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99-509: The Alfred Ackermann–Teubner Memorial Award for the Promotion of Mathematical Sciences recognized work in mathematical analysis. It was established in 1912 by engineer Alfred Ackermann-Teubner and was an endowment of the University of Leipzig . It was awarded 14 times between 1914 and 1941. Subsequent awards were to be made every other year until a surplus of 60,000 marks was accumulated within

198-574: A nonprofit corporation , a charitable foundation , or a private foundation that, while serving a good cause, might not qualify as a public charity. In some jurisdictions, it is common for endowed funds to be established as a trust independent of the organizations and the causes the endowment is meant to serve. Institutions that commonly manage endowments include academic institutions (e.g., colleges , universities , and private schools ); cultural institutions (e.g., museums, libraries, and theaters); service organizations (e.g., hospitals, retirement homes;

297-511: A 30% annualized loss that was more than predicted in December 2008. At Stanford University , the endowment was reduced from $ 17 billion to $ 12 billion as of September 2009. Brown University 's endowment fell 27 percent to $ 2.04 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009. George Washington University lost 18% in that same fiscal year, down to $ 1.08 billion. In Canada, after the financial crisis in 2008, University of Toronto reported

396-448: A building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets. The donated assets may be held by a charitable trust . Ibn Umar reported, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab got land in Khaybar , so he came to the prophet Muhammad and asked him to advise him about it. The Prophet said, 'If you like, make the property inalienable and give

495-439: A desire for fame, participation in politics was discouraged. Further, Epicurus sought to eliminate the fear of the gods and of death , seeing those two fears as chief causes of strife in life. When we say ... that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice or wilful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean

594-500: A family and in other situations it will be more beneficial to participate in politics. It is ultimately up to the Epicurean to analyse their circumstance and take whatever action befits the situation. Epicureanism rejects immortality . It believes in the soul, but suggests that the soul is mortal and material, just like the body. Epicurus rejected any possibility of an afterlife, while still contending that one need not fear death: "Death

693-524: A family, as the benefits of a wife and children are outweighed by the trouble brought about by having a family. Instead Epicurus encouraged a formation of a community of friends outside the traditional political state. This community of virtuous friends would focus on internal affairs and justice. However, Epicureanism is adaptable to circumstance as is the Epicurean approach to politics. The same approaches will not always work in protection from pain and fear. In some situations it will be more beneficial to have

792-561: A financial return." Impact investments provide capital to address social and environmental issues. Generally, endowment taxes are the taxation of financial endowments that are otherwise not taxed due to their charitable, educational, or religious mission. Endowment taxes are sometimes enacted in response to criticisms that endowments are not operating as nonprofit organizations or that they have served as tax shelters , or that they are depriving local governments of essential property and other taxes . Epicureanism Epicureanism

891-693: A list of the Principal Doctrines of Epicureanism; however, there are independent attestations of his ideas from his later disciples. The epic poem De rerum natura (Latin for "On the Nature of Things") by Lucretius presents the core arguments and theories of Epicureanism in one unified work. Many Epicurean texts have also been found on scrolls unearthed at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum , mostly works written by

990-419: A loss of 31% ($ 545 million) of its previous year-end value in 2009. The loss is attributed to over-investment in hedge funds. Critics like Justice Funders' Dana Kawaoka-Chen call for "redistributing all aspects of well-being, democratizing power, and shifting economic control to communities.". Endowment repatriation refers to campaigns that acknowledge the history of human and natural resource exploitation that

1089-616: A man dies, only three deeds will survive him: continuing alms, profitable knowledge and a child praying for him. The two oldest known waqfiya (deed) documents are from the 9th century, while a third one dates from the early 10th century, all three within the Abbasid Period. The oldest dated waqfiya goes back to 876 CE, concerns a multi-volume Qur'an edition and is held by the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul . A possibly older waqfiya

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1188-583: A mandatory part of a fellowship. A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that will typically provide funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may engage directly in charitable activities. Foundations include public charitable foundations, such as community foundations , and private foundations which are typically endowed by an individual or family. The term foundation though may also be used by organizations not involved in public grant-making. A financial endowment

1287-456: A manner that caused the viewer to experience the color red. The atoms are not perceived individually, but rather as a continuous sensation because of how quickly they move. The Epicureans believed that all sense perceptions were true, and that errors arise in how we judge those perceptions. When we form judgments about things ( hupolepsis ), they can be verified and corrected through further sensory information. For example, if someone sees

