Ancient philosophy: Democritus. Atomism of Democritus and its main provisions briefly

The famous Greek philosopher Democritus accepts the thesis that being is something simple, meaning by it the indivisible - the atom ("atom" in Greek means "uncut", "uncut"). He gives a materialistic interpretation of this concept, thinking of the atom as the smallest, indivisible physical particle. Democritus allows for an innumerable number of such atoms, thereby rejecting the assertion that existence is one. Atoms, according to Democritus, are separated by emptiness; emptiness is non-being and as such is unknowable: rejecting Parmenides' claim that being is not plural.

Democritus, along with Leucippus, is considered one of the founders of ancient Greek atomism. At first glance, the doctrine of atomism is extremely simple. The beginning of all things is indivisible particles-atoms and emptiness. Nothing arises from a non-existent and is not destroyed into a non-existent, but the emergence of things is a union of atoms, and destruction is a disintegration into parts, ultimately into atoms. Everything arises on some basis and out of necessity; the cause of its occurrence is a whirlwind, which is called necessity. We feel because “videos” get into us, separated from things. The soul is a collection of special atoms. The ultimate goal of a person is mental well-being, in which the soul is in peace and balance, not embarrassed by fear, superstition, or any other passion.

All that exists is atoms and emptiness. In the infinite emptiness-space, bodies infinite in number and shape move, combining with each other; the latter differ from each other in shape, order, rotation. The question arises - what makes us assert that there are some indivisible bodies, that matter is indivisible indefinitely? Leucippus and Democritus were attentive listeners of Zeno and neither the strengths nor the weaknesses of his reasoning escaped them, in particular, the content of the aporia against multitude: if you divide a body into an infinite number of parts, then either these parts will have no size - and then their sum, those. the original body will turn into nothing, or they will have magnitude - but then their sum will be infinitely large. But both are absurd. However, aporia does not arise if we assume the existence of a limit of divisibility - a further indivisible atom. Atoms are quite small, but the simplest observation shows that matter is really divisible into very small particles, not even visible to the eye. These are the specks of dust visible in a ray of light falling into a dark room. “Democritus did not say that these specks of dust, visible through the window, raised (by the wind) (are those particles) of which fire or the soul consists, or that in general these specks of dust are atoms, but he said: “These specks of dust exist in the air, but since they are not noticeable due to their too small size, it seems that they do not exist, and only the rays of the sun, penetrating through the window, reveal that they exist. In the same way, there are indivisible bodies that are small and indivisible because their size is too small" (Leucippus).

This solves two problems at once. The multiplicity of existence no longer leads to contradictions: any body can be divided into a finite set of particles that have size, and then again composed of them. And the “being” of the Eleatics is embodied in the atom: it is one, indivisible, unchangeable, indestructible, meeting all the requirements of Parmenides’ “being”. There are just a lot of atoms. And in order for them to exist as a multitude, a void is necessary, which would separate one atom from another and make it possible for the atoms to move - movement. Emptiness is no longer the “non-existent” of the Eleatics, but existing nothingness.

Democritus, however, agrees with the Eleatics that only being is knowable. It is also characteristic that Democritus distinguishes between the world of atoms - as true and therefore cognizable only by reason - and the world of sensory things, which are only external appearances, the essence of which is atoms, their properties and movements. Atoms cannot be seen, they can only be thought. Here, as we see, the opposition between “knowledge” and “opinion” also remains. The atoms of Democritus vary in shape and size; moving in emptiness, they connect (“link”) with each other due to differences in shape: Democritus has atoms that are round, pyramidal, curved, pointed, even “with hooks.” This is how bodies that are accessible to our perception are formed from them.

Democritus proposed a thoughtful version of the mechanistic explanation of the world: for him, the whole is the sum of its parts, and the random movement of atoms, their random collisions are the cause of all things. In atomism, the position of the Eleatics about the immobility of being is rejected, since this position does not make it possible to explain the movement and change that occurs in the sensory world. In an effort to find the cause of movement, Democritus “splits” the single being of Parmenides into many separate “beings” - atoms, which he interprets materialistically.

The proof of the existence of emptiness by Democritus and the atomists in general boils down to the fact that, firstly, without emptiness movement would not be possible, since something filled cannot absorb something else into itself; secondly, its existence is indicated by the presence of processes such as compaction and condensation, which are possible only if there are empty spaces between bodies and their parts. Emptiness is absolutely homogeneous and can exist both containing bodies and without them. Moreover, it exists both outside bodies, containing them within itself, separating them from each other, and inside complex bodies, separating their parts from each other. Only atoms do not contain emptiness, which explains their absolute density - there is nowhere to insert a blade to cut an atom or split it.

As for the number of atoms in the world, Democritus recognizes it as infinite. And therefore, emptiness must also be infinite, because finite space cannot contain an infinite number of atoms and an infinite number of worlds consisting of them. It is difficult to say what is the first assumption here - the infinity of the number of atoms or the infinity of emptiness. Both are based on the argument that both the number of atoms and the size of the void are “no more such than another.” This argument also extends to the number of forms of atoms, which, according to Democritus, is also infinite.

