Among the Pre-Socratic philosophers there was one which the German Philosopher Eduard Zeller would
name “superior to all earlier and contemporary philosophers in wealth of knowledge, and to most
in acuteness and logical correctness of thinking.” Join me in discovering the laughing philosopher
Democritus. Something we should keep in mind throughout this video is that, like Heraclitus,
we only know him through the writings of others; most abundantly those of Aristotle. Another point
that should be known is that throughout the various fragments that have been passed down
to us it is difficult to separate Democritus from his teacher Leucippus as they are often mentioned
together. Some, including Epicurus, would even deny the existence of Leucippus altogether.
Democritus was born sometime around 460 B.C.E in the northern Greek territory of Thrace. As
a young man he would take to exploring the ancient world eventually coming to Athens.
Initially the enlightened scholars of Athens would ignore his philosophy, but around 420 his
philosophic prestige would reach its maturity and all the ancient world would come to know him. 70
works were to be attributed to our philosopher, ranging in topic from philosophy to painting,
and even to farming. But of the myriad works accredited to the atomists, the tour de force,
which most would come to remember them by is the atomic theory of matter. Here in this theory the
atomist thought all aspects of life could be represented including ethics and morals.
The founding of the atomist school apparently came about as a way to reconcile the antagonistic ideas
of monism and pluralism proposed by Parmenides and Empedocles. A pitfall that we should endeavor to
avoid is that of labeling the atomists as anything but uncompromising determinist, he would deny the
possibility of chance in his world view. Leucippus is known to have said “Naught happens for nothing,
but everything from a ground and of necessity.” Let us move forward and explore this atomic theory
of theirs. The basic proposition was that there were two things that our universe was composed of:
atoms and the void. Atoms as they understood them were eternal, impenetrable, and incompressible
matter too small for the human eye to perceive. They come in various shapes and move about in
continuous motion, eventually coming into contact with each other. If the shapes are compatible they
are able to interlock and form vortices. From these vortices come the myriad phenomena that
populate the universe, this includes our world, our body, and even our soul. The phenomena are
not eternal as they change and rearrange; it is only the atoms themselves which remain eternal.
The atoms must have something to move around in; this is what the atomists would refer to
as the infinite void. This void should not be mistakenly taken as the negation of what is,
but instead should be seen as something real, space through which atoms perpetually move
around in. There is neither up nor down within the void, Democritus would compare it to motes
floating in a sunbeam when there is no wind. All sensation is but the interaction of external
atoms with the atoms present within our sensory organs. “By convention sweet, by convention
bitter; by convention hot, by convention cold; by convention color; but in reality:
atoms and the void” – Democritus. Aristotle would have one issue with the atomic theory;
if all phenomena occur as the direct result of their antecedents then how do we account for
the initial motions of the atoms? Well, something distinct among the atomists was their interest in
explaining the world without the notion of purpose of final cause. They thought that purpose was only
applicable within reality, not to reality as a whole. Bertrand Russell in “The History of
Western Philosophy” said “all causal explanations, therefore, must have an arbitrary beginning. That
is why it is no defect in the theory of the atomists to have left the original movements
of the atoms unaccounted for.” He would reject popular religion and thought that the gods were
but a way for the masses to explain and find comfort in the inexplicable. In the atomist’s
view the universe has always existed and it continues on without direction or mindful purpose.
The aim of one’s life, Democritus thought, should be to pursue pleasure and cheerfulness. Like the
later Epicurus he thought it should be sought with moderation; in fact Epicurus would take much
of his influence from Democritus and the Atomists. We should seek freedom from fear and superstition,
this would allow for the utmost tranquility in one’s life. This pursuit of equanimity
would also see Democritus reject anything having to do with violence or abject passion.
He thought sex, while it most certainly is pleasurable, overwhelms an individual
consciousness and therefore should be avoided; friendship provides much more value through his
eyes. One can appreciate the astonishing feat of reason that this was for the time. Here were
mechanistic questions and mechanistic answers, the likes of which wouldn’t be seen again until
the splendor that was the Italian Renaissance. While the work of the Atomists was nothing short
of astounding it was no more empirical than any other theory propounded during antiquity.
Despite this their influence was no less profound, from Aristotle and Epicurus to
Montaigne and Spinoza, all warmed themselves by the embers which the Atomists left behind.
If you would like to learn more about eastern and western philosophy consider
subscribing to the channel and exploring some of the other videos in my library. As always,
thank you for taking the time to talk philosophy with me, until next time.