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Bill asked:

How would Epicurus feel about pornography and why?

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As far as Epicurus goes, his philosophy has been largely misinterpreted as being one of pursuing
sensual pleasure as an end in itself. From my readings, what he actually proposed was much more
sophisticated and more in line with the general attitude of the ancient Greeks: that pleasure was the
result of living life in the most fulfilling way. Sensual pleasure was only one, and not the most
important, source of pleasure. There was also intellectual pleasure, much more important, and
various pleasures derived from social interactions. As I understand him, his notion of pleasure related
to the general term eudaimonia,referring to a feeling of happiness and fulfillment coming from a life
well-led, which thus would include but not be limited to sensual pleasure.

However, your question is interesting to me in that you do not define the term "pornography". That
term, in the States, is usually associated with explicit sexual material. From the point of view of the
ancient Greeks, as I understand it, since their notion of sexuality was radically different from our own,
I suspect that what we commonly regard as pornographic would be in the main quite ordinary to
them, and indeed desirable. My own take on the term "pornographic" is rather different from the norm:
I take it to mean sexuality which is portrayedas bad or "dirty". In addition, sexuality which causes
harm or suffering (and there's a fine line here concerning consensual sex and S&M, etc., which
probably cannot be generally adjudicated, but must be judged case-by-case), however it is portrayed,
I also regard as pornographic. Sex can be presented with any degree of explicitness without being
pornographic, and pornography can have any degree of explicitness. Pornography, for me, implies
misapprehension and misuse of sexuality. I think that this is actually more in line with the ideas of the
ancient Greeks.

Steven Ravett Brown