The infinity of the world in space entails eternity in time and infinity (beginninglessness) of movement. Aristotle reports that Democritus argued: “the eternal and infinite has no beginning, but the cause is the beginning, the eternal is limitless, therefore asking what is the cause of any of these things, according to Democritus, is the same as looking for the beginning of infinity.” Thus, atomism recognizes the eternity of the world in time, infinity in space, the infinity of the number of atoms and the worlds made up of them.

INTRODUCTION

Democritus was born around 470-469 BC, died in the 4th century. BC. He was a younger contemporary of Anaxagoras and an older contemporary of Socrates. Democritus was an encyclopedist, the largest representative of the atomistic trend in philosophy. He was originally from the city of Abdera, a Greek colony on the Thracian coast. Having received an inheritance, he went on a journey and visited a number of countries (Egypt, Babylon, India). Where he expanded his knowledge about nature and man. Upon returning, he was condemned for squandered wealth (a lawsuit was brought against him for squandered inheritance). At the trial, Democritus read his essay “Mirostroy” to the judges, and the judges recognized that in exchange for monetary wealth, he had accumulated wisdom and knowledge, was acquitted in court and was even rewarded with money.

Democritus wrote about seventy works, but not a single one has reached us in complete form. There are fragments from them that give an idea of his teaching.

The basis of Democritus’s philosophical reflections is the idea of atomism, which in its most general form had already appeared in ancient Eastern culture and which, as historians believe, was adopted by Democritus from his teacher Leucippus. But he developed it further, formalizing it into a holistic concept.

Democritus believed that there were an infinite number of worlds; Some worlds arise, others perish. They all consist of many atoms and emptiness. Emptiness is between worlds and atoms. The atoms themselves are indivisible and devoid of emptiness. In addition to the property of indivisibility, atoms are unchangeable and do not have any movement within themselves; they are eternal, are not destroyed and do not appear again. The number of atoms in the world is infinite. They differ from each other in four ways:

1) in form;

2) in size;

3) in order;

4) by position.

Thus, A differs from P in shape, AP from RA in order, and b from P in position. The size of atoms is also different; on Earth they are small, so much so that the senses are not able to perceive them. These are the specks of dust present in a room, usually invisible, but noticeable in a beam of light shining into a dark room. Their invisibility under normal conditions gives reason to believe that they do not exist, but in fact they do; so are atoms. Atoms come in many different shapes (A and P, for example); they can be spherical, angular, concave, convex, hook-shaped, anchor-shaped, etc. Different things and worlds are formed from different atoms and their different numbers through interconnection. If they were at rest, then explaining the diversity of things would be impossible. They, as independent elements, are characterized by movement. While in motion, atoms collide with each other, changing the direction of movement; one type of movement is a vortex. Self-motion is beginningless and will have no end.

Democritus was the first in ancient Greek philosophy to introduce the concept of cause into scientific circulation. He denies chance in the sense of causelessness.

Democritus and his atomic theory

The famous Greek philosopher Democritus accepts the thesis that being is something simple, meaning by it the indivisible - the atom ("atom" in Greek means "uncut", "uncut"). He gives a materialistic interpretation of this concept, thinking of the atom as the smallest physical particle that is not further divisible. Democritus allows for an innumerable number of such atoms, thereby rejecting the assertion that existence is one. Atoms, according to Democritus, are separated by emptiness; emptiness is non-being and as such is unknowable: rejecting Parmenides' claim that being is not plural.

All that exists is atoms and emptiness. In the infinite emptiness-space, bodies infinite in number and shape move, combining with each other; the latter differ from each other in shape, order, rotation. Leucippus and Democritus were attentive listeners of Zeno and neither the strengths nor the weaknesses of his reasoning escaped them, in particular, the content of the aporia against multitude: if you divide a body into an infinite number of parts, then either these parts will have no size - and then their sum, those. the original body will turn into nothing, or they will have magnitude - but then their sum will be infinitely large. But both are absurd. However, aporia does not arise if we assume the existence of a limit of divisibility - a further indivisible atom. Atoms are quite small, but the simplest observation shows that matter is really divisible into very small particles, not even visible to the eye. These are the specks of dust visible in a ray of light falling into a dark room. “Democritus did not say that these specks of dust, visible through the window, raised (by the wind) (are those particles) of which fire or the soul consists, or that in general these specks of dust are atoms, but he said: “These specks of dust exist in the air, but since they are not noticeable due to their too small size, it seems that they do not exist, and only the rays of the sun, penetrating through the window, reveal that they exist. In the same way, there are indivisible bodies that are small and indivisible because their size is too small" (Leucippus).

Democritus also takes a consistently materialist position on the question of the nature of the soul and knowledge. It is known that a person’s mental activity is often explained by the presence in his body of a specific substance or force - the “soul”.

In inorganic nature, everything is not done according to goals and in this sense is accidental, but the student can have both goals and means. Thus, Democritus’s view of the nature of the soul is strictly causal, deterministic.

