Letter to Menoeceus: Epicurus

1592 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethical dilemmas

Intellectuals are philosophers, are writers, are artists. They are all those people who work with their minds by questioning the events that touch them and that are touched by them. To recall a Plato's famous allegory, we can say that intellectuals are those who are able to look beyond the shadows and never take concepts for granted. However, some questions as what their role is and, more specifically, whether they should be engaged in politics are still unanswerable. Over the years answers and behaviors towards the engaged culture have been various and we can assume that the intellectuals who cannot separate the two live their lives actively for they want to be part of the events that surround them and let awareness win over apathy. On the contrary, we can assume that those who let apathy win are the intellectuals that look at politics and culture as two different and specific concepts and live a solitary life far from society. However, this is not an appropriate judgment because it would be difficult to consider to which extent solitude can be regarded as cowardliness and to which extent action can be regarded as consciousness.
The word intellectual used thus far does not absolve us, common people, from this dilemma and does not allow us to be devoted to the belief that we do not have any influence on the course of history.
As said before, this is an unanswerable question, but to find a few conclusions it would be essential to look back at what Epicurus thought of what was life all about and to look back at what Gramsci meant about be a partisan. Equally important, is to look back at how these two philosophies influenced literature and art, by reading Sartre's thoughts on the engaged writer and by recalling to our minds some i...

... middle of paper ...

... the echoes of intellectuals as Epicurus, Gramsci, Sartre and Picasso, though if we look at each of us more closely our actions do have a weight and consequences in the course of history. It is for this reason that we, as citizens and “not-organic” intellectuals, must try to find our meaning.

Works Cited

Art for Art's Sake: Its Fallacy and Viciousness. The Art World, Vol.2. May 1917. 98-102
Better Out Than In. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Epicurus. Letter to Menoeceus. The Internet Classics Archive, 1994.
Gramsci, Antonio. I hate the indifferent. Città Futura, 1917.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. What is Literature?. New York: Philosophical Library, 1949. Archive.org.
June 2005. Internet Archive. 12 Nov. 2013.
Smith, Roberta. "Mystery Man, Painting the Town. Banksy Makes New York His Gallery for a Month." The New York Times. Web. 30 October 2013: C1. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of America Needs Its Nerds

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    The next piece of data used is from Harvard. Harvard is known as a home of scholars and highly intelligent individuals. Fridman challenges this connotation by citing the “rampant anti-intellectualism” within the college. This data and the backing that follows has a profound effect on the reader. If even the highest point in America’s intellectual scene has been poisoned by this stigma then the implication is that nowhere is safe for those seeking unbridles

    Read More

  • The Rites of Spring by Modris Eksteins

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    Modris Eksteins presented a tour-de-force interpretation of the political, social and cultural climate of the early twentieth century. His sources were not merely the more traditional sources of the historian: political, military and economic accounts; rather, he drew from the rich, heady brew of art, music, dance, literature and philosophy as well. Eksteins examined ways in which life influenced, imitated, and even became art. Eksteins argues that life and art, as well as death, became so intermeshed as to be indistinguishable from one another.

    Read More

  • Hidden Intellectualism, by Gerald Graff

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff pens an impressive argument wrought from personal experience, wisdom and heart. In his essay, Graff argues that street smarts have intellectual potential. A simple gem of wisdom, yet one that remains hidden beneath a sea of academic tradition. However, Graff navigates the reader through this ponderous sea with near perfection.

    Read More

  • Q&A: The Three Principles of Epicurus and Lucretius

    2658 Words  | 6 Pages

    What are the three principles that Epicurus and Lucretius are arguing for in these passages?

    Read More

  • Epictetus: The Enchiridion and Stoicism

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a worldview, Stoicism is a philosophical approach to help people to cope with times of great stress and troubles. In order to give comfort to humanity, the Stoics agree with the Pantheistic view that God and nature are not separate. Instead, the two forces are one. By believing that God is nature, humans have a sense of security because nature, like God, is recognized as rational and perfect. The perfection of nature is explained through the Divine, or natural, Law. This law gives everything in nature a predetermined plan that defines the future based on past evens (cause and effect). Because the goal for everything in nature is to fulfill its plan, the reason for all that happens in nature is because it is a part of the plan. It is apparent that, because this law is of God, it must be good. The Divine Law is also universal. Everything on the planet has a plan that has already been determined. There are no exceptions or limitations to the natural law. The world in the Stoics’ eyes is flawless, equal, and rational.

