Just found this, was taken aback knowing that there was a greek philosopher who proposed atomic theory way back in the period between (b.c 460-370) and was hated and abhorred by Plato and aristotle for his Ideas. He was also the first person to propose Democracy........ Democritus was popularly known as the Laughing Philosopher (for laughing at human follies). Plato expressed the view that all the books of Democritus ought to be burnt. His wish was so far fulfilled that none of the writings of Democritus survive. Plato, in his Dialogues, never mentioned him; Aristotle gave some account of his doctrines; Epicurus vulgarized him; and finally Lucretius put the doctrines of Epicurus into verse. Lucretius just survived, by a happy accident. To reconstruct Democritus from the controversy of Aristotle and the poetry of Lucretius is not easy; it is almost as if we had to reconstruct Plato from Locke’s refutation of innate ideas. Nevertheless enough can be done to explain and condemn Plato’s hatred. Democritus is chiefly famous as the founder of atomism, which he advocated in spite of the objections of metaphysicians— objections which were repeated by their successors down to and including Descartes and Leibniz. His atomism, however, was only part of his general philosophy. He was a materialist, a determinist, a freethinker, a utilitarian who disliked all strong passions, a believer in evolution, both astronomical and biological. Democritus believed that the first humans lived an anarchic and animal sort of life, going out to forage individually and living off the most palatable herbs and the fruit which grew wild on the trees. They were driven together into societies for fear of wild animals, he said. He believed that these early people had no language, but that they gradually began to articulate their expressions, establishing symbols for every sort of object, and in this manner came to understand each other. Democritus presents the early period of mankind as one of learning by trial and error, and says that each step slowly led to more discoveries; they took refuge in the caves in winter, stored fruits that could be preserved, and through reason and keenness of mind came to build upon each new idea. Democritus held that the Earth was a sphere and stated that originally the universe was composed of nothing but tiny atoms churning in chaos, until they collided together to form larger units—including the earth and everything on it. He surmised that there are many worlds, some growing, some decaying; some with no sun or moon, some with several. He held that every world has a beginning and an end, and that a world could be destroyed by collision with another world. Like the men of similar opinions in the eighteenth century, Democritus was an ardent democrat. ‘Poverty in a democracy’, he says, ‘is as much to be preferred to what is called prosperity under despots as freedom is to slavery.’ Small wonder he was hated so.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 15:22:45 +0000
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