He preached a consistent materialist position in his doctrine of the nature of the soul and knowledge. “The soul, according to Democritus, consists of spherical atoms, that is, it is like fire.”

The atoms of the soul have the ability to sense. Sensory qualities are subjective (taste, color...) from here, he concluded that sensory knowledge is unreliable (Honey is bitter for a person with jaundice and sweet for a healthy person).

But at the same time, he believed that without “dark” knowledge obtained from sensations there could be no knowledge. “Having formulated an important guess about the relationship between the sensory and the rational, Democritus was not yet able to give a description of the mechanism of transition from one to the other. He apparently did not know the logical forms and operations: judgment, concept, inference, generalization, abstraction.” The loss of the "Canon", his logical work, does not allow us to reveal his role in this.

It was more difficult to explain sensation and thinking in a similar way. The atomistic explanation of sensations is based on the idea that the atoms of the soul have the capacity for sensations. At that time, Democritus accepts only atoms and emptiness as the only existing things, while sensory qualities, such as, for example, the “opposites” of the Ionians (dry - wet, warm and cold), exist only “in opinion”. In other words, sensory qualities - taste, warmth, etc. - are subjective, having, however, an objective basis in the shape, order and arrangement of atoms. The ability to perceive is rooted in the special properties of the atoms of the soul. From here the conclusion is drawn about the unreliability of sensory knowledge, which is not capable of giving the truth - after all, atoms and emptiness are inaccessible to the senses.

The perception of external objects requires, from this point of view, direct contacts of the perceived with the sense organ. And if hearing, touch, and taste are understandable, then what about vision at a distance?

Democritus avoids difficulties by creating the theory of "outflows". According to this theory, the thinnest shells, like copies, are separated from objects. Democritus calls them “images” or “likenesses,” “images.” When they enter the eye, they evoke the idea of an object.

Democritus' views on man, society, morality and religion are interesting. He intuitively believed that the first of people led a disordered life. When they learned to make fire, they gradually began to develop various arts. He expressed the version that art originated through imitation (We learned from a spider to weave, from a swallow to build houses, etc.), that laws are created by people. He wrote about bad and good people. “Bad people make oaths to the gods when they find themselves in a hopeless situation. When they get rid of it, they still don’t keep their oaths.”

Democritus rejected divine providence, the afterlife, and posthumous reward for earthly deeds. The ethics of Democritus is permeated with the ideas of humanism. “Democritus’s hedonism is not only about pleasures, since the highest good is a blissful state of mind and the measure is in pleasures.”

His moral aphorisms have come down to us in the form of separate sayings. For example, “he is rich who is poor in desires,” “goodness does not lie in not doing injustice, but in not even wanting it,” etc.

He considered the ideal of government to be a democratic state: when it is prosperous, everyone is prosperous; when it perishes, everyone perishes.

Leucippus and Democritus brilliantly laid the foundation for the doctrine of the infinity of worlds. They continued to develop Anaxagoras's guess about the purely physical origin and the purely physical, and not divine, nature of the luminaries and all phenomena observed in the firmament.

In general, it should be noted that the philosophy of Democritus is an encyclopedic science based on the atomistic hypothesis.

The question of the relationship between mathematics and philosophy was first asked quite a long time ago. Aristotle, Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci - many great minds of mankind dealt with this issue and achieved outstanding results. This is not surprising: after all, the basis for the interaction of philosophy with any of the sciences is the need to use the apparatus of philosophy to conduct research in this area; Mathematics, undoubtedly, most of all among the exact sciences, lends itself to philosophical analysis (due to its abstractness). Along with this, the progressive mathematization of science has an active impact on philosophical thinking.

The joint path of mathematics and philosophy began in Ancient Greece around the 6th century BC.

Democritus was, according to Marx, “the first encyclopedic mind among the Greeks.” Diogenes Laertius (3rd century AD) names 70 of his works, which covered issues of philosophy, logic, mathematics, cosmology, physics, biology, social life, psychology, ethics, pedagogy, philology, art, technology and others. Aristotle wrote about him: “In general, except for superficial research, no one has established anything, with the exception of Democritus. As for him, one gets the impression that he has foreseen everything, and in the method of calculations he compares favorably with others.”

The introductory part of Democritus’s scientific system was the “canon,” in which the principles of atomistic philosophy were formulated and justified. Then came physics, as the science of various manifestations of existence, and ethics. The canon was included in physics as the initial section, while ethics was built as a product of physics. In the philosophy of Democritus, first of all, a distinction is established between “truly existing” and that which exists only in “general opinion”. Only atoms and emptiness were considered truly existing. As a truly existing thing, emptiness (non-existence) is the same reality as atoms (being). The “Great Emptiness” is limitless and contains everything that exists, there is no top, no bottom, no edge, no center, it makes matter discontinuous and its movement possible. Being is formed by countless tiny qualitatively homogeneous first bodies, differing from each other in external forms, size, position and order; they are further indivisible due to absolute hardness and the absence of emptiness in them and “indivisible in size.” Atoms themselves are characterized by incessant movement, the diversity of which is determined by the infinite variety of forms of atoms. The movement of atoms is eternal and ultimately causes all changes in the world.

