Indivisible solid sphere model democritus biography

One difficulty faced by materialist theories of living things is to account for the existence and regular reproduction of functionally adapted forms in the natural world. Although the atomists have considerable success in making it plausible that a simple ontology of atoms and void, with the minimal properties of the former, can account for a wide variety of differences in the objects in the perceptible world, and also that a number of apparently orderly effects can be produced as a byproduct of disorderly atomic collisions, the kind of functional organization found in organisms is much harder to explain.

Democritus seems to have developed a view of reproduction according to which all parts of the body contribute to the seed from which the new animal grows, and that both parents contribute seed DK 68A; The theory seems to presuppose that the presence of some material from each organ in the seed accounts for the development of that organ in the new organism.

Parental characteristics are inherited when the contribution of one or other parent predominates in supplying the appropriate part. The offspring is male or female according to which of the two seeds predominates in contributing material from the genitals. In an atomist cosmos, the existence of particular species is not considered to be eternal.

Like some other early materialist accounts, Democritus held that human beings arose from the earth DK 68A , although the reports give little detail. One report credits Democritus and Leucippus with the view that thought as well as sensation are caused by images impinging on the body from outside, and that thought as much as perception depends on images DK 67A Thought as well as perception are described as changes in the body.

Democritus apparently recognized that his view gives rise to an epistemological problem: it takes our knowledge of the world to be derived from our sense experience, but the senses themselves not to be in direct contact with the nature of things, thus leaving room for omission or error. A famous fragment may be responding to such a skeptical line of thought by accusing the mind of overthrowing the senses, though those are its only access to the truth DK68B Other passages talk of a gap between what we can perceive and what really exists DK 68B6—10; But the fact that atoms are not perceptible means that our knowledge of their properties is always based on analogy from the things of the visible world.

Thus the potential for doubt about our knowledge of the external world looms large. Arguments of this form were used for sceptical purposes, citing the conflicting evidence of the senses in order to raise concern about our knowledge of the world de Lacy Democritus does not seem to be pursuing a consistently skeptical program, although he does express concern about the basis for our knowledge.

Some scholars take this to be a deflationary attack on traditional theology as based on mere images Barnes , pp. The atomists may have sought to avoid these paradoxes by supposing that there is a limit to divisibility. It is not clear, however, in what sense the atoms are said to be indivisible, and how the need for smallest magnitudes is related to the claim that atoms are indivisible.

Furley suggests that the atomists may not have distinguished between physical and theoretical indivisibility of the atoms Furley , p. The physical indivisibility of the atoms seems to be independent of the argument for indivisible magnitudes, since the solidity of atoms—the fact that there is no void within them—is said to be the reason why they cannot be split.

The existence of void space between atoms is cited as the reason why they can be separated: one late source, Philoponus, even suggests that atoms could never actually touch, lest they fuse DK 67A7. Whether or not Democritus himself saw this consequence, it seems that atoms are taken to be indivisible whatever their size. Presumably, though, there is a smallest size of atom, and this is thought to be enough to avoid the paradoxes of infinite divisibility.

A reductio ad absurdum argument reported by Aristotle suggests that the atomists argued from the assumption that, if a magnitude is infinitely divisible, nothing prevents it actually having been divided at every point. The atomist then asks what would remain: if the answer is some extended particles, such as dust, then the hypothesized division has not yet been completed.

If the answer is nothing or points, then the question is how an extended magnitude could be composed from what does not have extension DK 68A48b, Democritus is also said to have contributed to mathematics, and to have posed a problem about the nature of the cone. He argues that if a cone is sliced anywhere parallel to its base, the two faces thus produced must either be the same in size or different.

If they are the same, however, the cone would seem to be a cylinder; but if they are different, the cone would turn out to have step-like rather than continuous sides. In contrast to the evidence for his physical theories, many of the ethical fragments are lists of sayings quoted without context, rather than critical philosophical discussions of atomist views.

Many seem like commonsense platitudes that would be consistent with quite different philosophical positions. Thus, despite the large number of ethical sayings, it is difficult to construct a coherent account of his ethical views. The sayings contain elements that can be seen as anticipating the more developed ethical views of Epicurus Warren It is also a matter of controversy whether any conceptual link can be found between atomist physics and the ethical commitments attributed to Democritus.

The reports indicate that Democritus was committed to a kind of enlightened hedonism, in which the good was held to be an internal state of mind rather than something external to it see Hasper The good is given many names, amongst them euthymia or cheerfulness, as well as privative terms, e. Others discuss political community, suggesting that there is a natural tendency to form communities.

Although the evidence is not certain, Democritus may be the originator of an ancient theory about the historical development of human communities. In contrast to the Hesiodic view that the human past included a golden age from which the present day is a decline, an alternative tradition that may derive from Democritus suggests that human life was originally like that of animals; it describes the gradual development of human communities for purposes of mutual aid, the origin of language, crafts and agriculture.

Although the text in question does not mention Democritus by name, he is the most plausible source Cole ; Cartledge If Democritus is the source for this theory, it suggests that he took seriously the need to account for the origin of all aspects of the world of our experience. Human institutions could not be assumed to be permanent features or divine gifts.

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Indivisible solid sphere model democritus biography

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