First post

Hi tout le monde,

What is with the name of this blog and who was Diogenes. Diogenes practiced and preached the philosophy of Epicurus over 2,000 years ago. Epicurus wrote over 300 books but sadly not a single one survives. Epicurus' philosophy is known to us through the work of Diogenes who wrote the "wall of wisdom" a wall or stoa in Oinoanda (SW Turkey) with 25,000 words for the people in the market place to read. The obstacles to personal happiness described by Epicurus seem strangely reminiscent today. Epicurus believed that the three main needs he identified as essential to happiness (Friends, freedom and personal reflection) were packaged up in market place place goods and misrepresented to us as being what we needed by confusing our needs for friends, freedom and reflection as being the things on sale.

This describes "branding", marketing and advertising so well. Epicurus lived over 2,000 years ago. How prescient indeed. He described so well how the brand of, for example, Nike, is sold as encapsulating all those elements needed for fulfillment customers life.

For background on "branding" you can not beat the book written by Naomi Klein called "No Logo". So this blog is about issues raised by Klein, the corporate culture and its antithesis towards any sort of personal autonomy even as these immortal citizens promise to deliver the same. It will examine how removed from the "well examined life" so prized by Soctates is a distant memory of history and an actual enemy of the modern corporation.

Most people can appriceate how friends and freedom may be needed for happiness but Epicurus' third incrediant, reflection, is not so obvious. In fact reflection has through history been the enemy of authority. "The devil makes work for idle hands" reflects the church'es fear of ordinary people entertaining thoughts of their own independent of them. The sad legacy of the prodestant work ethic is another expression of the fear authority for personal reflection. Corporate brands could not exist in the presence of collective "well examined lives". So reflection is really closely related to freedom.

au avoir
Peter