 356 BCE).  Menin Web and Print Publishing, 2012, 5th Edition.  92 pages.  ASIN: B009XZ9T3M.  Cyrene was a Greco-Roman settlement in North Africa, in current day Libya.  'This handbook contains the lives, writings, and doctrines of the Cyrenaic school by compiling together the primary sources of the material. It is not a summary or analysis of the Cyrenaic school.  Rather it provides all of the (open and available) references to the Cyrenaic school within the ancient texts. Its main function is to put together in one place all of the disparate references spread across the Internet and libraries into one book.  It is designed for the scholar and for the student.  The scholar can use this resource to save time by having everything ready in one place.  All references are taken from copyright-expired texts or open source (free) texts from places like Gutenberg and Archive.org.'  VSCL. 

The Cyrenaics on Pleasure, Happines, and Future Concern.   By Tim O'Keefe. 

Cyrenaics - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 

Cyrenaics - Wikipedia   

Cyrenaics Resources   By Lucian of Samosata Wiki.  Many ancient texts cited. 

Cyrenaics Resouces

D

Daodejing by Laozi 

Death is Nothing to Fear: Better Living through the Philosophy of Epicurus.  By Hans Dimitriadis.  Ebook, 2019, 142 pages. 

Decadent Movement in Art and Literature  

In Defence of Sensuality  By John Cowper Powys.  Faber and Faber, 2011.  Originally published in 1930.  290 pages.  ISBN: 978-0571275403. 

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.  By David Hume.  Edited by Richard H. Popkin.  Hackett Publishing Co., 1998.  162 pages. 

Different Loving: The World of Sexual Dominance and Submission.  By William Brame, Gloria Brame, and Jon Jacobs.   Villard, 1996.  560 pages.  ISBN: 9780679769569.  VSCL. 

Diogenes of Oinoanda and Epicurean Thought

Doctrines and Sayings of Epicurus

Doctrines of Epicureanism

Druids, NeoPagan Viewpoints

E

Egoism:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 

Egoism - Ethical

Elemental Epicureanism Website.  General resources, physics, canonics, ethics, 12 Elementals, 40 Doctrines. 

Elemental Epicureanism.  Edited by Cassius Amicus.  Amazon Digital Services, Kindle Version, $0.99, 2013.  426 pages.  ASIN: B00FLRJ80A.  VSCL. 

Enlightened Pleasures: Eighteenth-Century France and the New Epicureanism  By Thomas M. Kavanagh.  Yale University Press, 2010.  264 pages.  ISBN: 9780300140940. 

Epicurean Ethics in Horace: The Psychology of Satire.  By Sergio Yona.  Oxford University Press, 2018.  344 pages. 

Epicurean Ethics: Katastematic Hedonism (Studies in the History of Philosophy)  By Peter Preuss.  Studies in the History of Philosophy Series, Book 35.  Edwin Mellen Press, 1994.  288 pages.  ISBN: 978-0773491243. 

Epicurean Simplicity  By Stephanie Mills.  Washington, Shearwater Books, Island Press, 2002.  207 pages.  ISBN: 9781559636902.  VSCL. 

The Epicurean Tradition  By Howard Jones.  Routledge, Reprint Edition, 1992.  288 pages.  ISBN: 9780415075541. 

Epicureanism.  By Tim O'Keefe.  University of California Press, 2009.  A good introduction to Epicureanism.  Covers the three Epicurean essentials:  Physics/Metaphysics, Cannonical/Epistemological/Knowing, and Ethics.  Ancient Philosophies Series.  224 pages.  ISBN: 978-0520264717.  Brief chronology.  VSCL.  

Epicureanism - Wikipedia, 2015     " Only a few fragments and letters of Epicurus's 300 written works remain.  Much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators.  For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by ataraxia—peace and freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain—and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are measures of what is good and evil; death is the end of both body and soul and should therefore not be feared; the gods neither reward nor punish humans; the universe is infinite and eternal; and events in the world are ultimately based on the motions and interactions of atoms moving in empty space."

Epicureanism after Epicurus: The Influence of Epicurus on Western Thought.  By Robert Hanrott. 

Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity  By Catherine Wilson.  Oxford University Press, 2008.  Index, bibliography, 304 pages.  ISBN:  978-0199238811.  A study of Epicurean influences on many of the ideas that pervaded seventeenth and eighteenth century metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and natural and political philosophy.  VSCL. 

Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction   By Catherine Wilson.  Oxford University Press, 2016.  144 pages.  ISBN: 9780199688326.  I recommend you purchase the Ebook version because the paperback book version is too small (4.25"w x 7" h) and the type font is under 8 point. 

Epicureans and Hedonists: Bibliography, Links, Quotations, Notes, Sayings, Pointers.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo - Hypertext Notebooks. 

Epicurus, 341 - 270 BCE.  Founder of the Greek philosophical school of Epicureanism in Athens, Greece, at "The Garden." 

Epicurus, 341 - 270 BCE.  Founder of the Greek philosophical school of Epicureanism in Athens, Greece, at "The Garden." 

Epicurus (341-270 BCE)  Information on Epicurus:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 

Epicurus, 341-270 BCE   History, biography, views of the Epircurean School.    The Art of Happiness. 

Epicurus   Birthday, Celebration in Honor of Epicurus

Epicurus   The Sanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015.  "Epicurus joined his father in Colophon, on the coast of what is now Turkey, in around 321 BCE. Here he studied philosophy under the tutelage of Nausiphanes, a Democritean philosopher with skeptical leanings.  Ten years later, Epicurus moved to Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, and soon proceeded to Lampsacus on the nearby mainland; in both cities he taught and gathered followers before returning again to Athens in 307 BCE, where he remained until his death in 270, at the age of seventy-one. In Athens, he had purchased the property that became known as the “Garden” (later used as a name for his school itself) and began to develop his own school in earnest." 

Epicurus and Epicurean Philosophy   Created by Vincent Cook. A good list of online classical texts useful to Epicureans. Excellent historical summary. Good information on resources.  

Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition  Edited by Jeffrey Fish and Kirk R. Sanders.  Cambridge University Press, 2015.  280 pages.  ISBN: 9781107526471. 

Epicurus and the Pleasant Life: A Philosophy of Nature.  By Haris Dimitriadis.  1st Edition, 2017.  516 pages.  ISBN: 978-9609384568.  Also EBook format.  VSCL. 

Epicurus and the Singularity of Death: Defending Radical Epicureanism.  By David B. Suits.  Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.  232 pages. 

Epicurus Blog: Moderation, Enjoyment of Life, Tranquility, Friendship, Lack of Fear.  By Robert Hanrott.

Epicurus: The Art of Happiness.  By Epicurus.  Translation, introduction, and commentary by George K. Strodach.  A foreword by Daniel Klein.  New York, Penguin Classics, Reissue edition, 2012.  Index, bibliography, notes, 251 pages.  ISBN:  978-0143107217.  "The teachings of Epicurus—about life and death, religion and science, physical sensation, happiness, morality, and friendship—attracted legions of adherents throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and deeply influenced later European thought. Though Epicurus faced hostile opposition for centuries after his death, he counts among his many admirers Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx, and Isaac Newton. This volume includes all of his extant writings—his letters, doctrines, and Vatican sayings—alongside parallel passages from the greatest exponent of his philosophy, Lucretius, extracts from Diogenes Laertius' Life of Epicurus, a lucid introductory essay about Epicurean philosophy, and a foreword by Daniel Klein, author of Travels with Epicurus."   VSCL. 

Epicurus:  Epicurus Ethical Theory: The Pleasures of Invulnerability.  By Philip Mitsis.  Cornnell University Press, 1989.  Cornell Studies in Classical Philology Series, Book 48.  198 pages.  ISBN: 978-0801421877. 

Epicurus:  The Epicurus Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonia.   Translated by Brad Inwood with an introduction by Lloyd P. Gerson.  Hackett Classics.   Hackett Pub. Co., 1994.  128 pages.  ISBN: 9780872202412. 

Epicurus:  The Essential Epicurus  Translated with an introduction by Eugene O'Connor.  Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments.  New York, Promethus Books, Great Books in Philosophy, 1993.  101 pages.  ISBN: 0879758104.  VSCL. 

Equanimity:  Quotations, Sayings, Poems, Notes.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo.