1386-578: A means of perception, but they perceive our internal state as opposed to external things. According to Diogenes Laertius, feelings are how we determine our actions. If something is pleasurable, we pursue that thing, and if something is painful, we avoid that thing. The idea of "presentational applications of the mind" is an explanation for how we can discuss and inquire about things we cannot directly perceive. We receive impressions of such things directly in our minds, instead of perceiving them through other senses. The concept of "presentational applications of

1485-468: A number of restricted endowments that are intended to fund specific areas within the institution. The most common examples are endowed professorships (also known as named chairs), and endowed scholarships or fellowships. The practice of endowing professorships began in the modern European university system in England on September 8, 1502, when Lady Margaret Beaufort , Countess of Richmond and grandmother to

1584-429: A particular subject are common; in some places, a donor could fund a trust exclusively for the support of a pet. Ignoring the restriction is called " invading " the endowment. But change of circumstance or financial duress like bankruptcy can preclude carrying out the donor's intent. A court can alter the use of restricted endowment under a doctrine called cy-près meaning to find an alternative "as near as possible" to

1683-451: A portion of the initial endowment after self-initiated research into the foundation's financial support of Native and Indigenous artists and communities. This results of this research indicated "the inadequacy of philanthropic support for Native arts and artists", related feedback from an unnamed Native leader that "[o]nce [big foundations] put the stuff in place for an Indian program, then it is not usually funded very well. It lasts as long as

1782-452: A prince or monarch and their role in training government officials made early Mediterranean universities similar to Islamic madrasas , although madrasas were generally smaller, and individual teachers, rather than the madrasa itself, granted the license or degree. Waqf ( Arabic : وَقْف ; [ˈwɑqf] ), also known as 'hubous' (حُبوس) or mortmain property, is a similar concept from Islamic law , which typically involves donating

1881-471: A private prison that was directly contrary to the foundation's mission, they developed and then began to advocate for a four-part ethical framework to endowment investments conceptualized as Human Capital, Natural Capital, Civic Capital, and Financial Capital. Another example is the Ford Foundation 's co-founding of the independent Native Arts and Culture Foundation in 2007. The Ford Foundation provided

1980-403: A smaller subsection of the substance. Atoms are constantly moving in one of four different ways. Atoms can simply collide with each other and then bounce off of each other. When joined with each other and forming a larger object, atoms can vibrate as they collide into each other while still maintaining the overall shape of the larger object. When not prevented by other atoms, all atoms move at

2079-418: A tower from far away that appears to be round, and upon approaching the tower they see that it is actually square, they would come to realize that their original judgement was wrong and correct their wrong opinion. Epicurus is said to have proposed three criteria of truth : sensations ( aisthêsis ), preconceptions ( prolepsis ), and feelings ( pathê ). A fourth criterion called "presentational applications of

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2178-484: Is Philodemus of Gadara 's basic guideline as to how to live the happiest possible life, based on the first four of the doctrines. This poetic doctrine was handed down by an anonymous Epicurean who summed up Epicurus' philosophy on happiness in four simple lines: Don't fear god, Don't worry about death; What is good is easy to get, and What is terrible is easy to endure. Three letters of Epicurus are preserved by Diogenes Laertius. Epicurus' Letter to Herodotus (not

2277-458: Is a clear and direct perception of that object. An individual's preconceptions are his or her concepts of what things are, e.g. what someone's idea of a horse is, and these concepts are formed in a person's mind through sensory input over time. When the word that relates to the preconception is used, these preconceptions are summoned up by the mind into the person's thoughts. It is through our preconceptions that we are able to make judgments about

2376-466: Is a form of hedonism insofar as it declares pleasure to be its sole intrinsic goal. However, the concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life, make it very different from hedonism as colloquially understood. Following the Cyrenaic philosopher Aristippus , Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable pleasure in

2475-648: Is a papyrus held by the Louvre Museum in Paris , with no written date but considered to be from the mid-9th century. The earliest known waqf in Egypt, founded by financial official Abū Bakr Muḥammad bin Ali al-Madhara'i in 919 (during the Abbasid period ), is a pond called Birkat Ḥabash together with its surrounding orchards, whose revenue was to be used to operate a hydraulic complex and feed

