Democritus contribution to atomic theory4/14/2024 However, the Vaiśeṣika atoms are not quality-free but correspond to the four elements nor is soul made from these atoms. More intriguing is the fact that certain Indian thinkers arrived at an atomic explanation of the universe, which is expounded in the Vaiśeṣika Sūtra and is interpreted by the aphorisms of Kanada. and to be part of the wholesale attempts to derive Greek thought from Oriental sources that followed the “discovery”of the East resulting from the establishment of Alexander’s empire. Both stories seem to have originated only in the third century b.c. According to others, Democritus was a pupil of Persian magi and Chaldean astrologers, either as a boy in his native Abdera or later in Egypt. Epicureanism represents a further elaboration of the physical theories of Democritus, and surviving writings of Epicurus and others provide further interpretations and sometimes specific information about earlier atomist doctrines.Īccording to Posidonius in the first century b.c., the theory of atoms was a very old one and went back to a Phoenician named Mōchus, who lived before the Trojan War, in the second millennium b.c. Democritus left pupils who continued the tradition of his teachings and one of them, Nausiphanes, was the teacher of Epicurus. More valuable for the understanding of Democritus’ theories are the accounts given by Aristotle, Theophrastus, and the later doxographic tradition. Of these we have only some 300 alleged quotations, many of which may not be genuine. The titles of more than sixty writings are preserved from a catalog that probably represented the holdings of the library at Alexandria. His only certainly attested teacher was Leucippus. He is reported to have said that he visited Athens, but no one knew him there, and from Cicero and Horace we learn that-at least in their time-he was known as the “laughing philosopher” because of his amusement at the follies of mankind. Most of the stories about Democritus are worthless later inventions, but it is probable that he was well-to-do, and stories of extensive travels may have a foundation in fact. (this would fit with either chronological scheme). The question is an important one for our understanding of the history of thought in the fifth century b.c., and it is unfortunate that the occurrence of the name Democritus, presumably as a magistrate, on a fifth-century tetradrachm of Abdera does not help to settle the question, because we cannot be certain that it is the name of the Democritus here discussed nor can the tetradrachm be dated with certainty earlier than 430 b.c. Although there was also more than one ancient chronology for Anaxagoras, this statement probably supports the later dates for Democritus, and these have usually been accepted by modern scholars. According to Democritus’ own words, he was a young man when Anaxagoras was old, and he may actually have said that he was younger by forty years. The other chronology puts his birth about 460 b.c., making him a younger contemporary of Socrates and a generation or more younger than Protagoras in this case, the tradition that he lived to a great age would bring his death well into the fourth century b.c. According to the first, which was followed by Epicurus among others, Democritus was the teacher of the Sophist Protagoras of Abdera and was born soon after 500 b.c. There were two main chronologies current in antiquity for Democritus.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |