96. Catherine Wilson — How to Be an Epicurean: The Ancient Art of Living Well

The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer

Dialogue, Science, Reason, Michaelshermer, Natural Sciences, Skeptic

4.4 • 921 Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2019

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this wide-ranging conversation the philosopher Catherine Wilson makes the case that if the pursuit of happiness is the question, Epicureanism is the answer. Not the mythic Epicureanism that calls to mind gluttons with gout or an admonition to eat, drink, and be merry. Instead, in her new book How to Be an Epicurean, Wilson shows that Epicureanism isn’t an excuse for having a good time: it’s a means to live a good life. Although modern conveniences and scientific progress have significantly improved our quality of life, many of the problems faced by ancient Greeks — love, money, family, politics — remain with us in new forms. To overcome these obstacles, the Epicureans adopted a philosophy that promoted reason, respect for the natural world, and reverence for our fellow humans. By applying this ancient wisdom to a range of modern problems, from self-care routines and romantic entanglements to issues of public policy and social justice, Wilson shows us how we can all fill our lives with purpose and pleasure. Wilson and Shermer also discuss:

the hedonic treadmill and the problem of pursuing material goods
why money will not bring you happiness or meaning
eternal moral truths
judging figures from the past by modern moral standards
why she thinks everyone from Thomas Jefferson to Joe Biden should have known better and acted differently
why she thinks Jeffrey Epstein committing suicide was a rational choice for him
how to think about the abortion issue
why we need not fear death, and
how to lead a meaningful life.

Catherine Wilson received her PhD in philosophy from Princeton University and has taught at universities in the US, Canada, and Europe. She has published more than 100 research papers and eight books, including A Very Short Introduction to Epicureanism and Metaethics from a First-Person Standpoint: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy. She has two children and lives in New York City, where she is currently Visiting Presidential Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Center at CUNY.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	My guest this week with her new book is Catherine Wilson.
0:04.0	Her book is How to Be an Epicurean, The Ancient Art of Living Well.
0:10.0	Catherine is a visiting presidential professor of philosophy at the Cooney Graduate Center
0:16.0	and has taught in universities in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
0:21.0	He is published more than 100 research papers and eight books on philosophy and its history.
0:26.7	She has two children and lives in New York City.
0:30.8	Which is where she was when I was talking to her.
0:32.7	It's apparently quite warm and humid there.
0:36.0	So I appreciate her patience.
0:37.4	Apparently she didn't have air conditioning there
0:40.4	and I can sympathize with that. The book is really interesting. It's a great read. It's for the general public. She is a professional scholar who works and publishes in technical papers and journals. But, but this is not that.
0:52.8	This is for everybody, and it really is a complete worldview
0:55.5	from start to finish, from birth to death,
0:57.8	from physics and biology and cognitive psychology, to morals, ethics and how to lead a meaningful life.
1:08.5	So she covers all that.
1:09.8	We go through most of those areas that she covers in the book.
1:14.6	And we do have a few disagreements.
1:17.6	She, interestingly, I didn't get this from the book,
1:20.0	but she was pretty strongly opinionated about assessing past behavior on current
1:29.7	moral values. That is, the feeling is, the people back then who owned slaves, for example,
1:37.2	should have known better. They did know better. They did it anyway because the impulse in
1:41.6	human nature to dominate others is so strong.
	...

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