2574-421: Is a summary of his ethical teachings written in the epistolary literary style, and addressed to a student. It addresses theology, the hierarchies of desires, how to carry choices and avoidances in order to achieve net pleasure, and other aspects of Epicurean ethics . The Epicurea is a collection of texts, fragments, and testimonies by Epicurus that was collected by Hermann Usener in 1887. This work features

2673-427: Is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus , an ancient Greek philosopher . Epicurus was an atomist and materialist , following in the steps of Democritus . His materialism led him to religious skepticism and a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism , and its main opponent later became Stoicism . It

2772-606: Is based on mutual agreement, not divine decree. He defined justice as an agreement made by people not to harm each other. The point of living in a society with laws and punishments is to be protected from harm so that one is free to pursue happiness. Because of this, laws that do not contribute to promoting human happiness are not just. He gave his own unique version of the ethic of reciprocity , which differs from other formulations by emphasizing minimizing harm and maximizing happiness for oneself and others: Epicurean ideas on politics disagree with other philosophical traditions, namely

2871-465: Is inherent to many large private funds. Repatriation campaigns ask for private endowments to be returned to the control of the people and communities that have been most affected by labor and environmental exploitation and often offer ethical frameworks for discussing endowment governance and repatriation. Many might say that, by definition, philanthropy is about redistributing resources. Yet to truly embody this principle, philanthropy must move far beyond

2970-441: Is made up of atoms, which are tiny bodies that have only the unchanging qualities of shape, size, and weight. The Epicureans believed that atoms were unchanging because the world was ordered and that changes had to have specific and consistent sources, e.g. a plant species only grows from a seed of the same species, but that in order for the universe to persist, what it is ultimately made up of must not be able to be changed or else

3069-855: Is needed for necessities, use your own choice as you wish. It is sure difficult to imagine, however, that none of these would be a part of sex because sex never benefitted anyone. In order to do this an Epicurean had to control their desires, because desire itself was seen as painful. Not only will controlling one's desires bring about aponia , as one will rarely suffer from not being physically satisfied, but controlling one's desires will also help to bring about ataraxia because one will not be anxious about becoming discomforted since one would have so few desires anyway. The Epicureans divide desires into three classes: natural and necessary, natural but not necessary, and vain and empty: If one follows only natural and necessary desires, then, according to Epicurus, one would be able to reach aponia and ataraxia and thereby

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3168-519: Is nothing to us; for that which is dissolved, is without sensation, and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us." From this doctrine arose the Epicurean Epitaph: Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo ("I was not; I have been; I am not; I do not mind."), which is inscribed on the gravestones of his followers and seen on many ancient gravestones of the Roman Empire . Epicureanism does not deny

3267-516: Is now known as medicine and basic sciences. Today, the University of Glasgow has fifteen Regius Professorships. Private individuals also adopted the practice of endowing professorships. Isaac Newton held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge beginning in 1669, more recently held by the celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking . In the United States, the endowment is often integral to

3366-443: Is possible that some political association could be seen as beneficial by some Epicureans. Some political associations could lead to certain benefits to the individual that would help to maximize pleasure and avoid physical or mental distress. of all the things which wisdom has contrived which contribute to a blessed life, none is more important, more fruitful, than friendship Epicurus laid great emphasis on developing friendships as

3465-410: Is still disputed. Some scholars say that Epicureanism believes that the gods exist outside the mind as material objects (the realist position), while others assert that the gods only exist in our minds as ideals (the idealist position). The realist position holds that Epicureans understand the gods as existing as physical and immortal beings made of atoms that reside somewhere in reality. However,

3564-466: Is the name of a philosophical treatise in 37 books consisting of lectures written by Epicurus, which can be considered his main work, however, it has mostly been lost. Some excerpts have survived compiled from burnt papyri scrolls found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum . Most of the surviving papyri are kept in the National Library of Naples . Important parts of Book II are preserved in

3663-494: Is the physical or mental pleasures that involve action or change. Eating delicious food, as well as fulfilling desires and removing pain, which is itself considered a pleasurable act, are all examples of kinetic pleasure in the physical sense. According to Epicurus, feelings of joy would be an example of mental kinetic pleasure. Katastematic pleasure is the pleasure one feels while in a state without pain. Like kinetic pleasures, katastematic pleasures can also be physical, such as