Equanimity.  Wikipedia.   The Greek stoics use the word apatheia whereas the Roman stoics used the Latin word aequanimitas.

The Essential Epicurus  Translated with an introduction by Eugene O'Connor.  Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments.  New York, Promethus Books, Great Books in Philosophy, 1993.  101 pages.  ISBN: 0879758104.  VSCL. 

Ethical Egoism - Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Ethical Egoism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Ethical Egoism - Google Search 

The Ethics of Philodemus  By Voula Tsouna.  Clarendon Press, 2008.  280 pages.  ISBN: 9780199292172.  "Voula Tsouna presents a comprehensive study of the ethics of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus, who taught Virgil, influenced Horace, and was praised by Cicero. His works have only recently become available to modern readers, through the decipherment of a papyrus carbonized by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.  Tsouna examines Philodemus' theoretical principles in ethics, his contributions to moral psychology, his method, his conception of therapy, and his therapeutic techniques."

Exercise - Pleasures

This webpage work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Created by Michael P. Garofalo, Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California, © 2016 CCA 4.0

F

Facing Death: Epicurus and his Critics.  Oxford, Clarendom Press, 2004.

Feelings, Sensation, Perception, The Five Senses  Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Feldman, Fred, Ph.D.   Utilitarianism, Hedonism, and Desert: Essays in Moral Philosophy, 1997.    Pleasure and the Good Life: Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism, 2006.      What Is This Thing Called Happiness? 2012.

A Few Days in Athens: The Friends of Epicurus Edition   By Frances Wright. Foreword and Study Guide by Hiram Crespo.  A didactic novel.  Originally published in 1821.  CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2015.  276 pages.  "Frances Wright was an author, a feminist, a humanist, a naturalist philosopher and--like her friend Thomas Jefferson--a disciple of Epicurus.  In this didactic novel, she bears witness to the noble philosophy and materialist ethics of personal happiness that nurtured them both.  A Few Days in Athens is a challenge to cultivate a mind without bias, to hold truth in high regard, to honor the innocence of others, and to love the wholesome virtues and human values within an entirely secular context.  It is a rare pearl in the treasure of the intellectual legacy of the West."   ISBN: 9781507709061.

A Few Days In Athens  By Frances Wright.  1821.  With notes and appendix by Cassius Amicus.  E-Book Kindle Edition.  VSCL. 

Fiction, Fictional Characters, Hedonists in Fiction, Fictional Characters with a Epicurean Approach to Life

Fitness - Pleasures 

The Five Senses, Perception, Impressions, Feelings  Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

The Four Agreements.  By Don Miguel Ruiz.  Amber-Allen Pub., 1997.  160 pages.   ISBN: 978-1878424310. 

Friendship: Quotations, Sayings, Wisdom, Poetry, Aphorisms, Virtues.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Epicureanism - With Answers

From Pain to Pleasure: The Proven Pathway to Happiness: Epicurean Happiness Guidance  By Stefan G. Strietferdt.  CreateSpace Independent Pub., 2011.  116 pages.  ISBN: 9781463587604. 

G

Gardening  Over 3,500 quotations arranged by over 150 topics.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo.  Epicurus taught in Athens at "The Garden."  At the entrance to his "Garden" was a sign with the words "Stranger, here you do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure."  Gardening has provided me with many pleasures over my lifetime. 

Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655) 

Gassendi's Epicurus   Epicurus: His Life and Works, 1660, by Petrus Gassendi.  Gassendi's complete book on Epicurus in PDF Format. 

Michael P. Garofalo (1946-)   Biography     My Views About Religion     Sensory Pleasures     How to Live a Good Life     Main Index

Good Life and Virtues Website.  Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.  From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

The Good Life: Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-Being.  By Michael Bishop.  Oxford University Press, 2015.  248 pages.  ISBN: 978-019923113. 

Great Freethinkers: Selected Quotations by Famous Skeptics and Nonconformists.  Edited by James C. Sanford.  Providence, Rhode Island, 2004.  Biographical index, 250 pages.  ISBN: 0974704229.  VSCL. 

The Greeks on Pleasure  By J. C. B. Gosling and C. C. W. Taylor.  Oxford University Press, 1982.  510 pages.  ISBN:  978-0198246664. 

Green Way Research Index

A Guide to Rational Living.  By Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper.  Wilshire Book Company, 1975, 233 pages. 

H

The Hand, Touch, Feeling: Quotations, Bibliography, Resources, Links, Notes   From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

Happiness (Eudaimonia) 

Happiness: A History  By Darrin M. McMahon.  New York, Atlantic Monthly Press, Grove Press, 2006.  Index, notes, 544 pages.  ISBN: 97808022142894.  VSCL. 

Happiness: A Philosopher's Guide.  By Frederic Lenoir.  Translated by Andrew Brown.  Melville House, 2015.  208 pages.  ISBN: 978-1612194394. 

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom.  By Jonathan Haidt.  Basic Books, 2006.  320 pages.  ISBN: 978-0465028023. 

Hearing, Listening, Sounds, Silence.  Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo.  From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

Hedonism

Hedonism - International Encyclopedia of Ethics

Hedonism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Hedonism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Hedonism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Hedonism Philosophy Images

Hedonism - Wikipedia 

The Hedonism Handbook: Mastering The Lost Arts Of Leisure And Pleasure  By Michael Flocker.  DaCapo Press, 2004.  208 pages.  ISBN: 9780306814143.  Many practical suggestions for enjoying life more, humorous style, and who and what to avoid.  VSCL. 

The Hedonist Alternative: "Anti-Seneca" and Other Texts  By Julien Offray de la Mettrie.  Translated by Kirk Watson.  Amazon Digital Services, Kindle version, 2014.  133 pages.  ASIN: B00Q3K6N3O.  Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709-1751) was a French physician and philosopher, and one of the earliest French materialists of the Enlightenment.  He is best know for his work Machine Man.

A Hedonist Manifesto   By Michel Onfray.  Translated by Joseph McClellan.  Columbia University Press, 2015.  232 pages.  Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture.  ISBN:  978-0231171267.   Michel Onfray is a French philosopher and public intellectual who founded and teaches at the free Popular University of Caen. He has written more than sixty books, many of them best sellers.  E-book Kindle, VSCL. 

Hedonistic Theories from Aristippus to Spencer.  By John Watson.  First published in 1895.  Forgotten Books, Classic Reprint, 2012.  270 pages.  ASIN: B008VX1CSC. 

Hedonistic Utilitarianism  By Torbjorn Tannsjo.  Edinburgh University Press, 1998.  224 pages.  ISBN: 978-0748610426. 

Hellenistic Philosphers Index 

The Hellenistic Philosophers: Volume 1, Translations of the Principal Sources with Philosophical Commentary.  Compiled and translated by A. A. Long and D.N. Sedley.  Cambridge University Press, 1987.  524 pages.  ISBN: 9780521275569. 

Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings.  Translated and compiled by Brad Inwood and Lloyd P. Gerson.  Hackett Pub. Co., Second Edition, 1998.  438 pages.  ISBN: 97780872203785.  VSCL. 

Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind.  By Julia E. Annas.  Berkeley, University of California Press, Reprint, 1994.  Hellenistic Culture and Society Series, Book 8.  245 pages.  ISBN: 978-0520076594. 

Hellenistic Philosophy: Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics  By A. A. Long.  Berkeley, University of California Press, 1974, Second Edition, 1986.  Index, bibliography, 274 pages.  ISBN: 978-0520058088.  VSCL. 

Hippie Lifestyle

History of Epicurean Philosophy by Vincent Cook 

The Holy Barbarians.  By Larry Lipton.  New York, Julian Messner, Inc., 1959.  320 pages. 

The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want  By Sonja Lyubomirsky.  New York, Penguin Books, 2008.  Index, extensive notes, appendix, 366 pages.  ISBN: 978-1594201486.  Hardbound copy.  Ms. Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Riverside, with a strong emphasis on positive psychology.  VSCL. 

How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like.  By Paul Bloom.  W.W. Norton, 2011.  304 pages.  ISBN: 9780393340006. 

How to be an Epicurean: The Ancient Art of Living Well.  By Catherine Wilson, Ph.D.  New York, Basic Books, 2019.  293 pages, notes.  VSCL. 

