#154 Happiness: Epicurus' Ancient Guide - Jonny Thomson
Within Reason
Alex J O'Connor
4.9 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 109 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Get all sides of every story and be better informed at https://ground.news/AlexOC - subscribe for 40% off unlimited access.For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: https://www.alexoconnor.com.Jonny Thomson is a philosopher and the founder of PhilosophyMinis . He is on the Executive Board for the British Philosophy Association and is a staff writer at Big Think.Get Jonny's upcoming book, The Art of Enough: The Ancient Epicurean Philosophy of Finding – and Keeping – HappinessTIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Are Epicureans Selfish?05:30 - Why Epicureanism?10:31 - Who Was Epicurus?16:42 - Godless But Not Atheistic23:21 - Epicurus’ Metaphysics27:24 - Why Focus on Pleasure?35:29 - Epicureanism vs Utilitarianism48:59 - What About Immoral Pleasures?53:02 - Could AI be Epicurean?01:00:50 - The Experience Machine01:10:59 - Why Epicurus Didn’t Like Sex01:16:21 - Are Influencers Watering Down Ancient Philosophy?01:20:06 - Are You In Control of Your Happiness?01:26:33 - Epicureanism vs Stoicism01:32:36 - Epicurus on Death01:36:42 - Do We Have a Happiness Crisis? - CONNECTMy Website: https://www.alexoconnor.comSOCIAL LINKS:Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cosmicskepticFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/cosmicskepticInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/cosmicskepticTikTok: @CosmicSkepticThe Within Reason Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/within-reason/id1458675168 - CONTACTBusiness email: contact@alexoconnor.comBrand enquiries: David@modernstoa.co
Transcript
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| 0:23.2 | Start planning your own Scottish holiday today at Expedia.co.uk slash visit Scotland. |
| 0:30.1 | Johnny Thompson, welcome to the show. |
| 0:32.0 | Thank you, Alex, for having me. I'm excited to talk, Grety. |
| 0:35.8 | Why are you so selfish? I'm not a selfish person. I'm not to talk, Greti. Why are you so selfish? |
| 0:40.0 | I'm not a selfish person. |
| 0:41.5 | I think I am quite other-regarding, actually. |
| 0:44.3 | I think I'm quite sociable. |
| 0:46.6 | I think I'm quite friendly. |
| 0:50.0 | I have many friends, |
| 0:52.5 | and I care for them deeply. |
| 0:54.1 | I have family. I care for them deeply. I have family. |
| 0:54.8 | I care for them deeply as well. |
| 0:56.9 | And so I think, yeah, other people are very important to my, my happiness and my own |
| 1:02.2 | individual pleasure. |
| 1:03.2 | See, I think so too. |
| 1:04.6 | You've always struck me as a very friendly and personable person. |
| 1:08.9 | Personable person. |
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