HUMAN RELATIONS IN EPICURUS AND THE GARDEN'S ETHICS
Keywords: autárkeia. eleutheria. philia. koinonia. asphaleia. Epicurus.
The purpose of this research is to make explicit the conceptual triad of autarchy (autárkeia), freedom (eleuthería) and friendship (philía) which, when articulated, makes possible an ethical interpretation of Epicurus' thought about human relations in molecular communities. The investigation begins with a general introduction about Epicurus' ethics, the scope and possibilities of this ethics, establishing relationships between the primary textual sources - namely, Letter to Herodotus, Letter to Pythocles, and Letter to Menoeceus, in addition to the Principal Docrtines, the Vatican Sayings and, finally, the fragments of the Peri Phýseos (On Nature) of Epicurus. In a second moment, the purpose here is to present the basic notions that appear in the remaining texts of Epicurus as basic notions helping to define the concept of human relations. The contexture of these concepts will serve to demonstrate what kind of human relationships can be assessed in these molecular communities and how they differ from the worn-out human relationships of the decadent polis. A third moment consists of showing how human relations are possible within Epicurus' philosophical community, through the definition of what Epicurus' philosophical molecular communities were, as well as showing how, within these, such human relations are made viable and possible. From this conceptual web of human relations, we will seek to tread a new path for understanding the way of life in the community of the Garden (Képos).