How to Life a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons.  Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo. 

Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo    Senses, Pleasure, Hedonism, Druids, Stoics, Touch, Tao Te Ching, Taijiquan, Qigong, Walking, Philosophy, Tai Chi Chuan, Poetry, etc.  Mike Garofalo (1945-) and Karen Garofalo lived south (1998-2017) of the City of Red Bluff, in Tehama County, California.  They lived in a rural area, surrounded by almond orchards, at the "Valley Spirit Center, Gushen Grove."  [Both a real and a imaginary place.]  Our home and gardens are located on the flat, clay/sand rockless soil, in the midland heart of the North Sacramento River Valley.  Mike's writings are published under the Green Way Research banner. 

I

In Defense of Sensuality.  By John Cowper Powys.  V. Gollancz, 1931.  287 pages. 

Intelligent Life Magazine - The Economist 

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation   By Jeremy Bentham, 1748-1832.  Create Space Independent Publishing, 2015.  292 pages.  ISBN: 978-1508738732. 

Introduction to Virtue Ethics: Insights of the Ancient Greeks.  By Raymond Devettere.  Georgetown University Press, 2002.  208 pages.  ISBN: 978-0878403721. 

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Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)  "I too am an Epicurean.  I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us." (1819)  

Jefferson, Thomas:  Syllabus of the Doctrines of Epicurus (1819) 

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Katastematic:  A primarily internal condition, attitude, state of body-mind producing feelings of pleasure.  The experience of pleasant feeling when the body is healthy, relatively pain or distress free, at ease, and you are comfortable in your skin. 

L

"Letter to Menoeceus" from Epicurus

Letters on Happiness: An Epicurean Dialogue.  By Peter Saint-Andre.  Monadnock Valley Press, 2013.  60 pages. 

Life, Letters and Epicurean Philosophy of Ninon de L Enclos.  Book Jungle, 2008.  272 pages.  ISBN: 9781605979076. 

Life's Little Instruction Book:  511 Suggestions, Observations, and Reminders on How to Live a Happy and Rewarding Life.  By H. Jackson Brown, Jr.  Thomas Nelson, Revised edition, 2000.  160 pages.  ISBN: 1558538356. 

A Life Worthy of the Gods: The Materialist Psychology of Epicurus.  By David Konstan.  Parmenides Publishing, 2008.  

Locke, John (1602-1734)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  Locke, like Epircurus, defended the empiricist view that knowledge comes from sensations and experience, and not the view of Plato or Descartes that true knowledge comes only from a rational intuition of forms or concepts not derived from experience. 

Locke, John.  Collected Works, E-book Kindle Version, 7 Works: Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Treatise on Government, Letter on Tolerance.  VSCL. 

Lucretius and Epicurus.  By Clay Diskin.  Cornell University Press, 1983. 

Lucretius: The Nature of Things.   By Lucretius.  Translated by Alicia Stallings.  Introduction by Richard Jenkyns.  Written by Titus Lucretius Carus in around 60 BCE.  New York, Penguin Classics, 2007.  304 pages.  ISBN: 978-0140447965.  Epicurean physics in a poetic format. 

Titus Lucretius Carus (99 - 55 BCE)   Information:   Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Lucretius: The Way Things Are: The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus.  Translated by Rolfe Humphries.  Written by Titus Lucretius Carus in around 60 BCE.  Bloomington, Indiana, University of Indiana Press, 1968.  Notes, 255 pages.  ISBN: 9780253201256.  Lucretius was an Epicurean Hellenistic philosopher.  VSCL. 

Lucretius:  Titus Lucretius Carus, circa 99 BCE - 55 BCE., was a Roman poet and philosopher.  "His only known work is the epic philosophical poem De rerum natura about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which is usually translated into English as On the Nature of Things.  Very little is known about Lucretius's life; the only certain fact is that he was either a friend or client of Gaius Memmius, to whom the poem was addressed and dedicated.  De rerum natura was a considerable influence on the Augustan poets, particularly Virgil (in his Aeneid and Georgics, and to a lesser extent on the Satires and Eclogues) and Horace.  The work virtually disappeared during the Middle Ages but was rediscovered in 1417 in a monastery in Germany by Poggio Bracciolini, and it played an important role both in the development of atomism (Lucretius was an important influence on Pierre Gassendi) and the efforts of various figures of the Enlightenment era to construct a new Christian humanism."  -  Wikipedia.

Lucretius:  The Swerve: How the World Became Modern  By Stephen Greenblatt.  W. W. Norton, 2012.  356 pages.  ISBN: 978-0393343403.  Review.  How a Renaissance book hunter discovered and saved Lucretius: The Way Things Are: The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus.  VSCL.

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Marius the Epicurean: His Sensations and Ideas  By Walter Pater.  1885.  Cosimo Classics, 2005.  392 pages.  ISBN: 9781596055544.  I use the E-book Kindle version of this classic.  Foreword by Gerald Monsman.  VSCL. 

The Methods of Ethics.  By Henry Sidgwick.  Foreword by John Rawls.  Hackett Pub. Co., 1874, 7th Edition, 1981.  568 pages.  ISBN: 978-0915145287.  'Professor Henry Sidgwick (May 31, 1838 - August 28, 1900) was a professor, philosopher, writer and advocate for womens education. An analytical Utilitarian in his politics, as a philosopher he examined the principles of ethical hedonism, human behavior and free will. He developed a reputation as an excellent teacher who treated students as equals and was also a member of the Metaphysical Society.'

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)  Information:  Wikipedia Encyclopedia.   English philosopher, political economist, utilitarian proponent, and public servant.   

John Stuart Mill.  The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women, and Utilitarianism.  Introduction by J. B. Schneewind, and commentary by Dale E. Miller.  New York, Modern Library, 2002.  400 pages.  ISBN: 9780375759185.  VSCL. 

Moderation   Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.

Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists  By Benjamin Wiker.  IVP Academic, 2002.  329 pages.  Christian Classics Bible Studies.  A Christian critique of hedonism, materialism, sensuality.  ISBN: 978-0830826667. 

Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists.  By Benjamin Wiker and William A Dembski.  IVP Academic, 2002, 329 pages.  Christian Classics Bible Study.  Fundamentalist Christians made their weak case for the "moral" decline in others not agreeing with their anti-scientific views. 

The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values.  By Sam Harris.  New York, Free Press, 2010.  Index, references, notes, 307 pages.  ISBN: 9781439171226.  VSCL. 

The Morality of Happiness  By Julia Annas.  Oxford University Press, 1995.  512 pages.  ISBN: 978-0195096521.  VSCL.    "Ancient ethical theories, based on the notions of virtue and happiness, have struck many as an attractive alternative to modern theories. But we cannot find out whether this is true until we understand ancient ethics--and to do this we need to examine the basic structure of ancient ethical theory, not just the details of one or two theories. In this book, Annas brings together the results of a wide-ranging study of ancient ethical philosophy and presents it in a way that is easily accessible to anyone with an interest in ancient or modern ethics. She examines the fundamental notions of happiness and virtue, the role of nature in ethical justification and the relation between concern for self and concern for others. Her careful examination of the ancient debates and arguments shows that many widespread assumptions about ancient ethics are quite mistaken. Ancient ethical theories are not egoistic, and do not depend for their acceptance on metaphysical theories of a teleological kind. Most centrally, they are recognizably theories of morality, and the ancient disputes about the place of virtue in happiness can be seen as akin to modern disputes about the demands of morality."

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New Epicurean Website  Articles, Links, Bibliography, News, Discussion, History, Quotations, Comparisons, Resources

A New Guide to Rational Living.  By Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper.  Third Edition, Thoroughly Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century.  Hollywood, CA, Melvin Powers Wilshire Book Company, 1961, 1997.  Index, bibliography, 283 pages.   ISBN: 0879800429.  VSCL. 

Nicomachean Ethics  By Aristotle.  Translated by Terence Irwin.  Introduction, notes, references.  Hackett Publishing, 2nd Edition, 1999.  392 pages.  Kindle Edition.  ISBN: 978-0872204645.  VSCL. 

Nicomachean Ethics   By Aristotle.  Translated by Christopher Rowe.  Commentary and notes by Sarah Broadie.  Oxford University Press, 2002.  Introduction: pp. 3-94.  Translation of Nicomachean Ethics: pp. 95-260.  Commentary: 261-452.  Bibliography, Indexes, 468 pages.  ISBN: 9780198752714.  VSCL. 

