Democritus

Western philosophy Pre-Socratic philosophy
Bust of Democritus presented by Greece to the International Atomic Energy Agency
Name: Democritus
Birth: 460 B.C.E.c. 460 B.C.E.
Death: 370 B.C.E.c. 370 B.C.E. (aged approximately 90)
School/tradition: Atomism
Main interests
Nature
Notable ideas
Atoms and the void as the fundamental constituents of the physical world
Influences	Influenced
Leucippus, Eleatic school, Anaxagoras	Aristotle

Democritus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. He was born at Abdera in Thrace and lived from around 460 B.C.E. to 370 B.C.E. Democritus developed atomism which originated with Leucippus. Democritus identified the real existence of the cosmos with infinite numbers of permanent, imperishable, immutable, and indivisible elements called “atomon” (atoms; means “indivisible”), conceived the world as the composite of these material elements, and developed purely mechanical materialism, devoid of any trace of the mythical, which is rare in Greek philosophy.

All atoms are qualitatively homogeneous, different only in form, shape, and size. The qualitative diversity of the world is reduced to and explained by quantitative and physical differences. From physical phenomena to perception and thinking, all phenomena both physical and spiritual were explained by mechanical materialism. This was the first purely materialist thought in the history of Greek philosophy. It is virtually impossible to tell which of these ideas were unique to Democritus, and which were attributable to Leucippus due to a lack of surviving fragments, aside from ascribing the originator to Leucippus and the successor to Democritus.

Life and works

Details of Democritus’ life are unknown due to a lack of surviving texts. It was known that Democritus produced works on a wide range of subjects, and that Thrasyllus, a first century Roman scholar, arranged his writings which included works on ethics, natural science, mathematics, music, and technical matters. Nothing survived except a limited number of fragments. His atomist ontology and hedonism was succeeded by Epicurus.

Democritus is said to have had a happy disposition and valued cheerfulness. As a result he is sometimes referred to as the "laughing philosopher," as opposed to Heraclitus, who is known as the "weeping philosopher." In the Divine Comedy, Dante sees the shade of Heraclitus in Limbo with those of other classical philosophers.

Hendrick ter Brugghen, "Democritus Laughing" (1629)

Philosophy

Atomism

Atoms are in constant motion. Democritus argued for the reality of “void” that gives space for atoms to move. When the atoms move they come into contact with other atoms and form bodies. A thing comes into being when the atoms that compose it are appropriately associated, and passes away when these parts disperse.

This leaves no room for the intelligent direction of things, either by human or divine intelligence, as all that exist are atoms and the void. For Democritus, the entire world is physical material organized by mechanical physical principles.

Democritus argued that atoms only had several properties, particularly size, shape, and mass; all other properties that we attribute to matter, such as color and taste, are merely the result of complex interactions between the atoms in our bodies and the atoms of the matter that we are examining.

Different tastes are a result of differently shaped atoms in contact with the tongue. Smells and sounds are explained similarly. Vision works by the eye receiving "images" or "effluences" that are emanated by bodies. Democritus stated, "By convention sweet and by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention cold, by convention color; but in reality atoms and void." This, of course, means that the senses cannot provide a direct or certain knowledge of reality.

There are two forms of knowledge: one legitimate, one bastard. To the bastard sort belong all the following: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. The legitimate is quite distinct from this. When the bastard form cannot see more minutely, nor hear nor smell nor taste nor perceive through the touch, then another finer form must be employed (Fragment 11).

Democritus gave a materialist interpretation to the soul, which he contends is composed of exceedingly fine and spherical atoms. He holds that, "spherical atoms move because it is their nature never to be still, and that as they move they draw the whole body along with them, and set it in motion."

Ethics

Democritus identified the good with “pleasantness” and developed a form of hedonism. Pleasantness is achieved by observing justice, controlling desires, and keeping a balance in life. While Democritus held a radical materialism in ontology, he developed a secular idealism in ethics and left a number of maxims for life.

Cosmology

Democritus is also the first philosopher we know of who realized that what we perceive as the Milky Way is the light of distant stars. Other philosophers, including later Aristotle, argued against this. Democritus was among the first to propose that the universe contains many worlds, some of them inhabited:

In some worlds there is no Sun and Moon, in others they are larger than in our world, and in others more numerous. In some parts there are more worlds, in others fewer (...); in some parts they are arising, in others failing. There are some worlds devoid of living creatures or plants or any moisture.

Mathematics

Democritus argued that the circular cross-section of a cone would need step-like sides, rather than being shaped like a cylinder.

Democritus was also a pioneer of mathematics and geometry in particular. According to Archimedes, Democritus was among the first to observe that a cone and pyramid with the same base area and height has one-third the volume of a cylinder or prism respectively, a result which Archimedes states was later proved by Eudoxus of Cnidus.

Plutarch also reports that Democritus worked on a problem involving the cross-section of a cone that Thomas Heath suggests may be an early version of infinitesimal calculus.

Quotations

The following excerpts are from Democritus' extensive writings on ethics, of which little remain:

• "Disease of the home and of the life comes about in the same way as that of the body."
• "Medicine heals diseases of the body, wisdom frees the soul from passions."
• "The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not."
• "It is hard to fight desire; but to control it is the sign of a reasonable man."
• "Moderation multiplies pleasures, and increases pleasure."
• "Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man."
• "Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil."
• "The brave man is not only he who overcomes the enemy, but he who is stronger than pleasures. Some men are masters of cities, but are enslaved to women."
• "Good breeding in cattle depends on physical health, but in men on a well-formed character."
• "[I would] rather discover one cause than gain the kingdom of Persia."

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bailey, Cyril. The Greek Atomists and Epicurus. Russell & Russell, 1964. ISBN 978-0846204275
• Barnes, Jonathan. The Presocratic Philosophers. London: Routledge, 1982. ISBN 0415050790
• Freeman, Kathleen. Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers: A Complete Translation of the Fragments in Diels, 'Fragmente der Vorsokratiker'. Harvard University Press, 1966. ISBN 978-0674035003
• Furley, David J. Two Studies in the Greek Atomists. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0691623443
• Heath, Thomas. Aristarchus of Samos, the Ancient Copernicus: A History of Greek Astronomy to Aristarchus, Together with Aristarchus's Treatise on the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon. Cambridge University Press, 2013 (original 1913). ISBN 978-1108062336
• Siegfried, Tom. The Number of the Heavens: A History of the Multiverse and the Quest to Understand the Cosmos. Harvard University Press, 2019. ISBN 978-0674975880

External links

All links retrieved March 13, 2025.

• Democritus Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Democritus of Abdera Linda Hall Library
• Democritus of Abdera MacTutor School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland.
• Democritus World History Encyclopedia

General Philosophy Sources

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Paideia Project Online
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Project Gutenberg

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