Democritus of Abdera . Materialistic philosopher of ancient Greece, disciple of Leucippus, first encyclopedic mind among the Greeks (Marx). Lenin regarded Democritus as the most brilliant defender of materialism in classical antiquity. [1]
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 2 Main theories
- 3 Artwork
- 4 References
- 5 Sources
Biographical synthesis
He was born in Abdera (Thrace) in 460 BC. He was a disciple of Leucippus and it is probable that he studied with Magi and Chaldean masters. Although he was in Athens , his interaction with the philosophers of the time was minimal. (It is said that he did not dare to appear before them). [2]
Main theories
Democritus is one of the founders of atomism . It admitted two primary elements: atoms and vacuum. He considered that the former, that is, the indivisible parts of matter, were invariable, eternal, were in constant motion and differed from each other only by their form, magnitude, situation and order. Such properties as sound, pain , taste, among others, are not typical of atoms, but exist only eventually, “not by the nature of things themselves.”
In this conception, the germs of the theory about the primary and secondary qualities of things already appear. The bodies are formed by the union of atoms; the disintegration of atoms leads to the annihilation of bodies. An infinite multiplicity of atoms move eternally in infinite void, move in different directions without ever colliding with each other and form whirlpools. This is how there is the infinite multiplicity of worlds “that are born and die”, which are not created by God , but arise and are destroyed naturally, necessarily.
Identifying causality with necessity, Democritus denied causality, and considered it as the result of not knowing. In theory of knowledge, it starts from the conjecture that bodies flow – detach, separate – fine envelopes (“idols”, images) of things, which act on the sense organs.
Sensory perception constitutes the basic source of knowledge, but it only provides a “confused” knowledge of objects; on this knowledge rises another, “luminous”, more subtle, knowledge through the intellect, which leads to the knowledge of the essence of the world: of atoms and emptiness. With this, Democritus raised the problem of the correlation between the senses and reason in knowledge.
Politically, Democritus was a representative of ancient democracy, an adversary of the slave aristocracy. They made their own –and continued-, the materialism of Democritus, Epicurus and Lucretius Caro .
Work
Democritus was as famous in his time as other philosophers of the importance of Plato or Aristotle and he must have been one of the most prolific authors of antiquity , although only fragments of some of his works are preserved, mostly those dedicated to the ethics , although attributed to various treaties of physics , mathematics , music and technical issues. [3]