Nietzsche, Frederick Wilhelm (1844 – 1900) - Wikipedia  Nietzsche was a scholar of Greek and Latin, familiar with Greco-Roman culture and philosophy.  Plagued by poor health all of his short life, he nevertheless wrote many essays and books.  His style of writing is engaging, insightful, bold, persuasive, imaginative, and he has keen sense of the bourgeois German culture of the late 19th century.  His thoughts and opinions can hold us spellbound at times.  The Greek sense of excellence for a persons function in life, free thinking, high standards, enjoyment of life, dignity, will, no gods needed, heroes, work, courage ... sounds like the issues raised by Epircureans. 

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900)   The Portable Nietzsche.   By Friedrich Nietzsche.  Translated by Walter Kaufmann.  New York, Penguin Books, 1977.  704 pages.  ISBN: 9780140150629.   Includes the complete and unabridged translations of: Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, and Thus Spoke Zarathurstra.  Extensive quotations from other works and his letters.  VSCL.  

Frederick Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900).  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 

Nietzsche and Epicurean Philosophy.  By A. H. J. Knight, Philosophy: Vol. 8, No. 32, October 1933, pp. 431-445. 

Nietzsche, Rand, and the Ethics of the Great Task, by Peter Saint-Andre, 2009.

The Norms of Nature: Studies in Hellenistic Ethics  Edited by Malcolm Schofield and Gisela Striker.  Cambridge University Press, 2007.  300 pages.  ISBN: 978-0521039888. 

Notebooks of an Old Philosopher   Notes by Mike Garofalo.  Lot's ruminations and research on the senses, hands, body-mind arts, somaesthetics, and virtures.  Part of the Hypertext Notebooks Series. 

Novels, Plays, Characters with a Hedonistic Attitude or Philosophy

O

Oikeiôsis: self-preservation, belonging to oneself, orientation, affinity, familiar, home, family, things close to one's heart.  A key term in Stoic developmental psychology.  Also implies working on developing a better sense of interconnectedness with widening circles of beings. 

On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy.  By Carl R. Rogers.  Introduction by Pete D. Kramer.  Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1961, 1995.  Index, bibliography, 420 pages.  ISBN: 039575531X.  VSCL. 

On Desire: Why We Want What We Want  By William B. Irvine.  Oxford University Press, 2006.  Index, bibliography, notes, 322 pages.  ISBN: 9780195327076.  VSCL. 

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  Research by Mike Garofalo in Neo-Paganism. 

Openness, Broadmindedness, Flexibility   Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.

The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World  Edited by John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray.  Oxford University Press Paperbacks, 2nd Edition, 1986, 2001.  Index, tables, 520 pages.  ISBN: 978-0192801371.  VSCL. 

P

Pater, Walter (1939-1894) 

Perception, Sensations, Impressions, The Five Senses  Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Peripatetic School.  In 335 BCE, Aristotle began teaching in the area at the Lyceum in Athens, Greece.  Philosophers, many followers of Aristotle, continued to walk and meet at the Lyceum for many centuries, until around 200 CE.  The school of Aristotle, the Aristotelians, followers of Aristotle's approach to developing a philosophy of life for yourself and expanding your knowledge. 

Philodemus   "Philodemus of Gadara (110 - 35 BCE).  A Hellenistic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for his poetry preserved in the Greek Anthology, but since the 18th century, many writings of his have been discovered among the charred papyrus rolls at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The task of excavating and deciphering these rolls is difficult, and work continues to this day.  The Ethics of Philodemus by Voula Tsouna.

A Philosopher's Notebooks by Mike Garofalo

The Philosophical Garden Website.  Encountering Ideas in the Midst of the Natural World.  This website has a particular focus on the ancient Greek philosophical tradition.  Of special interest is the significance of Epicurean philosophy from antiquity to the present day.

Philosophy: An Introduction Through Literature  Edited with introductions by Lowell Kleiman and Stephen Lewis.  Paragon House, 1998.  618 pages.  ISBN: 9781557785398.  VSCL. 

Philosophy as a Way of Life: Ancients and Moderns - Essays in Honor of Pierre Hadot.  Edited by Michael Chase, Stephen R. L. Clark, and Michael McGhee.  Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.  340 pages.  ISBN: 978-1405161619. 

Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault  By Pierre Hadot.  Edited with an introduction by Arnold Davidson.  Translated by Michael Chase.  Malden, Massachusetts, Wiley-Blackwell, 1995.  Index, extensive bibliography, 320 pages.  ISBN: 978-0631180333.  VSCL. 

Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations: Ancient Philosophy for Modern Problems  By Jules Evans.  New World Library, 2013.  320 pages.  ISBN: 978-1608682294. 

Philosophy Talk: Community of Thinkers

Plato (427 - 347 BCE)   Information:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Plato.  The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Including the Letters.  Edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns.  With an Introduction and Prefatory Notes.  New York, Pantheon Books, 1961.  Bollingen Series, LXXI.  14 different translators are used in this collection.  Detailed index, 743 pages.  LCN: 61-11758.  VSCL. 

Pleasure.  By Alexander Lowen, M.D..  Bioenergetics Press, 2006.  258 pages.  ISBN: 978-0974373720. 

Pleasure: A Creative Approach to Life.  By Alexander Lowen.  Alexander Lowen Foundation, 2013.  270 pages.  ISBN: 978-1938485107. 

Pleasure and Desire: The Case of Hedonism Reviewed  By J. C. B. Gosling.  Oxford University Press, 1969.  188 pages.  ISBN: 978-0198243397. 

Pleasure and the Good Life: Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism.  By Fred Feldman.  Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press, 2004, 2010.  Index, bibliography, themes, 221 pages.  ISBN: 978-0199297603.  VSCL. 

Pleasure in Ancient Greek Philosophy.  By David Wolfsdorf.  Cambridge University Press, 2013.  Index, reading list, 299 pages.  Key Themes in Ancient Philosophy Series.  ISBN: 978-0521149754.  VSCL. 

The Pleasure Instinct: Why We Crave Adventure, Chocolate, Pheromones, and Music  By Gene Wallenstein.  Wiley, 2008.  256 pages.  ISBN: 9780471619154. 

The Pleasure Prescription: To Love, To Work and to Play - Life in the Balance  By Paul Pearsall.  Hunter House Publications, 1996.  280 pages.  ISBN: 9780897932073. 

Pleasures.  Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.

Pleasures and Pains: A Theory of Qualitative Hedonism  By Rem B. Edwards.  Cornell University Press, 1979.  160 pages.  ISBN: 978-0801412417. 

Pleasures of the Brain.  By Morten L. Kringelbach and B. Kent (Editors).  Oxford University Press, 2009.  Series in Affective Science.  352 pages.  ISBN: 978-0195331028. 

Practical Ethics.  By Peter Singer.  Cambridge University Press, 3rd Edition, 2011.  356 pages.  ISBN: 9780521707688.  VSCL. 

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions.  By Dan Ariely.  Revised and expanded edition.  Harper Perennial, 2010.  384 pages.  ISBN: 978-0061353246.  VSCL. 

The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Second Edition: Conversations with Jeannie Carlier and Arnold I. Davidson.  Essays by Pierre Hadot and others.  Translated from the French by Arnold I. Davidson.  Cultural Memory in the Present.  Stanford University Press, 2nd Edition, 2011.  240 pages.  ISBN: 978-0804775434. 

Principal Doctrines of Epicureanism

Psychological Egoism - Wikipedia

Psychological Egoism - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Psychological Egoism - Google Search 

The Psychology of Quality of Life: Hedonic Well-Being, Life Satisfaction, and Eudaimonia.  By Joseph Sirgy.  Springer, 2nd Edition, 2014.  Index, 622 pages.  Textbook: Social Indicators Research Series, Book 50.  ISBN: 9789400799301. 

Pulling Onions.   Over 866 quips, flip-flops, queries, yes sirs, sayings, observations, and remarks by Mike Garofalo. 

