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Epicurus' Scientific Method, Elizabeth Asmis

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I argued that Epicurus sought to infer all truths about what cannot be perceived (what is "non-apparent", adêlon) by using what is perceived (the "phenomena") as "signs" of what is non-apparent. This is an empirical method, based on the claim that sensory perception shows what is true. In the case of his basic physical doctrines, Epicurus argued by a reductio ad absurdum that if the negation of the doctrine were true, there would be a conflict with what we perceive. This applies to Epicurus' first two doctrines, that "nothing come to be from non-being" and that "nothing is destroyed …