The task of scientific knowledge, according to Democritus, is to reduce observed phenomena to the realm of “true existence” and give them an explanation based on the general principles of atomism. This can be achieved through the joint activity of the senses and the mind. Marx formulated the epistemological position of Democritus as follows: “Democritus not only did not withdraw from the world, but, on the contrary, was an empirical naturalist.” The content of the initial philosophical principles and epistemological guidelines determined the main features of the scientific method of Democritus:

a) in knowledge, proceed from the individual;

b) any object and phenomenon can be decomposed to the simplest elements (synthesis) and explainable based on them (analysis);

c) distinguish between existence “according to truth” and “according to opinion”;

d) the phenomena of reality are individual fragments of the ordered cosmos, which arose and functions as a result of the actions of purely mechanical causality.

Mathematics should rightfully be considered by Democritus the first section of physics proper and follow directly after the canon. In fact, atoms are qualitatively homogeneous and their primary properties are quantitative. However, it would be wrong to interpret the teachings of Democritus as a type of Pythagoreanism, since Democritus, although he preserves the idea of dominance in the world of mathematical law, criticizes the a priori mathematical constructions of the Pythagoreans, believing that number should not act as a legislator of nature, but rather be extracted from it. Mathematical regularity is revealed by Democritus from the phenomena of reality, and in this sense he anticipates the ideas of mathematical natural science. The initial principles of material existence appear in Democritus to a large extent as mathematical objects, and in accordance with this, mathematics is given a prominent place in the system of worldview as the science of the primary properties of things. However, the inclusion of mathematics in the basis of the worldview system required its restructuring, bringing mathematics into conformity with the original philosophical principles, with logic, epistemology, and the methodology of scientific research. The concept of mathematics created in this way, called the concept of mathematical atomism, turned out to be significantly different from the previous ones.

For Democritus, all mathematical objects (bodies, planes, lines, points) appear in certain material images. There are no ideal planes, lines, or points in his teaching. The main procedure of mathematical atomism is the decomposition of geometric bodies into the thinnest leaves (planes), planes into the thinnest threads (lines), and lines into the smallest grains (atoms). Each atom has a small but non-zero magnitude and is further indivisible. Now the length of a line is defined as the sum of the indivisible particles it contains. The question of the relationship between lines on a plane and planes in a body is solved in a similar way. The number of atoms in a finite volume of space is not infinite, although it is so large that it is inaccessible to the senses. So, the main difference between the teachings of Democritus and those discussed earlier is his denial of infinite divisibility. In this way, he solves the problem of the legitimacy of the theoretical constructions of mathematics, without reducing them to sensory images, as Protagoras did. Thus, to Protagoras’s reasoning about the tangency of a circle and a straight line, Democritus could answer that the feelings, which are Protagoras’ starting criterion, show him that the more accurate the drawing, the smaller the area of contact; in reality, this area is so small that it does not lend itself to sensory analysis, but belongs to the realm of true knowledge.

Guided by the principles of mathematical atomism, Democritus conducts a number of specific mathematical studies and achieves outstanding results (for example, the theory of mathematical perspective and projection). In addition, according to Archimedes, he played an important role in Eudoxus’s proof of theorems on the volume of a cone and a pyramid. It is impossible to say with certainty whether he used infinitesimal analysis methods to solve this problem. A.O. Makovelsky writes: “Democritus embarked on the path followed by Archimedes and Cavalieri. However, having come close to the concept of the infinitely small, Democritus did not take the last decisive step. It does not allow an unlimited increase in the number of terms that form a given volume in their sum. It accepts only an extremely large number of these terms, which cannot be counted due to its enormity.”

An outstanding achievement of Democritus in mathematics was also his idea of building theoretical mathematics as a system. In its embryonic form, it represents the idea of the axiomatic construction of mathematics, which was then developed methodologically by Plato and received a logically developed position in Aristotle.

Characteristic features of ancient atomism

A specific feature of the teachings of atomists is, firstly, that philosophy, as Democritus understands it, must explain the phenomena of the physical world. In this regard, Democritus can easily be classified as a pre-Socratic “physicist.”

Secondly, the very explanation of the physical world is understood by atomists as an indication of the mechanical causes of all possible changes in nature. All changes ultimately have as their cause the movement of atoms, their connection and separation, and the sensory qualities of empirical objects (heat and cold, smoothness and roughness, color, smell, etc.) are explained only by the shape, order and position of the atoms .

Thirdly, the explanatory principle (atoms and emptiness) and the object to be explained (the empirical world) are essentially separated: atoms are something that cannot be seen, they can only be thought. True, as Democritus explains, they are invisible “because of their smallness,” but, as we know, Democritus developed a very detailed doctrine that makes it possible to fundamentally separate the empirical world (as the world of subjective perception) and the truly existing world (of objective knowledge).