Pursuits of Wisdom: Six Ways of Life in Ancient Philosophy from Socrates to Plotinus  By John M. Cooper.  Princeton University Press, 2012.  Index, bibliography, end notes, further reading list, 442 pages.  ISBN: 978-0691159706.  Chapter 5, pp. 226-304: The Epicurean and Skeptic Ways of Life.  VSCL. 

Pyrrhonism:  How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism.  By Adrian Kuzminski.  Lexington Books, 2010.  170 pages.  ISBN: 978-0739125076. 

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Rational Egoism  - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Rational Egoism - Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Reading Pleasures

Reasons and the Good  By Roger Crisp.  Clarendon Press, 2006.  192 pages.  ISBN: 978-0199290338.  

Religion and Atheism   Notes, recommended reading, and personal opinions of Mike Garofalo. 

Rendezvous with the Sensuous: Readings on Aesthetics  Edited by Linda Ardito and John Murungi.  Cambridge Scholars Pub., 2014.  256 pages.  ISBN: 978-1443856225.

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The Science of Pleasure: Cosmos and Psyche in the Bourgeois World View  By Harvie Ferguson.  Routledge, 1990.  384 pages.  ISBN: 978-0415028936. 

Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism.  By Philip Miller and Molly Devon.  Mystic Rose Books, 1995.  277 pages.  ISBN: 9780964596009.  VSCL. 

Seasons, Months  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Seeing, Vision, Perception, Looking.   Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo.  From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

Sensation, Perception, The Five Senses  Quotations, bibliography, links, resources, notes, and research compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

A Sensual Soul.  By Charles de Saint-Evremond.  Translated by Kirk Watson.  116 pages.  Kindle Digital:  B0170AKDPO.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll: The Rise of American's 1960s Counterculture.  By Robert Cottrell.  Rowman and Littlefield Pubs., 2015.  452 pages.  ISBN: 9781442246065. 

Sexual Desire: A Philosophical Investigation  By Roger Scruton.  Bloomsbury Academic, 2006.  448 pages.  ISBN: 978-0826480385. 

Sexual Pleasures, Carnal Alchemy, Tantrics, Sexually Experimental 

Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness  By Willard Spiegelman.  The seven simple pleasures discussed are: dancing, reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming, and writing.  If you included Taijiquan as "dancing" then all of these can be solitary activities.  Picador, 2010.  208 pages.  ISBN: 9780312429676. 

The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies  By Thomas C. Mcevilley.  Allworth Press, 2001.  768 pages.  Kindle Version.   ISBN: 978-1581152036. 

The Sceptics.  By R. J. Hankinson.  London, Routledge, 1995.  Arguments of the Philosopher's Series.  General index, index of works cited, bibliography, notes, 376 pages.  ISBN: 0415184460.  Excellent introduction!  Exposition and arguments of the ancient sceptics: Pyrrhonism and Melagarism.  Detailed and authoritative survey of Greek and Hellenistic skeptics.  VSCL. 

The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life by Leo Babauta

Simplicity.  Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.

A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues: The Uses of Philosophy in Everyday Life  By André Comte-Sponville.  Translated from the French by Catherine Temerson.  New York, Henry Holt and Co., Metropolitan/Owl Book. 1996. 2001.  Index, notes, 352 pages.  ISBN: 0805045562.  VSCL.  The virtues discussed in these essays are:  Politeness, Fidelity, Prudence, Temperance, Courage, Justice, Generosity, Compassion, Mercy, Gratitude, Humility, Simplicity, Tolerance, Purity, Gentleness, Good Faith, Humor, and Love.   

Smelling, Scent.   Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo.  From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

Society of the Friends of Epicurus   A variety of resources and shared experiences and ideas. 

Socratic Logic: A Logic Text using Socratic Method, Platonic Questions, and Aristotelian Principles, Edition 3.1   By Peter Kreeft, and edited by Trent Dougherty.  South Bend, Indiana, St. Augustine's Press, Third Edition, 3.1, 2004, 2010.  Index, 410 pages.  ISBN: 9781587318085.  VSCL. 

Solitude - Pleasures  Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.

Somatics, Somaesthetics, The Human Body.  Notes, bibliography, guides, and research by Mike Garofalo.

Spinoza, the Epicurean: Authority and Utility in Materialism.  By Dimitris Vardoulakis.  Edinburgh University Press, 2020.  368 pages. 

The Spirit of Gardening.  Over 3,500 quotations arranged by over 150 topics.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo.  In the days of Epicurus, they met outside Athens in a garden and grove.  Women, men, and slaves were admitted to this garden for discussions.  

The Stoic and Epicurean Philosophers: The Complete Extant Writings of Epicurus, Epictetus, Lucretius, and Marcus Aurelius  Edited with an introduction by Whitney J. Oates, PhD.  New York, The Modern Library, Random House, 1940.  Glossary, 627 pages.  ISBN: 9780394607450.  VSCL.  This was the first book I ever read about the Epicurean philosophers.  I purchased a used hardbound copy in 1962.  VSCL. 

Stoicism.  By John Sellars.  University of California Press, 2006.  219 pages.  Ancient Philosophies Series, Book 1.  ISBN: 978-0520249080.

Sweeping Changes: Discovering the Joy of Zen in Everyday Tasks by Gary Thorp

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern  By Stephen Greenblatt.  W. W. Norton, 2011.  Index, notes, selected bibliographyh, 356 pages.  ISBN: 978-0393343403.  Review.  How a Renaissance book hunter discovered and saved Lucretius: The Way Things Are: The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus. This popular book was a National Book Award Winner, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize.  VSCL.  

Symbolist Movement in Art and Literature

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Tantra: Bibliography, Links, Resources


Tantra: Hedonism in Indian Culture  By Prem Saran.  D. K. Printworld, 1998.  220 pages.  ISBN: 9788124600979. 

Tasting, Flavors, Eating.   Quotes, sayings, facts, lore, and information compiled by Mike Garofalo.  From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

Tending the Epicurean Garden  By Hiram Crespo.  Humanist Press, 2014.  Kindle Version.  196 pages.  ISBN: 978-0931779534.  VSCL.  "There are sources on Epicureanism, but many are indirect and some are hostile. It’s important for us in the Epicurean movement that there exist Epicurean sources for our tradition that explain it on our own terms. Another reason why this book is extremely important is that there is a huge body of interdisciplinary research that vindicates the teachings of Epicurus, which calls for an update to how they’re presented. This includes not just research by social scientists but also in fields as varied as diet and neuroplasticity.  Epicureanism is not a fossilized, archaic Greek philosophical school but a cosmopolitan, contemporary, scientific wisdom tradition that is alive and changing as new information becomes available on the science of happiness and wellbeing. Lovers of Epicurean tradition who make a resolution to apply philosophy in their daily lives will benefit the most from the book, which is meant to set the foundation for the work of the Society of Friends of Epicurus. The best way for Epicureanism to grow, in my view, is organically and slowly beginning with small circles of Friends. I also believe that the current generation of Epicureans has a pivotal role in the future of our tradition, and that the most effective way to revitalize our tradition is by implementing exercises based on the insights presented in the book about katastemic and contemplative practices, by nurturing their wisdom traditions, etc. Insights gained through these experiments, if shared with the larger Epicurean community, might be of great benefit to many." Hiram Crespo was born in New York city and currently resides in Chicago. He graduated in 2013 with high honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Northeastern Illinois University, with concentrations in mass media and French. He's a philosopher, multilingual author and blogger, and the founder of the Society of Friends of Epicurus.
- Hiram Crespo, Tending the Epicurean Garden, 2014, Summary and Reviews

The Ten Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on Living the Good Life.  By M.S. Soupios and Panos Mourdoukoutas.  Charlottsville, Virginia, Hampton Roads Pub., 2009.  128 pages.  Both authors are professors at Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus.  ISBN: 9781571746054.  VSCL. 

The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics.  By Martha C. Nussbaum.  Princeton University Press, 1996, 2009.  584 pages.  Martin Classical Lectures Series.  ISBN: 978-0691141312.  VSCL.  

Thinking Critically.   By John Caffee.  Wadsworth Pub., 2011.  10th Edition.  Index, bibliography, 592 pages.  ISBN: 9780495908814.  John Chaffee, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at The City University of New York, where he has developed a Philosophy and Critical Thinking program.  VSCL. 