3762-530: Is the second wealthiest private foundation , with an endowment of $ 67.3 billion. Most private endowments in the United States are governed by the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act which is based in part on the concept of donor intent that helps define what restrictions are imposed on the principal and earnings of the fund. Endowments in the United States are commonly categorized in one of three ways: All endowments ensure that

3861-453: Is the second letter preserved by Diogenes Laertius in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers. In Letter to Pythocles, Epicurus treats the things for which there is uncertainty in how they occur. His train of thought is explicated through meteorological phenomena: various weather events as well as celestial phenomena in space such as asteroids, the creation and destruction of cosmoi, and

3960-442: Is thought that the gods were emblematic of the life one should aspire towards. The debate between these two positions was revived by A. A. Long and David Sedley in their 1987 book, The Hellenistic Philosophers , in which the two argued in favour of the idealist position. While a scholarly consensus has yet to be reached, the realist position remains the prevailing viewpoint at this time. On Nature ( Ancient Greek : Περὶ φύσεως )

4059-403: Is typically overseen by a board of trustees and managed by a trustee or team of professional managers. Typically, the financial operation of the endowment is designed to achieve the stated objectives of the endowment. In the United States, typically 4–6% of the endowment's assets are spent every year to fund operations or capital spending. Any excess earnings are typically reinvested to augment

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4158-633: The British Museum . Since most of the 37 books "On Nature" are lost, the Principal Doctrines and Epicurus' Letters to Herodotus, Menoeceus, and Pythocles are the most authoritative writings on Epicureanism. Similarly, Lucretius' poem De rerum natura probably follows Epicurus' work. The Principal Doctrines are forty authoritative conclusions set up as official doctrines by Epicurus, Metrodorus of Lampsacus , Hermarchus of Mitilene and Polyaenus of Lampsacus . The Principal Doctrines exemplify

4257-673: The Catiline conspiracy where he spoke out against the Stoic Cato . His father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus , was also an adept of the school. In the 2nd century CE, comedian Lucian of Samosata and wealthy promoter of philosophy Diogenes of Oenoanda were prominent Epicureans. By the late third century CE, however, there was little trace of its existence. With growing dominance of Neoplatonism and Peripateticism , and later, Christianity , Epicureanism declined. In his letter to Herodotus , Epicurus presented three principles as to

4356-507: The Red Cross ); and religious organizations (e.g., churches, synagogues, mosques). Private endowments are some of the wealthiest entities in the world, notably private higher education endowments . Harvard University's endowment (valued at $ 53.2 billion as of June 2021 ) is the largest academic endowment in the world. As of 31 December 2022 , the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

4455-536: The endowment , at which time, the prize was to be awarded annually. The subjects included: The fifteen honorees between 1914 and 1941 are: In 1937, Constantin Carathéodory and Erhard Schmidt were invited to jury the award. Along with Wilhelm Blaschke , Carathéodory was invited again in 1944 by the German Union of Mathematicians. Financial endowment Endowments are often governed and managed either as

4554-546: The "live hand" of the public as opposed to the "dead hand" of the founders of private foundations. Research published in the American Economic Review indicates that major academic endowments often act in times of economic downturn in a way opposite of the intention of the endowment. This behavior is referred to as endowment hoarding, reflecting the way that economic downturns often lead to endowments decreasing their payouts rather than increasing them to compensate for

4653-564: The 5% payout requirements for grants and distribute ALL of its power and resources. This includes spending down one's endowment, investing in local and regional economic initiatives that build community wealth rather than investing in Wall Street, giving up decision-making power for grants, and, ultimately, turning over assets to community control. After the Heron Foundation's internal audit of its investments in 2011 uncovered an investment in

4752-659: The Epicurean philosopher Philodemus or his teacher Zeno of Sidon along with fragments of works by Epicurus himself. Diogenes of Oenoanda , a wealthy Epicurean in the 2nd century CE, had a portico wall inscribed with tenets of the philosophy erected in Oenoanda , Lycia (present day Turkey). Epicureanism flourished in the Late Hellenistic era and during the Roman era, and many Epicurean communities were established in places such as Antioch , Alexandria , Rhodes , and Herculaneum . By

4851-560: The Epicurean philosophers' practice of publishing summaries and outlines of their teachings for easy memorization. However, they are so concise and short that it's difficult to understand them in depth without the context of additional commentaries and writings by ancient sources or by modern Epicurean practitioners, whenever possible.They are often cited as "PDs" in English. Some of the Principal Doctrines are organized into groups and are meant to be studied together. The first four doctrines make up

