Dr. Catherine Wilson was until recently Professor of Philosophy at the University of York, and is now teaching part-time at the City University of New York, and also a writer. She holds degrees in Philosophy from Yale, Oxford and Princeton and has taught in the USA, Canada, and Germany. Dr. Wilson teaches and writes in the history of modern philosophy and on early modern science and also works in the areas of ethics and aesthetics with a special interest in the evolution of morality and the science behind visual experience. She’s the author of books like Moral Animals: Ideals and Constraints in Moral Theory, Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity, and Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction, and Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Wilson to talk about Epicureanism. We talk about its origins; some of its basic tenets, like materialism and atomism; how the epicureans thought about perception; and an early form of protodarwinism. We also refer to how the European early scientists and Enlightenment philosophers got influenced by Epicureanism. In the second part of the conversation, we discuss the Epicurean philosophy of life, and in what significant ways it diverged from Stoicism.

Follow Dr. Wilson’s work:

Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2IK0nLF

Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity: https://amzn.to/2In0Qpp

Epicureanism: A Very Short Introduction: https://amzn.to/31A2IRI

The Pleasure Principle: Epicureanism: A Philosophy for Modern Living: https://amzn.to/2Km1hBi

Free ebook Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint: https://tinyurl.com/yc7e4oc2

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, MIGUEL ESTRADA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORD, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BRIAN RIVERA, ADRIANO ANDRADE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, AND RICARDO VLADIMIRO!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, AND JIM FRANK!

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