Time and the Art of Living  By Robert Grudin.  Mariner Books, 1997.  Index, 250 pages.  ISBN: 978039689814.  VSCL. 

Time, the Familiar Stranger   By J. T. Frazier.  University of Massachusetts Press, 2012.  Index, bibliography, notes, 408 pages.  ISBN: 9781558498594.  VSCL. 

Touching, Feeling, Sensations, Hands.  Quotes, Sayings, Facts, Information, and Charts compiled by Mike Garofalo.  From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

The Tradition of Political Hedonism from Hobbes to J. S. Mill  By Frederick Vaughan.  Fordham University Press, 1982.  271 pages.  ISBN: 978-0823210770. 

Tranquility (Atraxia), Serenity, Peace of Mind:  Quotations, sayings, poems, observations.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo.

Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life  By Daniel Klein.  New York, Penguin Books, 2012.  164 pages.  ISBN: 9780143126621.  at the age of 73, Daniel Kein, takes a suitcase of books with him, and goes to live on the Greek island of Hydra in the village of Kamini.  He uses his clear and keen mind to contemplate a philosophy of old age.  His cogent observations and humor provide the reader with a wonderful reflection on living a meaningful, authentic, and realistic old age.  He draws on a variety of philosophers and psychologists to support his conclusions.  The cool and warm breezes of the Agean Sea bring a fresh perspective to his useful meditations on living well in old age.  VSCL. 

U

Utilitarianism - Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 

Utilitarianism.  Jeremy Bentham, 15 February 1748 - 6 June 1832, was a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer.  "He is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism.  He strongly endorsed acting on the principle that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong."  He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism.  He advocated individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalising of homosexual acts.  He called for the abolition of slavery, the abolition of the death penalty, and the abolition of physical punishment, including that of children.  He has also become known in recent years as an early advocate of animal rights.  Though strongly in favour of the extension of individual legal rights, he opposed the idea of natural law and natural rights, calling them "nonsense upon stilts".  Bentham's students included his secretary and collaborator James Mill, the latter's son, John Stuart Mill, the legal philosopher John Austin, as well as Robert Owen, one of the founders of utopian socialism." - Wikipedia

Utilitarianism.  Bentham, Jeremy   Principles of Morals and Legislation,  1789. 

Utilitarianism.  Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832)  Information:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 

Utilitarianism.  The Cambridge Companion to Utilitarianism.  By Ben Eggleston and Dale E. Miller.  Cambridge University Press, 2014.  406 pages.  ISBN: 9780521604819. 

Utilitarianism, Hedonism, and Desert: Essays in Moral Philosophy.  By Fred Feldman.  Cambridge University Press, 1997.  236 pages.  Cambridge Studies in Philosophy Series.  ISBN: 978-0521598422.

Utilitarianism.  John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)  Information:  Wikipedia Encyclopedia.   English philosopher, political economist, utilitarian proponent, and public servant.   

Utilitarianism.  John Stuart Mill.  The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women, and Utilitarianism.  Introduction by J. B. Schneewind, and commentary by Dale E. Miller.  New York, Modern Library, 2002.  400 pages.  ISBN: 9780375759185.  VSCL. 

Utilitarianism, On Liberty and Other Essays (Oxford World's Classics)  By John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873.  Edited by Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen.  Oxford University Press, Second Edition, 2015.  608 pages.  ISBN: 978-0199670802. 

V

Virtue Ethics  By Mike Garofalo. 

Virtues and the Good Life Website.  Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.  From the Hypertext Notebooks of Mike Garofalo. 

Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin

VSCL = Valley Spirit Center Library, Red Bluff, California, Library of Michael P. Garofalo

W

Walking Pleasures  

The Way Of The Good Hedonist  By D. D. Worden.  Edge of the World Press, 2013.  176 pages.  ISBN: 978-0615838540. 

What Is Ancient Philosophy?  By Pierre Hadot.  Translated from the French by Michael Chase.  Cambridge, Massachusetts, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002.  Index, chronology, bibliography, notes, 362 pages.  First published in French in 1995.  2004 Belknap reprint edition.  ISBN: 978-0674013735.  VSCL. 

What Is Good and Why: The Ethics of Well-Being  By Richard Kraut.  Harvard university Press, 2009.  304 pages.  ISBN: 9780674032378.  A defense of an Aristotelian theory of ethics. 

What Is This Thing Called Happiness?  By Fred Feldman.  Oxford University Press, 2012.  304 pages.  ISBN: 978-0199645930. 

Willpower, Determination, Grit   Quotations, Sayings, Notes compiled by Mike Garofalo.  

Wisdom of Catius' Cat.  Comics by Cassius Amicus. 

The Wisdom of Pleasures: "The School of Voluptuousness" and "The Art of Enjoyment."  By Julien Offray de La Mettrie.  Originally published in 1747.  Translated from the French by Kirk Watson.  Amazon Digital Publishing, 2014.  82 pages.  VSCL. 

Without God: Science, Belief, Morality and the Meaning of Life.  By Zachary Broom.  Independently Published, 2019, 346 pages. 

Y

Yang Zhu's Garden of Pleasure: The Philosophy of Individuality.  Edited by Rosemary Brant.  Astrolog Pub., 2006.   128 pages.  ISBN: 9789654942065. 

Yang Zhu, Master Yang, Chinese Philosopher, Yang Zi, 440–360 BCE.  Ethical Egoist, hedonist, Epicurean.   "Each for himself" or "wei wo."    

Yang Zhu - Ancient History Encyclopedia

Z

Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu, Zhuang Zhou, Master Chuang, Kwang-dze)  369—286 BCE   Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Epicurean, Hedonistic, Cyrenaic, Free Thought, Skeptical, Liberal, Secular, Humanistic, and Utilitarian Thinkers
A Chronology 

Aristippus of Cyrene (435–356 BCE)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Yang Zhu (440-360 BCE)  Information:  Ancient History Encyclopedia, Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Aristotle (384–322 BCE)   Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  

Epicurus (341-270 BCE)  Information:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 

Titus Lucretius Carus (99-55 BCE)   Information:   Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Sextus Empiricus (160-210 CE)  Information:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Al-Ma'arri (973-1057)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia  

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1678)  Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Margaret Lucas Cavendish (1623-1673)   Information: Stanford Encyclopedia

Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

John Locke (1602-1734)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Anne Ninon de l'Enclos (1620-1705)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)  Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Jean Meslier (1664-1729)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709-1751)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

David Hume (1711-1776)  Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Baron D'Holbach (1723-1789)  Information: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)  Information:  Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)  Information:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,  Wikipedia Encyclopedia,  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)  Information:  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Karl Marx (1818-1883)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Frederick Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900)   Information 

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

John Dewey (1859-1952)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)  Information:  Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Carl Rogers (1902-1987)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Albert Ellis (1913-2007)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

José Saramago (1922-2010)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia  

Hugh Hefner (1926-)  Information:  Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Woody Allen (1935-)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Richard Dawkins (1941-)  Information:  Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

Michel Onfray (1959-)  Information: Wikipedia Encyclopedia 

I share many of the philosophical and non-religious views so persuasively and emphatically expressed by Dan Barker, Jeremy Bentham, Luther Burbank,
André Comte-Sponville, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, John Dewey, Albert Ellis, Epicurus, A.C. Grayling, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Baron d'Holbach, David Hume, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Ingersoll, Paul Kurtz, Corliss Lamont, Bill Maher, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Paine, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Michel Onfray, Ayn Rand, Richard Rorty, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, Friedrich Schleirmacher, Baruch Spinoza, George Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Catherine Wilson, and many other intelligent, hard working, courageous, forthright, dynamic, honest, fulfilled, and wise persons.  These free-thinkers give me hope!  Many, but not all, favored Epicurean and Hedonistic viewpoints.  These persons often had different political and social viewpoints.  Most had negative views about the usefulness of religion.  Most favored science, logic and mathematics, reason, atomistic and evolutionary theories.   

Aristippus, from Cyrene, Libya
(435 BCE – 356 BCE)

Hedonism and Epicureanism in Fictional Works

Also:  Stoics, Cynics, Cyrenaics, Skeptics, Aristotelians in Fiction
 

Novels, Plays, Television, Movies, Stories, Fables, Poems

Novels

Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huys, 1884.  Epicurean. 

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, 1957.  Aristotelian. 

Brave New World by Aldos Huxley, 1932.   

