DEMOCRITUS
Lecture Notes
Divide class into 7 groups
Explain/describe a hot air balloon or a turtle
As if you were
Thales
Anaximander
Anaximenes
Parmenides
Heraclitus
Empedocles
Anaxagoras
Democritus’s premises:
Nothing can change
Nothing can come from nothing
Nothing is ever lost
How, then,
do we have different varieties of species?
does nature transform before our very eyes?
All life is made of
tiny, invisible blocks, called “atoms”
Atom
means “uncuttable”
Must be
eternal
Immutable
Indivisible
why?
why?
why?
Are these combinations
random? Everything obeys the inevitable laws of
necessity. The natural cause of a thing is inherent in the
thing itself.
Soul atoms
round, smooth. At death, soul atoms disburse, so
consciousness “dies”. Are used to build other souls.
Materialist
No eternal soul. Only matter
Parmenides
Heraclitus
Empedocles
Anaxagoras
Democritus
Nothing changes
Everything changes
Four elements and two forces
DNA (similar to Thales’ “life germs”)
Gathered best of predecessors to form “atomic theory”
What, if any, are the advantages of a mythological perspective?
What, if any, are the advantages of a philosophic perspective?
Which is preferable? Why?