Fourthly, a specific feature of atomism is the clarity of the explanatory model. Although what really happens (the movement of atoms in emptiness) differs from our subjective “opinion”, i.e. what we perceive with the help of our senses, but despite this, the atoms themselves, their shape, order, their movement (“float” in the void), their connections are not only thought of by us, but also presented quite clearly. We are able to see, as it were, both worlds at the same time: the “qualitative” world of sensory experience, sounding, colored, etc., and the world of a moving multitude of atoms - it is no coincidence that atomists referred to the “movement of dust particles in a beam of light” as a visual image of the movement of atoms .

This visual nature of the atomistic explanatory hypothesis turned out to be one of its important advantages, which forced many scientists (and not only in ancient times, but also in modern times) to turn to atomism in search of a visual model to explain physical phenomena.

Fifth, an important feature of the atomists' explanatory theory is that their theoretical model is directly related to the empirical phenomena that it is intended to explain. There are no intermediate links between the theoretical and empirical levels.

A characteristic feature of ancient atomism as a method of “assembling a whole from parts” is that the whole is not thought of as something truly unified, having its own special specificity, irreducible to the specificity of its constituent elements. It is thought of as a composite, and not as a whole in the proper sense of the word. According to Democritus, clusters (clusters) of atoms only seem to be certain unities, wholes (things) to our subjective perception; objectively, they remain purely mechanical connections, because according to Democritus, “it is completely absurd that two or even more (things) should ever become one (thing).” Thus, all phenomena of the empirical world, according to Democritus, are only aggregates, compounds of atoms.

CONCLUSION

Democritus made a great contribution both to the further development of philosophical thought and to science, in particular to the explanation of physical phenomena.

Speaking about his teaching, about knowledge, it is necessary to note, first of all, that he laid the foundations for the concept of secondary qualities, which is still of great importance for clarifying the essence of the world order and human cognitive abilities.

The highest good - according to Democritus - is bliss, which consists of peace and joy of the soul and can be achieved through curbing one’s desires and a moderate lifestyle.

Problems of ethics, especially questions about justice, honesty, and human dignity, also occupy a large place in the philosophical teachings of Democritus. His statements are well known: “it is not physical strength or money that makes people happy,” but truthfulness and multifaceted wisdom”; “Just as the worst disease among wounds is cancer, so when it comes to having money, the worst thing is the desire to constantly add to it.” He was a supporter of the democratic structure of public life and argued that “it is better to be poor in a democratic state than to live in wealth under a monarchy.”

Thus, Democritus was the first in ancient Greek philosophy to introduce an explicitly formulated concept of cause into scientific circulation and develop a system of materialistic determinism.

It is difficult to say whether oscillatory motion, according to Democritus, is an inherent property of atoms, or whether it is generated by their collisions. In any case, it is clear that Democritus does not turn for the purpose of explanation to the rational principle that regulates movement. This is why critics accuse the founder of atomism of abusing chance and failing to explain how lawfulness and necessity emerge from disordered motion. But Democritus considers the initial movement not disorderly, but from the very beginning subordinate to a certain pattern. This is the pattern of connecting like with like.

Democritus needs atoms, emptiness and motion to explain world processes. Moving atoms gather into a “vortex”; spreading over individual places in the void, they form a separate world, limited by its own “sky”. The emergence of the world and all things in it occurs as a result of the union of atoms, while destruction comes down to separation and disintegration into component parts.

Democritus introduced into ethics the initial development of such concepts as conscience, i.e. the requirement to be ashamed of one's own shameful actions, duty and justice.

The ethics of Democritus does not represent a single, logically coherent system. His moral reasons have come down to us in the form of separate aphorisms. There is some reason to think that this is the result of a certain processing of those works of the philosopher where ethics was presented in a systematic form. However, the principles of Democtritus ethics make it possible to shed additional light on the political teachings of the thinker.

The ethical concept of Democritus retains that basic characteristic that is inherent in all ancient philosophy, contemplation. Eliminating everything that interferes with a blissful state of spirit, identifying the ideal of moral life, Democritus does not see in philosophy a means of transforming the existing society - his task does not go beyond the scope of his explanation.

Related information.

Democritus, whose atomism and biography we will consider, is a famous Greek philosopher from antiquity. The years of his life are 460-371 BC. e. It was he who was the first to understand that the world has no end and that it is a collection of atoms - the smallest particles that make up every grain of sand on our planet and every star in the sky.

Homeland of Democritus, personal qualities of the philosopher

Democritus was born in Thrace, in the ancient Greek city of Abdera. This place in Greece was considered not just a remote province, but even a city of fools. However, the common noun "abderit", translated meaning "fool", "simpleton", "simpleton", became the proper name of one of the outstanding minds of antiquity, Democritus. From numerous legends and testimonies we learn that Abderit was a “laughing philosopher.”

Everything that was done seriously seemed frivolous to him. The surviving stories about him indicate that Democritus was characterized by deep worldly wisdom, extensive knowledge, and observation.