Epicurean by Thomas Moore, 1857.  Epicurean. 

A Few Days in Athens, 1805   By Frances Wright.

Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire, 1857.  

Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1926. 

Hedonism by Donne Raffat, 2014

History of a Pleasure Seeker by Richard Mason, 2012. 

Justine by the Marquis de Sade. 

Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, 1929. 

Marius the Epicurean by Walter Pater, 1885.   Epicurean. 

Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, 1890. 

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, 1926. 

Snowdrops by A. D. Miller. 

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, 1926.     

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Ulysses by James Joyce, 1922.  Epicurean. 

Characters in Fictional Works or Television Programs or Motion Pictures

Essays on Hedonism in Literature or Film

Feeling Like a Stoic: Doris Lessing

Recommended Reading List

Epicureanism, Hedonism, Aristotelian, Egoism, Utilitarian 

Although the focus of this webpage is on the Epicureans and Hedonists, and the majority of the books and essays listed in the above bibliography are about Epicureanism and/or Hedonism, I have also included books and articles about the other Hellenistic philosophies that Hedonists or Epicureans were familiar with and even admired.   Since the above bibliography is somewhat comprehensive, and includes books that I have not as yet read, I thought it might be beneficial to others if I gave some suggestions as to some of the "best" books that I have read on the subject of Hedonism and Epicureanism and related subjects.  Persons just beginning to explore the Hedonists might find the following books useful to them. 

These paperbound books are also available in hardbound format, and in digital formats for ebook readers, and from numerous used book sellers.  There are books in languages other than English about Epicureanism, but I have limited access to them, and I can only read with English. 

Here are a few recommendations for good books to read about Hedonism or Epicureanism:

Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity  By Catherine Wilson, Ph.D.  Oxford University Press, 2008.  Index, bibliography, 304 pages.  ISBN:  978-0199238811.  VSCL.  A study of Epicurean influences on many of the ideas that pervaded seventeenth and eighteenth century metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and natural and political philosophy.  Outstanding scholarship, insightful, readable, thorough, and detailed.  Those readers interested in the history of science or the history of ideas from 1500-1800 CE will find the book invaluable. 

How to be an Epicurean: The Ancient Art of Living Well.  By Catherine Wilson, Ph.D.  New York, Basic Books, 2019.  293 pages, notes.  I think that Professor Catherine Wilson has a through understanding of Epicurean history and philosophy.  She provides many key insights into how to we might reflect on our lives today, using Epicurean ideas and principles.  Her writing is clear, balanced, and uplifting.  This a good account for lay readers of an Epicurean response to many important contemporary issues.  VSCL.

A Hedonist Manifesto   By Michel Onfray.  Translated and with a good introduction by Joseph McClellan.  Columbia University Press, 2015.  232 pages.  Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture.  ISBN:  978-0231171267.   Michel Onfray (1959-) is a French philosopher and public intellectual who founded and teaches at the free Popular University of Caen.  He has written more than sixty books in French, many of them best sellers.  His writing style is rich with comparisons and philosophical references, contemporary in scope, and for the advanced and knowledgeable reader.  Generally, he does not use  of obtuse philosophical jargon like you might encounter in Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Foucault, or Sartre.  I find his critical and skeptical thinking quite insightful and convincing.  He discusses art, bioethics, the body, politics, and intellectual history.  The book begins with a detailed discussion of his very negative experiences in a Catholic Salesian orphanage, and his uncaring mother.  He exposes the the philosophical underpinnings of non-Hedonistic or anti-Hedonist views.  He is an articulate atheist in the French tradition.  He is excellent in criticism; however, I don't find is presentation of the positive values of Hedonism very rich with examples and details─maybe that is found in his other books.  There are some of his lifestyle recommendations that I personally don't favor, just as preferences, not based on ethical objections.  His distain for America seems lopsided.  He favors individual changes, small communities, minimalist government, a libertarian utilitarianism.  Unfortunately, only two of his books have been translated into English.  I have the E-book Kindle version, VSCL. 

Epicurus and the Pleasant Life: A Philosophy of Nature.  By Haris Dimitriadis.  1st Edition, 2017.  516 pages.  ISBN: 978-9609384568.  VSCL. 

 
The Art of Happiness.  By Epicurus.  Translation, introduction, and commentary by George K. Strodach.  A foreword by Daniel Klein,  Penguin Classics, Reissue edition, 2012.  272 pages.  ISBN:  978-0143107217.  "The teachings of Epicurus—about life and death, religion and science, physical sensation, happiness, morality, and friendship—attracted legions of adherents throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and deeply influenced later European thought. Though Epicurus faced hostile opposition for centuries after his death, he counts among his many admirers Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx, and Isaac Newton. This volume includes all of his extant writings—his letters, doctrines, and Vatican sayings—alongside parallel passages from the greatest exponent of his philosophy, Lucretius, extracts from Diogenes Laertius' Life of Epicurus, a lucid introductory essay about Epicurean philosophy, and a foreword by Daniel Klein, author of Travels with Epicurus."   VSCL. 

Pursuits of Wisdom: Six Ways of Life in Ancient Philosophy from Socrates to Plotinus  By John M. Cooper.  Princeton University Press, 2012.  Index, bibliography, end notes, further reading list, 442 pages.  ISBN: 978-0691159706.  Chapter 5, pp. 226-304: The Epicurean and Skeptic Ways of Life.  Excellent discussion of the key ideas of Greek philosophers regarding the best way of living one's life.  Philosophies of life discussed include the views of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Epicureans, and Plotinus.  VSCL.

Happiness: A History  By Darrin M. McMahon.  New York, Atlantic Monthly Press, Grove Press, 2006.  Index, notes, 544 pages.  ISBN: 97808022142894.  VSCL. 

Lucretius: The Way Things Are: The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus.  Translated by Rolfe Humphries.  Written by Titus Lucretius Carus in around 60 BCE.  Bloomington, Indiana, University of Indiana Press, 1968.  Notes, 255 pages.  ISBN: 9780253201256.  Lucretius was an Epicurean Hellenistic philosopher.  VSCL. 

Quotations, Sayings, Aphorisms, Clichés, Quips, Quotes, Wisdom, Poetry

Key Ideas, Concepts, Adages, Phrases, Doctrines, or Principles for Epicureanism

PD = "The “Principal Doctrines” (also sometimes translated under the title “Sovran Maxims”) are a collection of forty quotes from the writings of Epicurus that serve as a handy summary of his ethical theory:


1.  Pleasure is a primary criterion for making choices and taking actions.  Happiness is a function of good health and pleasant experiences for as long as possible. 

"The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain. When such pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together."  PD #3
 

2.  Intense pleasures sometimes have unpleasant and unhealthy consequences.  Use caution with intense pleasures.  Think of long-term consequences of intense pleasures.   Don't ruin your health or overall well being because of seeking or enjoying intense pleasures.  Intense pleasures or pains often do not last very long. 

"No pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves." PD #8

3.  Desires can be based on false, groundless, empty ideals.  Be practical and efficient about what you want or desire.  What is necessary for a calm, peaceful, satisfying life?  If you live simply and more down to earth, what is needed can be rather easily procured.  What do you really need rather than what you imagine you might enjoy? 

"The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity."  PD #15

4.  Go unnoticed.  Mind your own business.  Be content with a simple, quiet, private, unnoticed life.  Stay clear of public and political notoriety.  Don't seek fame. 

"Some men want fame and status, thinking that they would thus make themselves secure against other men. If the life of such men really were secure, they have attained a natural good; if, however, it is insecure, they have not attained the end which by nature's own prompting they originally sought."  PD #7
 

5.  Cultivate friendships.  Sharing pleasant and convivial social relations can enhance your life.  Make, cultivate and keep good friends. 

"Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is friendship." PD #27


6.  Death ends your consciousness, soul, and being.  There is no afterlife as a non-material spirit.  When you are dead, there is nothing to fear.  Upon our death our bodies disintegrate, our material (atomic) nature dissipates and disperses, we disappear, our bodies and minds (souls) are gone.  Dead persons show no evidence of consciousness, awareness or thinking.  Ghosts are an invention of the imagination and fear. 

