Over the last week I have formulated that Lucretius did not fully develop his argument against love for one person. He argues that the reason it is irrational is because sex is the manifestation of the desire to wholly posses the other. But one cannot do this and so it is irrational to attempt to fulfill this desire. However, I argue that it is irrational to attempt to attain peace of mind (meaning one no longer pines for the other, or no longer loves them) unless one can completely extract them from your life. So for Epicurus/Lucretius, if one of his followers fell in love with another, I argue that they could never eliminate from themselves the desire for that person (either through free-love or intellectual preoccupation) unless one them left the "garden". For me, it means transferring schools (or waiting for graduation). My point is, Lucretious' solution to love is just as unattainable as his argument against it.
Further considerations on death according to the Epicureans: I was watching an episode of the Office tonight where Ed Truck, previous Scranton Branch Manager (Micheal Scott's position) died in a car crash. It took Micheal Scott a bit to emotionally react to the news but when he did, he touched on something I think the Epicureans did not. I will, at minimum, grant that we cannot know anything about death, being that we are dead and no longer existing when we get there (not really sure what "there" means but I trust you understand what I am saying) but what we do know about death is the affects it has on the living. Micheal Scott gropes with the loss of another human being and is baffled by the lack of reaction in the other employees. I understand why Micheal Scott reacted the way he did. One of the ways we can fear death is the death of others, feeling left behind. This grief is intense and therefore funnels into our understanding and fear of our death. I suffer from the pain of others and then I fear the pain that others will suffer from my own death.
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