4950-578: The Stoic, Platonist and Aristotelian traditions. To Epicureans all our social relations are a matter of how we perceive each other, of customs and traditions. No one is inherently of higher value or meant to dominate another. That is because there is no metaphysical basis for the superiority of one kind of person, all people are made of the same atomic material and are thus naturally equal. Epicureans also discourage political participation and other involvement in politics. However Epicureans are not apolitical , it

5049-559: The Tetrapharmakos (Four Cures). PD's 10-13 discuss the Epicurean philosophy of science. PD's 18-21 explain the natural limits of desires and in time, and how the flesh is unable to learn these limits but the mind can. PD's 22-25 deal with the importance of the canon, or the Epicurean standard of truth. PD's 31-38 explain the Epicurean doctrines on justice based on mutual advantage and contractarianism. PD's 39-40 call for an intimate society of friends. Tetrapharmakos, or "The four-part cure",

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5148-431: The United States. An endowed professorship (or endowed chair ) is a position permanently paid for with the revenue from an endowment fund specifically set up for that purpose. To set up an endowed chair generally costs between US$ 1 and $ 5 million at major research universities. Typically, the position is designated to be in a certain department. The donor might be allowed to name the position. Endowed professorships aid

5247-411: The absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not by an unbroken succession of drinking bouts and of revelry, not by sexual lust, nor the enjoyment of fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of

5346-468: The academic world, and the university can use them to reward its best faculty or to recruit top professors from other institutions. An endowed faculty fellow is a position permanently paid for to recruit and retain new and/or junior (and above) professors who have already demonstrated superior teaching and research. The donor might be allowed to name the faculty fellowship. A faculty fellow appointment cultivates confidence and institutional loyalty, keeping

5445-477: The act was initially unnoticed because of possibly being caught and punished. Both punishment and fear of punishment would cause a person disturbance and prevent them from being happy. Epicurus was also an early thinker to develop the notion of justice as a social contract , and in part attempts to address issues with the society described in Plato 's Republic . The social contract theory established by Epicureanism

5544-506: The atoms joined together. Without the swerve, the atoms would never have interacted with each other, and simply continued to move downwards at the same speed. Epicurus also felt that the swerve was what accounted for humanity's free will. If it were not for the swerve, humans would be subject to a never-ending chain of cause and effect. This was a point which Epicureans often used to criticize Democritus ' atomic theory . Epicurean philosophy employs an empirical epistemology, one based on

5643-453: The basis of a satisfying life. The avoidance or freedom from hardship and fear is ideal to the Epicureans. While this avoidance or freedom could conceivably be achieved through political means, it was insisted by Epicurus that involvement in politics would not release one from fear and he advised against a life of politics. Epicurus also discouraged contributing to political society by starting

5742-474: The bodies would not have stayed anywhere but would have been dispersed in their course through the infinite void, not having any supports or counterchecks to send them back on their upward rebound. Again, if the void were finite, the infinity of bodies would not have anywhere to be. Because of the infinite supply of atoms, there are an infinite number of worlds, or cosmoi . Some of these worlds could be vastly different from our own, some quite similar, and all of

5841-416: The body and pleasures of the mind . Pleasures of the body involve sensations of the body, such as the act of eating delicious food or of being in a state of comfort free from pain, and exist only in the present. One can only experience pleasures of the body in the moment, meaning they only exist as a person is experiencing them. Pleasures of the mind involve mental processes and states; feelings of joy,

5940-407: The body. Emphasis was placed on pleasures of the mind rather than on physical pleasures. The Epicureans further divided each of these types of pleasures into two categories: kinetic pleasure and katastematic pleasure . Absence of pain, aponia , and lack of disturbance of mind, ataraxia , are two of the katastematic pleasures and often seen as the focal ones to Epicurus . Kinetic pleasure

6039-717: The donor's intent. The earliest endowed chairs were established by the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius in Athens in AD 176. Aurelius created one endowed chair for each of the major schools of philosophy : Platonism , Aristotelianism , Stoicism , and Epicureanism . Later, similar endowments were set up in some other major cities of the Empire. The earliest universities were founded in Europe, Asia and Africa. Their endowment by