Getting to know the achievements of philosophers

Damasippus, his father, was one of the richest citizens. Therefore, Democritus received a good education for his time. The philosopher was the Persian sages who lived in Abdera when Democritus was there. However, the real teacher of Democritus is Leucippus, the head of the local philosophical school. It was thanks to him that Democritus became acquainted with the works of Greek philosophers. His atomism is based on a careful study of the achievements of his predecessors. His education was not limited to studying the works of Greek philosophers. Democritus, whose atomism will be discussed below, wanted to get acquainted with the achievements of world thought, so he went on a trip.

First voyage of Democritus

Some time later his father died. He left a significant inheritance to his son, and Democritus decided to go on a journey. The philosopher went to Babylon, and then to Egypt. Everywhere he met with thinkers, and also became acquainted with Babylonian magicians and Egyptian priests. It follows from this that his worldview was formed under the influence of many cultures of both the ancient and new worlds. Democritus took some elements from each of them and created his own philosophical system.

Teaching, major essays

Returning to Abdera, he began teaching philosophy and also creating his own works. later compiled a catalog of the works of Democritus. It includes the titles of more than 70 works. Among them, the main place is occupied by the following works: “On Logic, or Measurement”, “Small Diakosmos”, “Great Diakosmos”. The breadth of interests of this philosopher is simply amazing. There was no area of knowledge that he would ignore.

The philosopher Democritus, as is known, enjoyed great fame in his city during his lifetime. In gratitude for his services, the people of Abdera erected a bronze statue of him. In addition, it was said that he was one of the most famous speakers of his time. It is known that Democritus studied philology and created a manual on eloquence.

Second trip

After some time, he decided to make another trip, this time to Athens. At that time, the most famous philosophers of Greece worked here. Diogenes said that Democritus met with Socrates and Anaxagoras. However, they did not share his views. After all, Democritus categorically denied the existence of gods. His atomism is completely inconsistent with deities in the generally accepted sense.

"Great Diacosmos"

Returning to his hometown, the philosopher created the work “The Great Diacosmos”. This work sets out the concept of the structure of the world. Democritus believed that all objects consist of atoms, the smallest particles. While there were few of them, they moved freely. Gradually, the atoms began to attract each other, like birds gathering in flocks - cranes with cranes, doves with doves. This is how the Earth appeared.

Atomism of Democritus: basic provisions

Democritus distinguished two types of properties of phenomena. Some are “things in themselves” - image, size, hardness, movement, mass. Other properties of phenomena are associated with various human senses - smell, sound, brightness, color. According to the philosopher, the movements of atoms can explain everything that happens in our world. The atomism of Democritus is built on this statement. Let's briefly talk about the philosopher's main ideas that follow from this thought.

Democritus believed that atoms are in constant motion, constantly separating and connecting them. The process of separation and connection leads to the disappearance and appearance of individual objects. As a result of their interaction, all the diversity of existing things is obtained. The motionless earth is the center of the universe. It is shaped like a flat cylinder surrounded by air. Various celestial bodies move in this air. The philosopher considered these bodies to be masses of matter that are in a heated state and are carried upward in a rapid circular motion. They consist of matter similar to that on earth. All parts of the universe are permeated with atoms of fire. They are smooth, round and very small. These atoms perform an important role - they bring the universe to life. There are especially many of them in humans.

Of course, we have described Democritus' atomism briefly. We can talk about him for a long time, but we need to talk about the rest of the achievements of this philosopher.

Man in the works of Democritus

It should be noted that it is man who is the main subject of research by the ancient Greek philosopher. He argued that the structure of our body is very expedient. The seat of thinking is the brain, the seat of passions is the heart. However, the body, according to Democritus, only the Philosopher considered the most important duty of every person to take care of his mental development.

Democritus argued that the changing world of phenomena is a ghostly world. The study of its phenomena cannot lead people to true knowledge. Democritus, recognizing the sensory world as illusory, believed, like Heraclitus, that a person should maintain peace of mind, no matter what the circumstances. Anyone who can distinguish the essential from the accidental, the genuine from the illusory, seeks happiness not in sensual pleasures, but, first of all, in giving the correct course to his spiritual life.

According to Democritus, the purpose of our existence is happiness. However, it does not lie in pleasures and external benefits, but in constant peace of mind, in contentment. This is achieved by purity of deeds and thoughts, abstinence, and mental education. According to Democritus, the happiness of each of us depends on how he behaves. The gods give us only good, only through our own recklessness does man turn it into bad. The application of these thoughts to matters of private and public life forms the basis of the moral philosophy of Democritus.

Divine powers in the teachings of Democritus

Naturally, the gods had no place in the world as this thinker imagined it. Deomkrit's atomism denies the possibility of their existence. The philosopher believed that people themselves invented them, that they are embodiments of human properties and natural phenomena. Zeus, for example, was identified by Democritus with the Sun, and Athena, as he believed, was the personification of reason.

