Knowra Democritus Democritus Democritus was an ancient Greek philosopher who held that matter consists of indivisible atoms moving through empty space. His atomism offered a natural account of change without creation from nothing.
Atomism : The philosophical view that reality is fundamentally composed of indivisible units called atoms. Democritus developed the ancient Greek version of this broader philosophical position.
Atomic motion : The movement of atoms through space, producing encounters, separations, and changing arrangements. For Democritus, atomic motion accounts for material change without atoms themselves changing.
Pre-Socratic philosophy : Greek philosophy before Socrates, centered largely on the nature and origins of the cosmos. Democritus belongs to this early effort to explain nature through reasoned principles.
Epicurus : An ancient Greek philosopher who adapted atomism into a system centered on pleasure, freedom, and the absence of divine fear. Epicurus developed a later atomism that drew on the tradition associated with Democritus.
Democritean ethics : The ethical teachings associated with Democritus, emphasizing cheerfulness, moderation, and tranquility. His surviving reputation includes ethical thought alongside his theory of matter.
Atom : An indivisible unit of matter in ancient Greek atomism; modern atoms are divisible structures. Democritus treated atoms as the permanent units from which material things are formed.
Atomic shape : The varied forms of atoms in ancient atomism, which help explain their differing interactions and combinations. Democritus attributed differences among things partly to atoms’ shapes and arrangements.
Anaxagoras : A pre-Socratic philosopher who explained things through mixtures of infinitely divisible ingredients ordered by Mind. His account of matter offered a competing response to the problem of change.
Lucretius : A Roman poet and philosopher whose poem On the Nature of Things presents Epicurean atomism. His poem preserved and transmitted an atomist worldview rooted in Democritean thought.
Skepticism : The philosophical position that questions whether knowledge or certainty is attainable. Democritus distinguished what exists by convention from what exists in reality, challenging confidence in the senses.
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