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6138-579: The downturn. Large U.S.-based college and university endowments, which had posted large, highly publicized gains in the 1990s and 2000s, faced significant losses of principal in the 2008 economic downturn . The Harvard University endowment , which held $ 37 billion in June 2008, was reduced to $ 26 billion by mid-2009. Yale University , the pioneer of an approach that involved investing heavily in alternative investments such as real estate and private equity , reported an endowment of $ 16 billion as of September 2009,

6237-443: The end of apartheid, more than 150 universities divested of South African investments, although it is not clear to what extent this campaign was responsible for ending the policy. A proactive version of divestment campaigns is impact investing, or mission investing which refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside

6336-468: The endowment and to compensate for inflation and recessions in future years. This spending figure represents the proportion that historically could be spent without diminishing the principal amount of the endowment fund. The case of Leona Helmsley is often used to illustrate the downsides of the legal concept of donor intent as applied to endowments. In the 2000s, Helmsley bequested a multi-billion dollar trust to "the care and welfare of dogs". This trust

6435-439: The error arises from our judgments about the input. For example, when one places a straight oar in the water, it appears bent. The Epicurean would argue that the image of the oar, that is, the atoms traveling from the oar to the observer's eyes, has been shifted and thus really does arrive at the observer's eyes in the shape of a bent oar. The observer makes the error in assuming that the image he or she receives correctly represents

6534-415: The existence of the gods; rather it denies their involvement in the world. According to Epicureanism, the gods do not interfere with human lives or the rest of the universe in any way – thus, it shuns the idea that frightening weather events are divine retribution. One of the fears the Epicurean ought to be freed from is fear relating to the actions of the gods. The manner in which the Epicurean gods exist

6633-426: The financial health of educational institutions. Alumni or friends of institutions sometimes contribute capital to the endowment. The use of endowment funding is strong in the United States and Canada but less commonly found outside of North America, with the exceptions of Cambridge and Oxford universities. Endowment funds have also been created to support secondary and elementary school districts in several states in

6732-498: The form of a state of ataraxia (tranquility and freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of bodily pain) through knowledge of the workings of the world and limiting desires. Correspondingly, Epicurus and his followers generally withdrew from politics because it could lead to frustrations and ambitions that would conflict with their pursuit of virtue and peace of mind. Few writings by Epicurus have survived. Diogenes Laërtius preserves three letters written by Epicurus, as well as

6831-477: The future king Henry VIII , created the first endowed chairs in divinity at the universities of Oxford ( Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity ) and Cambridge ( Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity ). Nearly 50 years later, Henry VIII established the Regius Professorships at both universities, this time in five subjects: divinity, civil law, Hebrew, Greek, and physic—the last of those corresponding to what

6930-415: The gods are completely separate from the rest of reality; they are uninterested in it, play no role in it, and remain completely undisturbed by it. Instead, the gods live in what is called the metakosmia , or the space between worlds. Contrarily, the idealist (sometimes called the "non-realist position" to avoid confusion) position holds that the gods are just idealized forms of the best human life, and it

7029-423: The greatest pleasure a person could reach was the complete removal of all pain, both physical and mental. The ultimate goal then of Epicurean ethics was to reach a state of aponia and ataraxia . I learn that your bodily inclination leans most keenly towards sexual intercourse. If you neither violate the laws nor disturb well established morals nor sadden someone close to you, nor strain your body, nor spend what

7128-475: The highest form of happiness. Unnecessary and, especially, artificially produced desires were to be suppressed. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life. The Epicurean understanding of justice was inherently self-interested. Justice was deemed good because it was seen as mutually beneficial. Individuals would not act unjustly even if

7227-459: The historian) was written as an introduction to Epicurean philosophy and method of studying nature. It included the most complete detail of the ancient conversations that led to the development of atomist theory, a doctrine of innumerable worlds, and an explanation of the phenomenon of time that posits an early form of relativism. Epicurus' Letter to Herodotus appears to be a summary of On Nature , books I–XIII. Epicurus' Letter to Pythocles

7326-545: The institution competitive over hiring and retention of talents. An endowed scholarship is tuition (and possibly other costs) assistance that is permanently paid for by an organisation or individual with the revenue of an endowment fund specifically set up for that purpose. It can be either merit-based or need-based (the latter is only awarded to those students for whom the college expense would cause their family financial hardship) depending on university policy or donor preferences. Some universities will facilitate donors' meeting

