Democritus and the Natural
Philosophers
Greek geeks and what they thought
This is a dead frog. Sometimes it’s a live frog.
Except not when it’s dead. Which it is.
This is a block of ice. Sometimes it’s water.
Except when it’s air—then it’s not water. Except
it is.
This is a baby. One day there wasn’t a baby, but
then some stuff happened and then there was a
baby.
To some ancient Greeks, such natural details
were peculiar and mysterious.
• Why do things die?
• What is matter made of?
• How can life come from
life?
These ancient Greeks were among the earliest
They were primarily concerned with the physical world,
Western philosophers and they focused on the
which is where we get the name “natural philosophers.
nature
of matter
and ourfor
senses.
However,
they laid
the groundwork
several other
philosophical areas of study.
One of the most important distinctions that
these natural philosophers made was a
separation between religion and philosophy.
• The natural
philosophers
wanted to know
how nature worked.
They were not
satisfied with the
explanations
provided by
mythology.
The natural philosophers used two primary
tools to create their theories: Logic and
observation.
• A philosopher
• A philosopher
who relies The natural philosophers
who relies
primarily on logic
used these toolsprimarily
to
on
how things
to devise truthdescribe
is
observation and
nature
known as achanged form, how experimentation
worked,
and
how
the
rationalist.
to devise truth is
universe may have begun.
known as an
empiricist.
One of the first natural philosophers
was Thales.
• Thales believed that all
things come from water.
He observed that crops
grew after it rained, and
earthworms appeared
as well.
• Thales also believed that
“all things are full of
Gods.” We don’t really
know what he meant by
that.
The next philosopher we hear about
was named Anaximander.
• Anaximander believed that our
world was only one of many
that evolve and dissolve in
something called the boundless.
• We don’t really know what he
meant by ‘the boundless,’ but
it’s clear that it is not a
substance that is observable in
the way that Thales believed.
‘The boundless’ contained some
sort of divine property that
water simply couldn’t explain.
• Thales was primarily an
empiricist; Anaximander a
rationalist.
A contemporary of these two
philosophers was Anaximenes.
• Anaximenes heard Thales’
water theory, but wanted to
know where water came
from.
• He believed that water was
pressed air, which he
observed when water fell
from the sky. Fire was also
made of air, as was earth.
• Fire, earth, and water could
therefore lead to life, but air
was the source of everything.
These three philosophers all believed that
one basic substance was the source of all
things.
• One
Instead,
But
there was
Parmenides
still
the problem
philosopher
believed that
of
change.
How
who
tackled
this
everything
was
stuck one
in a thing
does
was
permanent
change
intostate.
Parmenides.
Change was
another?
Parmenides
therefore an did
illusion
created
not believe
that
by
our actually
things
untrustworthy
changed.
senses.
Parmenides used this chain of
logic:
1.
2.
3.
Something must exist. You can’t say “It is
not” without saying “It”. Therefore, it is
something.
“It” is rational; only what can be thought
can exist. “Nothing” cannot be thought
without thinking of something to contrast
it. There is no nothing. There is thus
only “being.”
“Being” is uncreated (“Something cannot
come from nothing”), indestructible,
eternal, and indivisible. Being has no
holes because if Being “is”, there can’t be
any place where Being is not.
Specifically,
laws
of mathmay
and logic
collided
Now,Parmenides’
this the
view
ofstudent
reality
seem
far
But
Zeno
noticed
with common
impossible
ways.
fetched.
After experience
all,with
what
isinmore
obvious
to
certain
problems
what
our senses
told
He’s
described
these
occurrences
in
a
series
of
a person
than
the
world
of
his
senses?
us about the world.
contradictions known as Zeno’s Paradoxes.
However,
any
object’s
motion
actually
consists
Zeno
starts
describing
anstill.
arrow
from a
An object
atby
any
moment
is
Yetshot
it appears
of
series
of moments
wheretowards
the object
still.
bow.
It appears
to be moving
its is
target.
to amove.
Paradox!
point
was
…Zeno’s
and
Another
before
However,
if a
that an infinite
problem
he
can
travel
with
number
tasks
man
isofgoing
our
that
senses
half
must
be is
to
go
from
completed
before
distance,
distance,
he
one
place
to
anyone
can go
which
must
travel
seems
Paradox!
anywhere.
fact,
another,In he
halftrip
fairly
the
the
can half.
never
mustbecause
first
begin
And
obvious.
so on…
there
couldn’t
travel
half
½even
Things
+ ¼be+one
1/8
are
+
first
the distance.
step!out!
spread
1/16…
Zeno’s
most famous
is Achilles
and
the
…but
unfortunately
for
Achilles,
once he reaches
the
position,
Both
Achilles
and
theparadox
tortoise
move
attortoise’s
a constant
the tortoise has moved on. And once Achilles reaches that new
tortoise.
In
this
situation,
Achilles
races
a
turtle,
rate.
However,
before
Achilles
can
catch
the
tortoise,
Paradox!
position, the tortoise has moved on again. Times infinity! Achilles can’t
he first
reach
the
position…
but gives
the
turtle
atortoise’s
100
meter
head start.
pass
the
tortoise!.
Opposing this illusory view of reality
was Heraclitus.
This
“one
force”
• He
also
believed
Heraclitus
The
one
force
that
Heraclitus
that
the
universe
united
these
believed
that
theorized
is an
was
characterized
disparate
change
was
the
example
ofwas
the
by
wet
elements
oneopposites–
constant
in
same
sort
of
and
dry,
hungry
“God.”
