My podcast hopping this month took me to Epicurean philosophy. I thought I was going to gain a higher understanding of food but no! turns out Epicurus was one of the first philosophers to develop a notion of justice as a kind of social contract, an agreement "neither to harm nor be harmed".
The other fact I learnt about Epicurus was that he was one of the first ‘thinkers’ to actually turn his thinking into action to lead to change. He bought a house with a garden and unlike other thinkers of his time who chose public spaces for their teachings, he invited others to join him, to momentarily detach themselves from the world to 'seek relief from the disturbances of the city'
I had two thoughts from this, one, we need to remember that thinking should always lead to action and two, the importance of a space to call your own. There can’t be many that have been unmoved by Social Bite’s ‘Sleep in the Park’ campaign this weekend, a visible show of support to those without a safe space of their own. From thinking, that homelessness is not inevitable to action, 8000 people sleeping in a park, to change, 475 homes being made available for homeless people.
Thinking, action, change. Epicureanism?, community development? either way it’s worth remembering.
View December's bulletin - click here
