Talk:Politics

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[edit] On Freedom of Speech

Media:Example.ogg Freedom of Speech. Epicurus success of the most important stage of his teaching, was the one of making it exoteric: "I prefer indeed to speak with frank speech (parrhesìa), natural science (physiològô) reveals what is of advantage (symphéronta) to all men even though it be understood by none, rather than to conform to popular opinion and thus gain the scattered praise that is broadcast by the many" [V.S. 29]. But thousand of philosophers risked their neck or self-imposed exile. So a freedom of speech for "mates" and for "crowd" was differentiated. [Phld. PHerc. 1082] . All schools had an official doctrine and a more debatable and nonconformist one; e.g. even new Pythagoreans 'acusmatic' must only listen in silence for many years a part of doctrine. As protection are asked to "not rush by powerful men [...] nor to relate the words of the school fellows", new recruit was asked for an oath of allegiance: "the encompassing and most important thing is, we shall obey Epicurus, according to whom we have chosen to live" [Phld, Perì Parrhesias On Frank Speech]. To new recruits were set aside dogmatic epitomes. Alleged ignorance of E. , as per grammarians, is due to his cryptic/idiolectic terms of On Nature set for experienced mates. But Philodemus clarified also : "For how will he [sc. the sage] hate the one who commits pardonable mistakes, remembering that he is not perfect himself and that all men are accustomed to get wrong" [Ibid. 46, 5-11]

We know mostly the Diogenes' official Epicurus, and the betrayers or antagonists' Epicurus. Much could be read between the lines, but not in the epitomes... Thankfully we have fragments of personal bookcases or of a garbage's can from Herculaneum and Oxirhyncus.

"But the populace, regarding as impious those who declare their opinion in this fashion about the gods, punish them, as the Athenians did Socrates and certain others, even though they were reported to be the most educated of all (words missing)... and benefit, by which things our life is preserved, but that the mysteries and festivals are regarded as foolishness, since those for whose sake they take place are said to pay no attention to anything. They also claim that Epicurus escaped from the Athenian masses not because (2-4 words missing) he held less impious views, but because his philosophy had escaped the notice of many people. And they charge in addition that we deprive good and just men of the fine expectations which they have of the gods, in that therefore, after propitious offerings and sincere and sonorous prayers, we do away with the excuse for sacrificial feasting. [...] as diverse as they were even in their chosen styles of life, [Epicurus] was inoffensive to [the Athenians], so that not only did he not engage in any lawsuit against anyone, he did not even have a quarrel. In fact, while some philosophers were prosecuted for their way of life and for their teachings, and some were exiled from city, some even from league and put to death, and all became the butt of writers of comedy, only Epicurus magnificently secured protection for himself together with those who dwelt wit him according to the genuine precepts of the school, without falling prey to the virtue-hating and all-harassing mouth of comedy". [Phld. On Piety; Obbink ed. 1996].

The official doctrines was obviously dogmatic or dialogic - i.e. ambiguous - but from the unclear exoteric dialogues one learned the mistakes and the common feeling's neurosis too. Once also leaders spoke through both mouth's corners. «Politicians don't accept useful argumentations, but they are speaking only with lust of glory, as if they hadn't acquired their notions from common sense, but they harvested from sky without getting up» [Perì Parrhesìas]. As science regards necessary causes, and conjecture regards decisions, Porphyrius, reporting Hermarchus' social thinking, say: "Among the Epicureans the great concern was realizing the boundary between the necessary and non-necessary." [De abstinentia. tome I ]. As the lack of fully theorized standard of group decision is bypassed through Traditions, Holy Scriptures, Positive Law, one-sided press, Red Booklets, rap songs, charisma, personality cult, etc., but Ancient fragmented Greek people was comparatively short of book-religions, so they found out a laical philosophy and this one found out (in Athens and intermittently) democracy, which is supremacy of number over Commandments; but there were also tyrants, phratrias and mystery cults.
Political and socio-deliberative rhetoric were hold by Epicurus not even conjectural art: no two way individual communicability basis, only ballot or autocracy in political life. But certain appreciations (aesthetic arts, affections, moral guidance of new recruit, entertainment) are legitimately subjective, and have to be adequately expressed (in connotative way too), but not in the form of an official panegyric or humane studies syllabus, that is one-way, single-collectivity communication.

That it is not an essential attribute of the rhetoric of the sophistic <rhetoricians> to be political, insofar as it is rhetoric, nor <an essential attribute> of this sort of rhetoricians, insofar as he is a rhetoricians, to be a politician, nor in turn <an essential attribute> of the politician to be a rhetoricians, is clear from many passages; Epicurus says <this> in the book On Rhetoric and Metrodorus in the first book of On Poems and Hermarchus in Letter to Theopheides in the archonship of Menecles. [Phil. PHerc. 1506, col. 44,18-34 Hammerstaedt].

According to Epicurus, Zeno and Philodemus rhetoric is an art: only as for some apriori rules and prescriptions for speech' constructions, and as for epideictic (praises or rebukes' style, which just aren't always intersubjective), but not as for collective guidance.
"The competence to cure, that does distinguish the Epicurean Sage" [Perì Parrhesias.]. Frank speech, a conjectural method used in the technique of souls' healing, was said comparable to the art of healing of physicians (who attend to heal one by one, not to universal theorization) and the art of navigation (one by one courses).Therefore individual "frank speech is the sole nourishment suitable for the pupil" [Perì Parrhesìas].
As psychotherapeutic resistance is always reacting, educators are either detested as petty or loved excessively. «We have to admit at least, without personalizing, that plausible conjectures do not come true as much as one hoped...» [Perì Parrhesìas]. But "It's far better having suitable opinions among useful things than an exact science among useless ones [...] which don't bring any relief to the life"[PHerc. 1015/832]. «As people do not succeed neither in assessing unanimously their faults, nor in distinguishing their interest, that gives rise to mistrust. As a rule the wise man and the philosopher uses the parrhesìa in the sense that he discusses through conjecturing with plausible arguments, without strictness.» [Perì Parrhesìas].
Among grown-up one spoke methodology and let to draw the conclusions, and Diaphoriai(Disputed Questions) were also read' So Epicurus asserted dogmatically his exoteric Principal Doctrines, but added in Perì Physeos: " He don't seem to be mistaken [...] the one who take care to join to his own doctrine and to attune to it anything that, in another person, is found not to be mistaken, or not very differing from his own doctrine." [On Nature. Book XIV, at Isnenghi, Opere di Epicuro, Torino 1983 p.239]. The allegation of dogmatism from some scholar is rather rash.