According to his teaching, divine powers are the powers of the human mind and nature. And deities created by religion, or ghosts who personify people’s ideas about the forces of nature, or spirits (“demons”) are mortal beings.

Mathematical works

This philosopher, as evidenced by ancient sources, wrote many mathematical works. Unfortunately, only a few fragments have survived to this day. They contain formulas for the volume of a number of figures, for example, pyramids and cones, derived by him.

Social problems considered by Democritus

Democritus also thought a lot about social problems. Both the philosophy of atomism, briefly outlined above, and his other ideas were subsequently adopted by many thinkers. For example, the best form of state structure, according to this philosopher, is the state-polis. Democritus saw the goal of human life in achieving euthymia - a special state in which people do not experience passions and are not afraid of anything.

Diverse interests of Democritus

In the consistency of his conclusions, the insight of his mind, and the vastness of his knowledge, Democritus surpassed almost all philosophers, both previous and his contemporaries. His activities were very versatile. He created treatises on natural science, mathematics, aesthetics, natural sciences, technical arts, and grammar.

Influence on other thinkers

Democritus and the philosophy of atomism in particular greatly influenced the development of natural science. We have only vague information about this influence, since many of his works were lost. However, it can be considered that as a naturalist, Democritus was the greatest of Aristotle's predecessors. The latter owed him a lot and spoke of his work with deep respect.

As we have already said, many of the thinker’s works were subsequently lost; we know about them only from the works of other philosophers who shared or challenged his views. It is known that the ancient atomism of Democritus and the views of this philosopher greatly influenced Titus Lucretius Cara. In addition, Leibniz and Galileo Galilei, who are considered the founders of the new concept of earthly structure, relied on his works. Moreover, the creator of atomic physics, Niels Bohr, once noted that the structure of the atom, proposed by him, follows entirely from the works of the ancient philosopher. The theory of atomism of Democritus, thus, far outlived its creator.

Founder - Leucippus. Ancient atomism arose as a response to Zeno's aporia. Atomists introduced discreteness. The idea of discreteness permeates the entire worldview of atomists. The “nothing” of atomists is empty space and is not non-existence; specific properties are attributed to it; non-existence cannot have properties. There is nothing in the world but atoms and emptiness. Atoms move in empty space. Indivisible, unmeasurable segments (there is nothing to measure them with) - “amer”. Emptiness and atoms are organized with the help of amers. "Atom" is indivisible. Atoms are indivisible, since there is no emptiness inside them, everything is filled. The atom is the Parmenidean world, motionless within itself. Atomists used the ideas of the Ionians - all atoms consist of a solid primary substance, similar to gold. For bodies to exist, it was necessary to introduce the interaction of atoms. In the teachings of Democritus there are two possibilities: a bound state (using loops and hooks) and collisions. Any body can decay and will definitely decay, atoms are eternal.

Atoms can be tiny, or they can reach the size of the Earth. An example of a small atom is a speck of dust in a sunbeam, so they are not visible, but in the light of the sun they are visible.

An important point in the concept of Democritus is that the interactions of atoms are in the nature of unambiguous predetermination - this idea was dominant before the creation of quantum mechanics. The concept of "law" implied predestination. Movement - renovation - the disappearance of an atom at one end of an indivisible segment and its appearance at the other. All speeds are the same: the macroscopic speed depends on how long the thing rests at the ends of the indivisible segments. Democritus believes that individual organs are formed through the interaction of atoms. Some organs turned out to be harmonious and survived, while others died out. The most harmonious creature is man. A characteristic feature of a person is the presence of a soul (for the Pythagoreans, the soul is an eternal beginning). For Democritus, the soul consists of small, smooth, round atoms, similar to the atoms of fire. After death the soul disintegrates. Eidos - atomic copies. Each body separates eidos from itself (it must be borne in mind that “eidos” now has different meanings among different authors). Eidos enter the human body, become part of the body - this is how a feeling arises. As the eidos moves away from an object, it weakens, distant objects seem smaller. Smooth atoms give a pleasant taste and smell, hooked atoms give an unpleasant taste, i.e. taste and smell are determined by the shape of the atoms.

Epicurus claims that the predestined world of Democritus is worse than any hell (more precisely, Hades) - it is dull and joyless. Epicurus's idea: atoms, when moving in emptiness, can experience random deviations from their movement - clinamenes. At their expense, free behavior is possible. Atomism for Epicurus is not an end in itself, but a means. Epicurus in the 3rd era - the era of the decline of ancient philosophy, goals become less global. He believed that philosophy should make a person happy - free him from unreasonable fear of the gods through atomism.

Epicurus develops ethics - the science of human behavior. The ethics of Epicurus are strikingly different from Epicureanism. Epicureanism reads that the goal is for a person to obtain pleasure (it would be more correct to say hedonism).

Epicurus divides pleasures into sensual and intellectual. And the first ones - condemns, because... there is always a price to pay for them (overeating, overdrinking, etc.) The ethics of Epicurus are close to the ethics of the Stoics.