"Death is nothing to us; for that which has been dissolved into its elements experiences no sensations, and that which has no sensation is nothing to us."  PD #2
 

7.  Common religion is primarily useless superstition and childish nonsense.  Gods would have no interest in managing human affairs, or rewarding or punishing humans, or creating worlds.  Fear not the gods.    

"A blessed and indestructible being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply weakness."  PD #1

8.  Pain, discomfort, worry, anxiety, hunger, and fear are to be avoided and prevented. 

"Continuous bodily pain does not last long; instead, pain, if extreme, is present a very short time, and even that degree of pain which slightly exceeds bodily pleasure does not last for many days at once. Diseases of long duration allow an excess of bodily pleasure over pain."  PD #4
 

PD = Principal Doctrines of Epicurus, Sovran Maxims, #1-#40 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Principal Doctrines of Epircureanism
 

How to Live a Good Life:  Advice fom Wise Persons

"Letter to Menoeceus" from Epicurus

"Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more. Therefore, both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom, the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come. So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it.

Those things which without ceasing I have declared unto you, do them, and exercise yourself in them, holding them to be the elements of right life. First believe that God is a living being immortal and blessed, according to the notion of a god indicated by the common sense of mankind; and so believing, you shall not affirm of him anything that is foreign to his immortality or that is repugnant to his blessedness. Believe about him whatever may uphold both his blessedness and his immortality. For there are gods, and the knowledge of them is manifest; but they are not such as the multitude believe, seeing that men do not steadfastly maintain the notions they form respecting them. Not the man who denies the gods worshipped by the multitude, but he who affirms of the gods what the multitude believes about them is truly impious. For the utterances of the multitude about the gods are not true preconceptions but false assumptions; hence it is that the greatest evils happen to the wicked and the greatest blessings happen to the good from the hand of the gods, seeing that they are always favorable to their own good qualities and take pleasure in men like themselves, but reject as alien whatever is not of their kind.

Accustom yourself to believing that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply the capacity for sensation, and death is the privation of all sentience; therefore a correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life a limitless time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terrors for him who has thoroughly understood that there are no terrors for him in ceasing to live. Foolish, therefore, is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will pain when it comes, but because it pains in the prospect. Whatever causes no annoyance when it is present, causes only a groundless pain in the expectation. Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. It is nothing, then, either to the living or to the dead, for with the living it is not and the dead exist no longer.

But in the world, at one time men shun death as the greatest of all evils, and at another time choose it as a respite from the evils in life. The wise man does not deprecate life nor does he fear the cessation of life. The thought of life is no offense to him, nor is the cessation of life regarded as an evil. And even as men choose of food not merely and simply the larger portion, but the more pleasant, so the wise seek to enjoy the time which is most pleasant and not merely that which is longest. And he who admonishes the young to live well and the old to make a good end speaks foolishly, not merely because of the desirability of life, but because the same exercise at once teaches to live well and to die well. Much worse is he who says that it were good not to be born, but when once one is born to pass quickly through the gates of Hades. For if he truly believes this, why does he not depart from life? It would be easy for him to do so once he were firmly convinced. If he speaks only in jest, his words are foolishness as those who hear him do not believe.

We must remember that the future is neither wholly ours nor wholly not ours, so that neither must we count upon it as quite certain to come nor despair of it as quite certain not to come.

We must also reflect that of desires some are natural, others are groundless; and that of the natural some are necessary as well as natural, and some natural only. And of the necessary desires some are necessary if we are to be happy, some if the body is to be rid of uneasiness, some if we are even to live. He who has a clear and certain understanding of these things will direct every preference and aversion toward securing health of body and tranquillity of mind, seeing that this is the sum and end of a blessed life. For the end of all our actions is to be free from pain and fear, and, when once we have attained all this, the tempest of the soul is laid; seeing that the living creature has no need to go in search of something that is lacking, nor to look for anything else by which the good of the soul and of the body will be fulfilled. When we are pained because of the absence of pleasure, then, and then only, do we feel the need of pleasure. Wherefore we call pleasure the alpha and omega of a blessed life. Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is the starting-point of every choice and of every aversion, and to it we come back, inasmuch as we make feeling the rule by which to judge of every good thing.

And since pleasure is our first and native good, for that reason we do not choose every pleasure whatsoever, but will often pass over many pleasures when a greater annoyance ensues from them. And often we consider pains superior to pleasures when submission to the pains for a long time brings us as a consequence a greater pleasure. While therefore all pleasure because it is naturally akin to us is good, not all pleasure is should be chosen, just as all pain is an evil and yet not all pain is to be shunned. It is, however, by measuring one against another, and by looking at the conveniences and inconveniences, that all these matters must be judged. Sometimes we treat the good as an evil, and the evil, on the contrary, as a good.

Again, we regard independence of outward things as a great good, not so as in all cases to use little, but so as to be contented with little if we have not much, being honestly persuaded that they have the sweetest enjoyment of luxury who stand least in need of it, and that whatever is natural is easily procured and only the vain and worthless hard to win. Plain fare gives as much pleasure as a costly diet, when once the pain of want has been removed, while bread and water confer the highest possible pleasure when they are brought to hungry lips. To habituate one's self, therefore, to simple and inexpensive diet supplies all that is needful for health, and enables a man to meet the necessary requirements of life without shrinking, and it places us in a better condition when we approach at intervals a costly fare and renders us fearless of fortune.

When we say, then, that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice, or willful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not an unbroken succession of drinking-bouts and of revelry, not sexual lust, not the enjoyment of the fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul. Of all this the beginning and the greatest good is wisdom. Therefore wisdom is a more precious thing even than philosophy; from it spring all the other virtues, for it teaches that we cannot live pleasantly without living wisely, honorably, and justly; nor live wisely, honorably, and justly without living pleasantly. For the virtues have grown into one with a pleasant life, and a pleasant life is inseparable from them.

Who, then, is superior in your judgment to such a man? He holds a holy belief concerning the gods, and is altogether free from the fear of death. He has diligently considered the end fixed by nature, and understands how easily the limit of good things can be reached and attained, and how either the duration or the intensity of evils is but slight. Fate, which some introduce as sovereign over all things, he scorns, affirming rather that some things happen of necessity, others by chance, others through our own agency. For he sees that necessity destroys responsibility and that chance is inconstant; whereas our own actions are autonomous, and it is to them that praise and blame naturally attach. It were better, indeed, to accept the legends of the gods than to bow beneath that yoke of destiny which the natural philosophers have imposed. The one holds out some faint hope that we may escape if we honor the gods, while the necessity of the naturalists is deaf to all entreaties. Nor does he hold chance to be a god, as the world in general does, for in the acts of a god there is no disorder; nor to be a cause, though an uncertain one, for he believes that no good or evil is dispensed by chance to men so as to make life blessed, though it supplies the starting-point of great good and great evil. He believes that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool. It is better, in short, that what is well judged in action should not owe its successful issue to the aid of chance.

Exercise yourself in these and related precepts day and night, both by yourself and with one who is like-minded; then never, either in waking or in dream, will you be disturbed, but will live as a god among men. For man loses all semblance of mortality by living in the midst of immortal blessings."  [Translator unknown.]

How to Live a Good Life:  Advice fom Wise Persons

Epicurus Today Blog: Moderation, Enjoyment of Life, Tranquility, Friendship, Lack of Fear.  By Robert Hanrott.  2016

How to Live a Good Life:  Advice fom Wise Persons

Criticisms of Epicureanism

Christian and Muslim and Jewish Church Fathers, past and present, attack Epicurean doctrines and viewpoints.  They insist on the authority of their scriptures, hate atheists and infidels, preach belief in immortal souls, encourage fearing God, reject scientific methods, deny evolutionary theory, condemn pleasure seeking, etc., etc..  They have harassed, tortured, and killed those who don't believe in their anti-Epicurean doctrines.  Most of their attacks are low brow, exaggerations, slander, lies, and inventions.  

I found a summary of Cicero's criticisms of Epicurean philosophy by Catherine Wilson in "Epicureanism and the Origins of Modernity, p. 12. 

"Cicero took issue with the image of the anti-providential universe of Epicurus, insisting that the world's beauty and order bespoke a divine origin, and he attacked the doctrine of pleasure as one unworthy of the dignity of man and countered the Epicurean theory of justice with one based on objective laws of nature an an innate social justice.  ...