How Would Epicurus Feel About Pornography?

As far as Epicurus goes, his philosophy has been largely misinterpreted as being one of pursuing sensual pleasure as an end in itself. From my readings, what he actually proposed was much more sophisticated and more in line with the general attitude of the ancient Greeks: that pleasure was the result of living life in the most fulfilling way. Sensual pleasure was only one, and not the most important, source of pleasure. There was also intellectual pleasure, much more important, and various pleasures derived from social interactions. As I understand him, his notion of pleasure related to happiness and fulfillment coming from a life well-led, which thus would include but not be limited to sensual pleasure.

However, the question is interesting to me in that it doesn’t define the term "pornography". That term is usually associated with explicit sexual material. From the point of view of the ancient Greeks, as I understand it, since their notion of sexuality was radically different from our own, I suspect that what we commonly regard as pornographic would be in the main quite ordinary to them, and indeed desirable. My own take on the term "pornographic" is rather different from the norm: I take it to mean sexuality which is portrayed as bad or "dirty". In addition, sexuality which causes harm or suffering (and there's a fine line here concerning consensual sex and S&M, etc., which probably cannot be generally adjudicated, but must be judged case-by-case), however it is portrayed, I also regard as pornographic. Sex can be presented with any degree of explicitness without being pornographic, and pornography can have any degree of explicitness. Pornography, for me, implies misapprehension and misuse of sexuality. I think that this is actually more in line with the ideas of the ancient Greeks

Which Came First: the Chicken or the Egg?

This is a factual, rather than a philosophical question. However, it is a legitimate task for philosophy to analyze the conditions under which it would be correct to say that the chicken came first, as well as the conditions under which it would be correct to say that the egg came first.
If the theory of Creationism is true, then God could have created the first chicken, which hatched the first egg, or He could have created the first egg, from which the first chicken hatched. Either task would have been equally easy (or difficult). Unfortunately, the information which would enable us to answer this question is missing from the Book of Genesis.

If Darwin's theory of evolution is true, then we can say that the 'trick' of producing a soup of proteins and fats enclosed in a hard casing, inside which an embryo is protected and nourished, was developed by the prehistoric creatures from which chickens evolved. We know that dinosaurs laid eggs. Dinosaurs are reptiles. The accepted view is that birds evolved from reptiles. So in that sense it would be true to say that the egg came before the chicken.

But what about that first chicken? What kind of egg did it hatch from?

If we had the power to go back in time to follow every line back of each one of the millions of generations that led up to the chicken that supplied your breakfast egg this morning, it would be impossible to identify the first chicken. There is no single characteristic, so far as I understand it, which separates a real chicken from a bird which is ever so much like a chicken, but is not a real chicken. However, supposing there is some unique, new feature, a crucial genetic mutation which separates chickens from non-chickens, it logically follows that the first bird to possess that new feature was hatched from an egg which was laid by a bird which did not possess that feature.

The Idea of Lifelong Learning

It is not necessary for a person to believe that they know everything that is worth knowing, in order for them to feel — perhaps at a certain time of their life — that they have had their fill of knowledge and learning. Nor need this be a matter of glorifying in one's ignorance. It is simply the realization that one has reached a comfortable plateau. — Is that a justifiable attitude?

In an age as one that has made a god of the ideal of personal growth, the view I have just expressed is often regarded with scornful disdain. One is 'never too old to learn'. Now the evening classes are packed with old folk learning History, Indian Cuisine and Italian. I think that's great. But I have no criticism to make of those who choose to stay at home.

From a practical standpoint, we are told that today's job market emphasizes the need for continual re-training throughout one's working life. One cannot count any more on following a single career path. However, couldn’t this be an apology for wage slavery?

But, yes, I believe in lifelong learning. What I would seriously question is the view that the value or the cause of lifelong learning is somehow compromised if some persons refuse to jump on board.

Can Killing People Ever Be Right?

The question implies that there are situations in which killing is justified, and other situations in which killing is not justified.

An adult is about to kill a child. For the sake of the example, we may assume that this killing is a wrongful killing. It is not a case, for example, of turning off a life support machine, after a court order has given permission to do so.

The second adult sees that this wrongful killing is about to take place. The second adult is therefore morally justified in taking the minimal steps necessary to prevent the killing. If there is no reasonable alternative but to take the first adult's life (for example, if the second adult is a long way off and armed with a pistol, and the first adult has ignored his warning shots) then the second adult is justified in shooting, and if necessary killing the first adult, because it prevented a wrongful killing from taking place.

I looh forward to your comments