7425-400: The lack of fear, and pleasant memories are all examples of pleasures of the mind. These pleasures of the mind do not only exist in the present, but also in the past and future, since memory of a past pleasant experience or the expectation of some potentially pleasing future can both be pleasurable experiences. Because of this, the pleasures of the mind are considered to be greater than those of

7524-658: The late 3rd century CE, Epicureanism all but died out, being opposed by other philosophies (mainly Neoplatonism ) that were then in the ascent. Interest in Epicureanism was resurrected in the Age of Enlightenment and continues in the modern era. Epicurus taught and gained followers in Mytilene , the capital of the island Lesbos , and then in Lampsacus . In Athens , Epicurus bought a property for his school called "Garden", which later became

7623-433: The later Roman Empire . Deciphered carbonized scrolls obtained from the library at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum contain a large number of works by Philodemus , a late Hellenistic Epicurean, and Epicurus himself, attesting to the school's enduring popularity. Julius Caesar also leaned considerably toward Epicureanism, which led to his plea against the death sentence during the trial against Catiline , during

7722-400: The mind" ( phantastikai epibolai tês dianoias ) was said to have been added by later Epicureans. These criteria formed the method through which Epicureans thought we gained knowledge. Since Epicureans thought that sensations could not deceive, sensations are the first and main criterion of truth for Epicureans. Even in cases where sensory input seems to mislead, the input itself is true and

7821-399: The mind" may have been introduced to explain how we learn about things that we cannot directly perceive, such as the gods. Epicureanism bases its ethics on a hedonistic set of values, seeing pleasure as the chief good in life. Hence, Epicurus advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one's lifetime, yet doing so moderately in order to avoid

7920-459: The name of Epicurus' school. Its members included Hermarchus , Idomeneus , Colotes , Polyaenus , and Metrodorus . Epicurus emphasized friendship as an important ingredient of happiness, and the school seems to have been a moderately ascetic community which rejected the political limelight of Athenian philosophy. They were fairly cosmopolitan by Athenian standards, including women and slaves. Community activities held some importance, particularly

8019-445: The nature of the physical world, i.e. that that which exists cannot come into being from that which does not exist, that which is destroyed does not cease to exist, and all that exists now always did exist and always will. The object of these principles was to establish the fact that all that constitutes the world is permanent and unchanging. Epicurean physics held that the entire universe consisted of two things: matter and void. Matter

8118-464: The oar and has not been distorted in some way. In order to not make erroneous judgments about perceivable things and instead verify one's judgment, Epicureans believed that one needed to obtain "clear vision" ( enargeia ) of the perceivable thing by closer examination. This acted as a justification for one's judgements about the thing being perceived. Enargeia is characterized as sensation of an object that has been unchanged by judgments or opinions and

8217-400: The observance of Eikas , a monthly social gathering. Some members were also vegetarians as, from slight evidence, Epicurus did not eat meat, although no prohibition against eating meat was made. The school's popularity grew and it became, along with Stoicism , Platonism , Peripateticism , and Pyrrhonism , one of the dominant schools of Hellenistic philosophy , lasting strongly through

8316-463: The original principal, inflation-adjusted, is held in perpetuity and prudent spending methods should be applied in order to avoid the erosion of corpus over reasonable time frames. Restricted endowments may also facilitate additional donor requirements. An expendable endowment fund is one which can be spent in certain circumstances. Endowment revenue can be restricted by donors to serve many purposes. Endowed professorships or scholarships restricted to

8415-634: The paths of planetary bodies through space. In Epicurus' time, long before any modern technological advances such as microscopes or telescopes which allow us to establish greater knowledge of these phenomena, these were all examples of things that, as far as the limits of human knowledge extended, it was impossible to establish certainty with regards to their causes, or how they occurred. Epicurus elaborates on how one may reason regarding such things so as to come to reasonable conclusions without undue certainty, so as to maintain Ataraxia . Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus

8514-507: The poor. In India, wakfs are relatively common among Muslim communities and are regulated by the Central Wakf Council and governed by Wakf Act 1995 (which superseded Wakf Act 1954). Academic institutions, such as colleges and universities, will frequently control an endowment fund that finances a portion of the operating or capital requirements of the institution. In addition to a general endowment fund, each university may also control

