Lecture écologiste de la lettre D’Epicure à Ménécée: actualité d’un texte grec ancien pour penser la relation de l’humanité à la nature

There are three reasons why it is well worth rereading an ancient Greek text by Epicure: firstly, because our civilization is marked by the crisis of European science, nihilism, post-modern culture and barbarous reasoning; secondly, because 21st century philosophical thought is primarily concerned with examining our relationship to nature, the “natural question”, and the code of ethics best suited to our technological civilization; and lastly because it is necessary to ascertain the presuppositions and implications involved in research aimed at technoscientific development. In a letter Epicure wrote in the 4th century BC to his friend Ménécée, he outlines the rules to be followed for living a pleasurable life. These rules happen to be the standard ecological ideal for living in harmony with the earth of ours. A nostalgic, utopian rereading of a philosophical text by Epicure.