Editing Lucian (section)

==Views==
[[File:Epicurus Louvre.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.8|Bust of [[Epicurus]], an Athenian philosopher whom Lucian greatly admired{{sfn|Gordon|1996|page=107}}{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}}]]

Lucian's philosophical views are difficult to categorize due to his persistent use of irony and sarcasm.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=98}} In ''The Fisherman'', Lucian describes himself as a champion of philosophy{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=98}} and throughout his other writings he characterizes philosophy as a morally constructive discipline,{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=98}} but he is critical of pseudo-philosophers, whom he portrays as greedy, bad-tempered, sexually immoral hypocrites.{{sfn|Turner|1967|pages=98–99}}{{sfn|Richter|2017|pages=338–341}} Lucian was not known to be a member of any of the major philosophical schools.{{sfn|Ferguson|1993|page=331}}{{sfn|Turner|1967|pages=98–99}} In his ''Philosophies for Sale'', he makes fun of members of every school.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=98}}{{sfn|Richter|2017|page=339}}  Lucian was critical of [[Stoicism]] and [[Platonism]], because he regarded them as encouraging superstition.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} His ''Nigrinus'' superficially appears to be a "eulogy of Platonism",{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} but may, in fact, be satirical, or merely an excuse to ridicule Roman society.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}}

Nonetheless, at other times, Lucian writes approvingly of individual philosophies.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=98}} According to Turner, although Lucian makes fun of [[Philosophical skepticism|Skeptic philosophers]],{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} he displays a temperamental inclination towards that philosophy.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} [[Edwyn Bevan]] identifies Lucian as a Skeptic,<ref>[[Edwyn Bevan]], ''Stoics And Sceptics'' 1913 {{ISBN|1162748400}} p. 110 https://archive.org/details/stoicsandsceptic033554mbp/page/n6/mode/2up</ref> and in his ''Hermotimus'', Lucian rejects all philosophical systems as contradictory and concludes that life is too short to determine which of them comes nearest to the truth, so the best solution is to rely on common sense,{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=98}} which was what the [[Pyrrhonian Skeptics]] advocated. The maxim that "Eyes are better witnesses than ears" is echoed repeatedly throughout several of Lucian's dialogues.{{sfn|Georgiadou|Larmour|1998|page=58}}

Lucian was skeptical of [[oracle]]s,{{sfn|Gordon|1996|page=125}} though he was by no means the only person of his time to voice such skepticism.{{sfn|Gordon|1996|page=125}} Lucian rejected belief in the [[paranormal]], regarding it as [[superstition]].{{sfn|Georgiadou|Larmour|1998|page=58}}{{sfn|Russell|1986|page=670}} In his dialogue ''The Lover of Lies'', he probably voices some of his own opinions through his character Tychiades,{{sfn|Georgiadou|Larmour|1998|page=58}}{{efn|Tychiades is commonly identified as an authorial [[self-insertion]],{{sfn|Georgiadou|Larmour|1998|page=58}}{{sfn|Ogden|2007a|page=180}} although Daniel Ogden notes that this can only be true to a limited extent.{{sfn|Ogden|2007a|page=181}}}} perhaps including the declaration by Tychiades that he does not believe in ''[[daemones]]'', [[Apparitional experience|phantoms]], or [[ghost]]s because he has never seen such things.{{sfn|Georgiadou|Larmour|1998|page=58}} Tychiades, however, still professes [[Theism|belief in the gods' existence]]:

{{poemquote|''Dinomachus:'' 'In other words, you do not believe in the existence of the Gods, since you maintain that cures cannot be wrought by the use of holy names?'
''Tychiades:'' 'Nay, say not so, my dear Dinomachus,' I answered; 'the Gods may exist, and these things may yet be lies. I respect the Gods: I see the cures performed by them, I see their beneficence at work in restoring the sick through the medium of the medical faculty and their drugs. [[Asclepius]], and his sons after him, compounded soothing medicines and healed the sick, – without the lion's-skin-and-field-mouse process.'<ref>Lucian, ''The Lover of Lies'', translated by H. W. and F. G. Fowler.</ref>}}

According to [[Everett Ferguson]], Lucian was strongly influenced by the [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]].{{sfn|Ferguson|1993|page=332}} ''The Dream or the Cock'', ''Timon the Misanthrope'', ''Charon or Inspectors'', and ''The Downward Journey or the Tyrant'' all display Cynic themes.{{sfn|Ferguson|1993|page=332}} Lucian was particularly indebted to [[Menippus]], a Cynic philosopher and satirist of the third century BC.{{sfn|Ferguson|1993|page=332}}{{sfn|Richter|2017|pages=333–334}} Lucian wrote an admiring biography of the philosopher [[Demonax]], who was a philosophical [[Eclecticism|eclectic]], but whose ideology most closely resembled Cynicism.{{sfn|Ferguson|1993|page=332}} Demonax's main divergence from the Cynics was that he did not disapprove of ordinary life.{{sfn|Ferguson|1993|page=332}} Paul Turner observes that Lucian's ''Cynicus'' reads as a straightforward defense of Cynicism,{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}} but also remarks that Lucian savagely ridicules the Cynic philosopher Peregrinus in his ''Passing of Peregrinus''.{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=99}}

Lucian also greatly admired [[Epicurus]],{{sfn|Gordon|1996|page=107}}{{sfn|Turner|1967|page=98}} whom he describes in ''Alexander the False Prophet'' as "truly holy and prophetic".{{sfn|Gordon|1996|page=107}} Later, in the same dialogue, he praises a book written by Epicurus:
<blockquote>What blessings that book creates for its readers and what peace, tranquillity, and freedom it engenders in them, liberating them as it does from terrors and apparitions and portents, from vain hopes and extravagant cravings, developing in them intelligence and truth, and truly purifying their understanding, not with torches and [[Drimia maritima|squills]] [i. e. sea onions] and that sort of foolery, but with straight thinking, truthfulness and frankness.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Lucian Volume IV (Loeb Classical Library)|last = Harmon|first = A. M.|publisher = Harvard University Press|year = 1925|isbn = 978-0-674-99179-8|location = Cambridge, MA|pages = 235|url = http://www.loebclassics.com/view/lucian-alexander_false_prophet/1925/pb_LCL162.235.xml}}</ref></blockquote>

Lucian had a generally negative opinion of [[Herodotus]] and his historiography, which he viewed as faulty.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|page=288}}{{sfn|Georgiadou|Larmour|1998|page=51}}