Friday, October 14, 2005
Further evidence that the blog is for me, not for you
Beth really loves these guest posts, so I thought I'd bring them back.
Lucretius was an atomist, which means that he was strictly a materialist. Therefore, no God, no immortal soul, nothing which cannot be explained by the interaction of "atoms" and "void".
Lucretius was an atomist, which means that he was strictly a materialist. Therefore, no God, no immortal soul, nothing which cannot be explained by the interaction of "atoms" and "void".
A GUEST POST
DE RERUM NATURA
(The Nature of Things)
by Lucretius
(The Nature of Things)
by Lucretius
And often through fear of death men come to hate
life and the sight of the sun so bitterly
that in a burst of grief they kill themselves,
forgetting it was their fear that caused their cares,
troubled their conscience, broke their bonds of friendship,
and overturned their sense of decency.
Often men have betrayed both fatherland
and family, seeking escape from hell's grim halls.
For as in the dead of night children are prey
to hosts of terrors, so we sometimes by day
are fearful of things that should no more concern us
than bogeys that frighten children in the dark.
This fright, this night of the mind must be dispelled
not by the rays of the sun, nor day's bright spears,
but by the face of nature and her laws.
....
You've wanted what isn't; scorned what is; hence life
has slipped through your fingers, shapeless and unlovely,
and now you're amazed that death stands near, before
well-filled and sated, you might depart this world.
....
Life is no grant in freehold: life's a loan.
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About 1,000 things can be said about Lucretius. His theory of atoms is pretty impressive, except that he didn't understand the concept of waves, so all light and sound had to be explained by the motion of really small atoms.
Lucretius spends a lot of time giving atomistic explanations for all sorts of phenomena -- genetics, death, light, thinking, even bed-wetting. He has to -- since there is only atoms and void, EVERYTHING must have an atomistic nature.
How metaphysical theories affect morality is important. The threat of the afterlife has often been the carrot at the end of the ruler's stick, a way to guarantee obedience and passivity. If there is no afterlife, no soul, and no God, then man is truly free. Free men are a danger to the status quo. Men with nothing to lose are even more dangerous.
Epicureans were interested in a passive life, just kind of chilling out and relaxing. They said -- since we're all going to die anyway, let's enjoy ourselves while we're here. Not a bad life philosophy if you ask me.
Contrast Nietzche's overman, who used his knowledge of his own freedom to dominate others.
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