To
the
universe.
unifying
laws
that
and full, good
and
Heraclitus,
this
“Everything
physics
that
evil—and
thatIssac
allas
was expressed
flows,”
he said.
Newton
these
had
somestates
sort
of
“You
cannot
step
advanced
several
their
value
in
universal
reason
centuries
later.
into the
that
is ultimately
helping
ussame
perceive
the
change.
riversource
twice.”of
everything.
Heraclitus’ theory of Logos
influenced many.
“The Word also gives
great backrubs!”
• Plato was so taken with this concept
that he based his theory of natural
laws upon it.
• It is also directly related to a doctrine
claimed by Christianity. Both God and
Christ are equated with Logos in the
Gospel of John: “In the beginning was
the Word [Logos], and the Word
[Logos] was with God and the Word
[Logos] was God” (John 1:1); “And the
Word [Logos] was made flesh, and
dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)
Parmenides and Heraclitus disagreed
sharply.
• Heraclitus
thought that
change was
constant and
was thus our senses
were reliable.
right?
• Parmenides
thought that
nothing changed
and thus our
So
who
sense lied to us.
According to Empedocles, both.
Neither.
•• Parmendes
According
to Empedocles,
was
rightto
Empedocles
needed
both
Parmenides
and
in
that
nothing
explain
how change
Heraclitus
mistakenly
therefore
occurred.
changes. had
A
Rose
assumed
there was
only
He
described
two
cannot
become
a
one
element. However,
forces—love
and for
Revolver
(except
Empedocles
believed
there
strife—that
alternately
Slash!).
were
four:
Earth,
Water,
bound
things
together
and them
Fire. was
• Wind,
Butpulled
Heraclitus
or
apart.
same
of
• This
Everything
consists
of these
rightistothe
trust
his sort
universal
constant
four
elements–
whenthat
we
senses.
And
our
we
now
ascribe
to back
die,
we are
separating
senses
tell
us that
gravity,
into
thechange!
constituent
things
Wood
electromagnetism,
and
elements.
burns
strongand
andbecomes
weak
ash,
water
evaporates
nuclear
force.
into air. But how?
One philosopher who liked this idea
was named Anaxagoras.
According to Anaxagoras, the
universe is not unlike a box of
Legos.
• Anaxagoras thought that
nature was built of an
infinite number of tiny
seeds that we cannot see,
and that everything can
be divided into smaller
parts.
• Furthermore, there are
parts of everything in
those fragments. For
instance, if a frog has it’s
leg cut off, there are plans
for the entire frog in the
leg of that frog!
• Be nice to frogs, guys.
Anaxagoras believed the universe
to be rational and intelligent
• There IS a force that pulls things together
and apart. He called it “Nous”. Nous
creates order from seeds.
• There is a distinction between animate
and inanimate in that the living contain
Nous within itself, while the inanimate
world is ordered externally by Nous.
• Nous is qualitatively identical
everywhere, but its abilities are
determined by the nature of the body
that contains it.
• Thus, humans aren’t any smarter than
carrots, but they can do more than
carrots because they have tongues,
opposable thumbs, and legs.
“Yeah, he’s cute, but
I hear he’s real
dumb.”
Democritus of Abdera adopted
Anaxagoras’ idea as his own.
Democritus
agreed
When
things died,
•• Democritus
also
Democritus
believed that
that
transformations
Ofbelieved
course,
that
men
their
dissipate
and
can’tatoms
just happen
and
could
rejoin
other
forms
had
souls
also
that
the
universe
must
some
because ofpeople
their ‘hooks.’
consistof
of special
tiny invisible
made
• Democritus
alsocalled
believed
particles.
He
that there
were certain
“soul
atoms”
and
have
more
these
particles
atoms.
laws of nature that
that
those
atoms
• dictated
To Democritus,
nature
how atoms
(and
thus
allatoms
matter)
could
dissipated
once
soul
consists
of unlimited
behave.
These
“causes
of
variety
of
atoms
that
you
died.
Thus,
no
nature”
meant
that
can be joined together
than
nothing
happened
one
had
an
to
create
different
randomly, but also that
forms.
immortal
there was nosoul.
conscious
others….
design of movement and
transformation.
Democritus believed that all atomic
movement was governed by natural laws.
• To Democritus, there is nothing in
the world but material bodies in
motion.
• There is no freedom, only necessity.
• All behavior, all events, all
phenomenon are explainable based
on analysis of the atomic beings and
the natural laws that affect them.
• A thorough understanding of these
would allow a being to perceive the
future since all of nature is a
deterministic mechanism.
Seriously, guys… I don’t
want to talk about Donnie
Darko.
Two and a half millennium later, where
are we?
•
•
The L.H.C. supercollider began
operating in late 2009. Let’s crash
some crazy %&*^) together!
•
•
Physics has observed the
existence of atoms and a
startling array of subatomic
particles that help explain the
“natural causes” that
Democritus theorized.
In July of 2012, scientists at the
CERN Research Center
announced the discovery of a
particle they believe to be the
Higgs-Boson, a long-theorized
particle whose existence helps
explain the presence of mass in
the universe.
These scientists often operate
with the same mix of rationalism
and empiricism that the natural
philosophers employed.
Their questions– what is dark
matter, why is the universe full
of matter rather than antimatter—differ in substance (but
not in purpose) from those
original Natural Philosophers!
The End!!