8613-426: The profit from it to charity.'" It goes on to say that Umar gave it away as alms, that the land itself would not be sold, inherited or donated. He gave it away for the poor, the relatives, the slaves, the jihad , the travelers and the guests. And it will not be held against him who administers it if he consumes some of its yield in an appropriate manner or feeds a friend who does not enrich himself by means of it. When

8712-438: The program officer who had an interest and then goes away" and recommended that an independent endowment be established and that "[n]ative leadership is crucial". Another approach to reforming endowments is the use of divestment campaigns to encourage endowments to not hold unethical investments. One of the earliest modern divestment campaigns was Disinvestment from South Africa which was used to protest apartheid policies. By

8811-404: The same speed naturally downwards in relation to the rest of the world. This downwards motion is natural for atoms; however, as their fourth means of motion, atoms can at times randomly swerve out of their usual downwards path. This swerving motion is what allowed for the creation of the universe, since as more and more atoms swerved and collided with each other, objects were able to take shape as

8910-497: The senses. Epicureans believed that senses also relied on atoms. Every object was continually emitting particles from itself that would then interact with the observer. All sensations, such as sight, smell, or sound, relied on these particles. While the atoms that were emitted did not have the qualities that the senses were perceiving, the manner in which they were emitted caused the observer to experience those sensations, e.g. red particles were not themselves red but were emitted in

9009-415: The soul. Epicureans had a very specific understanding of what the greatest pleasure was, and the focus of their ethics was on the avoidance of pain rather than seeking out pleasure. As evidence for this, Epicureans say that nature seems to command us to avoid pain, and they point out that all animals try to avoid pain as much as possible. Epicureanism divided pleasure into two broad categories: pleasures of

9108-431: The state of not being thirsty, or mental, such as freedom from a state of fear. Complete physical katastematic pleasure is called aponia , and complete mental katastematic pleasure is called ataraxia . While the pursuit of pleasure formed the focal point of the philosophy, this was largely directed to the "static pleasures" of minimizing pain, anxiety and suffering. From this understanding, Epicureans concluded that

9207-399: The students they are helping. The amount that must be donated to start an endowed scholarship can vary greatly. Fellowships are similar, although they are most commonly associated with graduate students. In addition to helping with tuition, they may also include a stipend. Fellowships with a stipend may encourage students to work on a doctorate . Frequently, teaching or working on research is

9306-399: The suffering incurred by overindulgence in such pleasure. Epicurus actively recommended against passionate love, and believed it best to avoid marriage altogether. He viewed recreational sex as a natural, but not necessary, desire that should be generally avoided. Since the political life could give rise to desires that could disturb virtue and one's peace of mind, such as a lust for power or

9405-604: The things that we perceive. Preconceptions were also used by Epicureans to avoid the paradox proposed by Plato in the Meno regarding learning. Plato argues that learning requires us to already have knowledge of what we are learning, or else we would be unable to recognize when we had successfully learned the information. Preconceptions, Epicureans argue, provide individuals with that pre-knowledge required for learning. Our feelings or emotions ( pathê ) are how we perceive pleasure and pain. They are analogous to sensations in that they are

9504-425: The universe would be essentially destroyed. Epicurus holds that there must be an infinite supply of atoms, although only a finite number of types of atoms, as well as an infinite amount of void. Epicurus explains this position in his letter to Herodotus: Moreover, the sum of things is unlimited both by reason of the multitude of the atoms and the extent of the void. For if the void were infinite and bodies finite,

9603-430: The university by providing a faculty member who does not have to be paid entirely out of the operating budget, allowing the university to either reduce its student-to-faculty ratio, a statistic used for college rankings and other institutional evaluations, or direct money that would otherwise have been spent on salaries toward other university needs. In addition, holding such a professorship is considered to be an honour in

9702-409: The worlds were separated from each other by vast areas of void ( metakosmia ). Epicureanism states that atoms are unable to be broken down into any smaller parts because void is necessary for matter to move. Anything which consists of both void and matter can be broken down, while if something contains no void then it has no way to break apart because no part of the substance could be broken down into

9801-530: Was estimated at the time to total 10 times more than the combined 2005 assets of all registered animal-related charities in the United States. In 1914, Frederick Goff sought to eliminate the "dead hand" of organized philanthropy and so created the Cleveland Foundation : the first community foundation . He created a corporately structured foundation that could utilize community gifts in a responsive and need-appropriate manner. Scrutiny and control resided in

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