    Read More

  • Rousseau Essay

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau left behind a legacy with all of his works that is still noted today. One of the many people Rousseau influenced is Immanuel Kant. It was said that the only piece of art Kant had in his home was a portrait of Rousseau; the only time he missed his morning walks was when he was reading Emilie. This influence shows in one of Kant’s writings where he describes the correct way to see the universe is from the outside, realizing that all people have a common core. This is similar to Rousseau’s idea of general will, where citizens must see what is truly good by looking from the “outside”, and everyone has a common goodness. Rousseau also can be credited with having some influence on communism and socialism. A leader of the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre, was very influenced by Rousseau’s work. Maximilien’s

    Read More

  • Griselda Pollock: Article Analysis

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    The article Artists Mythologies and Media Genius, Madness and Art History (1980) by Griselda Pollock is a forty page essay where Pollock (1980), argues and explains her views on the crucial question, "how art history works" (Pollock, 1980, p.57). She emphasizes that there should be changes to the practice of art history and uses Van Gogh as a major example in her study. Her thesis is to prove that the meaning behind artworks should not be restricted only to the artist who creates it, but also to realize what kind of economical, financial, social situation the artist may have been in to influence the subject that is used. (Pollock, 1980, pg. 57) She explains her views through this thesis and further develops this idea by engaging in scholarly debates with art historians and researcher, and objecting to how they claim there is a general state of how art is read. She structures her paragraphs in ways that allows her to present different kinds of evidences from a variety sources while using a formal yet persuasive tone of voice to get her point across to the reader.

    Read More

  • Culture And Cultural Addiction

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The various disciplines that make up the arts and sciences are the cultural frames in terms of which attitudes are formed and lives conducted. The interpretive study of culture represents an attempt to come to terms with the diversity of the ways human beings construct their lives in the act of leading them.”

    Read More

  • Lettrism and Situationism: Examining and Comparing Expressionism Movements.

    2551 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...p from the world they live in, a world of separation and indicate themselves with their own realities. Art is handed over into society’s hands, as in one movement it is suggested - to fixate what is real, live like you create and create like you live; in other – abandon media’s proposed ideas and take the leadership of life in our own hands.

    Read More

  • Hegel's Contradiction in Human History

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    Human beings have been struggling to learn the meaning of life since the first day. Ideologies are born as human’s interpretation of the world and belief system, also an endeavor to seek the truth of human nature. Ideologies emerge throughout the periods of great changes: the Enlightenment, the English “Glorious” Revolution, the American Revolution, etc. They have become the motivations, the standards, and the roots to modern political systems. Their roots are the philosophies developed by famous philosophers throughout the time. However, as each ideology is developed, its own contradiction also grows, takes place in the realm of actions. This, in turn, shows contradiction as human nature.

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Funding the Arts

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Witherbee, A. (2013). Counterpoint: Education, the Masses, and Art. Points Of View: Arts Funding, 6. Retrieved April 19,2014 , from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=12421040&site=pov-live

    Read More

  • The French Revolution & Art

    2050 Words  | 5 Pages

    Barnett, Peter. “The French Revolution in Art”. ArtId, January 7th 2009. Web. 5th May 2013.

    Read More

  • Mystification

    342 Words  | 1 Pages

    The “privileged minority” mystifies works of art in order to control people’s view. Berger explains how Hals becomes after he painted the two paintings. According to Berger, “he obtained three loads of peat on public charity, otherwise he would have frozen to death. Those who now sat for him were administrators of such public charity” (158).

    Read More

  • Early Christian Art

    2520 Words  | 6 Pages

    Stone, W. F. (1897). Questions on the philosophy of art;. London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons.

    Read More

  • Plato Vs. Aristotle on Art

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    For over two thousand years, various philosophers have questioned the influence of art in our society. They have used abstract reasoning, human emotions, and logic to go beyond this world in the search for answers about arts' existence. For philosophers, art was not viewed for its own beauty, but rather for the question of how art and artists can help make our society more stable for the next generation. Plato, a Greek philosopher who lived during 420-348 B.C. in Athens, and Aristotle, Plato’s student who argued against his beliefs, have no exceptions to the steps they had to take in order to understand the purpose of art and artists. Though these two philosophers made marvelous discoveries about the existence of art, artists, and aesthetic experience, Plato has made his works more controversial than Aristotle.

    Read More

More about Letter to Menoeceus: Epicurus

Open Document