Atomism: Democritus And Epicurus Essay -- essays research papers

atomistic surmise Democritus and Epicurus     In the Atomists, we confabulate pluralism taken as far as it could perhaps go.We see Democritus and Epicurus divide all the world, as well as the universe,into dickens categories atoms and empty space. Everything else is merely modelto exist. The atoms are eternal, infinite in size of it and number and they aremoving through the empty space. There is no performance without empty space. BothDemocritus and Epicurus agreed that motion was impossible in a plenum, but it ishere that their theories diverge. In the cause of the motion, we begin to see avariety of opinions.     Both Democritus and Epicurus agreed that the soft world of superstarperception arises from the motion of qualitatively neutral atoms. They bankthat the immense qualitative variety results from the jostling of atoms...asthey collide and bounce apart, and so, constantly form rude(a) groupings (Jones 84).They believe it to be a mechanical litigate occurring completely by chance.Furthermore, although new groupings are constantly universe formed, only the fewthat can live on are considered the right combinations. These are thecombinations we recognize through our senses as being real, although they arenot. However, the way in which this complex motion begins is a source ofcontroversy and disagreement amongst the Atomists.     Democritus assumes that the atoms motion is perpetual. The atoms arenever at rest. He presumes that their nature is to move, thereby avoiding theproblem of explaining the origin of the complex motion of atoms by simplyaffirming that it is in their nature to move so (Jones 85). He believes thatatoms are born along with the whole universe in a vortex. The vortex is not an orthogonal influence, but rather the motion of the atoms themselves. He neveraccounts for the initiation of this motion. He simply states that it is aninherent quality of the atoms themselves.      Epicurus, on the other hand, wanted to find a reasoning behind theinitial movement of the atoms to find the cause of the initial collisionswhich start the creation process of the universe.     Through observation of objects falling down within our limitedperceptual space, Epicurus concluded ... ...ualities? Epicurus ambiguously calls these qualities accompaniments yetnever explains how they can exist outside of reality and still be consideredreal.     Epicurus changed the doctrine of Democritus in many ship canal in an attemptto clarify some of the more questionable postulations. Epicurus theory is notnecessarily superior, but certainly progressive. There is room for talk about ona variety of the Atomists theories. Since they are the first school of thoughtfrom which we have so much written record, there is bound to be divergence ofopinion. The areas I have discussed relate only the area of physics. Epicurusattempts to get back some of the dilemmas Democritus leaves unresolved in ethicaland psychological dilemmas as well.     Of course, linguistic and interpretive constraints play a part in allphilosophical theory of the classical period. Yet in our "modern" world, werely hard on the ideas set forth by these great thinkers. It would be cockamamy to take one concept as superior over some other because the scope of ideasgiven to us by these thinkers is too great a wealth to judge subjectively.