Colleagues of the thinker Democritus gravitated more towards a certain current of philosophical thought, occasionally being distracted by related theories. The life attitude of the Abdera philosopher was completely opposite - the sage tried to understand many mysterious phenomena, expressed significant opinions about opposing disciplines, and was interested in a wide range of sciences. Therefore, the philosophy of Democritus represents a valuable contribution to the development of ancient Greek society and is the basis for subsequent world intellectual concepts.

Life path of a sage

Speaking about the biography of ancient philosophers, it should be remembered that reliable facts about their lives that have survived to our time are practically reduced to zero. We are talking about thousands of years of ancient history, when there were no ultra-modern devices capable of storing important information (which, moreover, was not such at that time). We can draw conclusions based on tales, retellings, legends that to some extent interpret reality. The biography of Democritus is no exception.

Ancient manuscripts claim that the ancient Greek philosopher was born in 460 BC. on the east coast of Greece (the city of Abdera). His family was rich, since most of his life the thinker was busy traveling and thinking, which required considerable expenses. He visited many countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. I saw the ways of different peoples. He made philosophical conclusions from careful observations. Democritus could simply burst into laughter for no apparent reason, for which he was mistaken for a madman. Once, for such tricks, he was even taken to the famous physician Hippocrates. But the doctor confirmed the patient’s complete emotional and physical health, and also noted the exceptionality of his mind. It’s just that the everyday bustle of the townspeople seemed funny to the sage, so he was nicknamed the “laughing philosopher.”

Ultimately, the family's fortune was squandered, which in ancient Greece was punishable by legal proceedings. The thinker appeared in court, made an acquittal speech and was pardoned; the judge considered that his father’s money had not been spent in vain.

Democritus lived a respectable life and died at 104 years old.

Atomistic materialism through the eyes of Democritus

Democritus' predecessor Leucippus was not very well known in the scientific community, but he put forward the theory of the "atom", which was later developed by the Abdera philosopher. It became his most significant work. The essence of the teaching comes down to the study of the smallest indivisible particle, which has a unique natural property - movement. The philosopher Democritus considered atoms as infinity. The thinker, being one of the first materialists, believed: thanks to the chaotic movement of atoms, the variety of shapes and sizes, bodies are combined. This is where Democritus' atomistic materialism comes from.

The scientist assumed the presence of natural interatomic magnetism: “The atom is indivisible, integral. Everything that does not have emptiness inside itself has at least a small amount of emptiness outside. From the above, they conclude that the atoms still slightly repel each other, and at the same time they are attracted. This is a materialistic paradox."

According to the expression of a materialistic sage, atoms are “what”, vacuum “nothing”. It follows from this that objects, bodies, sensations have no color, taste, smell, this is just a consequence of a diverse combination of atoms.

The principle of lack of sufficient reason - isonomy

Democritus in his atomistic teaching relied on the methodological principle of isonomy, that is, the absence of a sufficient basis. In more detail, the formulation boils down to the following - any possible phenomenon has already happened or will someday exist, because there is no logical proof that any phenomenon existed in an established form and not in any other. The following conclusion follows from Democratic atomism: if a specific body has the ability to exist in various forms, these forms are real. Democritus's isonomy suggests:

Atoms come in incredibly different sizes and shapes;
Each cosmic point of vacuum has equal rights in relation to the other;
The cosmic movement of atoms has a versatile direction and speed.

The last rule of isonomy means that movement is an independent inexplicable phenomenon, only its changes are subject to explanation.

Cosmology of the "laughing philosopher"

Democritus called space the “Great Void.” According to the scientist’s theory, the primordial chaos gave birth to a vortex in the great void. The result of the vortex was the asymmetry of the Universe, subsequently the appearance of a center and outskirts. Heavy bodies, displacing light ones, accumulate in the middle. The cosmic center, as the philosopher believed, is the planet Earth. The earth consists of heavy atoms, the upper shells are made of light ones.

Democritus is considered an adherent of the theory of the plurality of worlds. The concept implies an infinite number and size; growth trend, stop and decrease; the different densities of worlds in different places of the great void; the presence of luminaries, their absence or multiplicity; absence of animal and plant life.

Since our planet is the center of the universe, it has no need to move. Although in the previous theory Democritus believed that she was in motion, but for certain reasons she stopped her path.

The cosmologist suggested that the Earth has a centrifugal force that prevents celestial bodies from falling on it. The thinker's scientific view examined the connection between the removal of celestial objects from the Earth and the slowing down of their speed.

It was Democritus who suggested that the Milky Way is nothing more than a cluster of a huge number of microscopic stars located in such close proximity to each other that they form a single glow.

Ethics of Democritus

The philosophers of ancient Greece had a special attitude towards ethics, each focusing on his own favorite virtue. For the Abdera thinker, it was a sense of proportion. The measure reflects the behavior of an individual based on his internal potential. Satisfaction, measured by measure, ceases to be a sensory sensation and develops into good.

The thinker believed: in order for society to achieve harmony, a person must experience euthumia - a state of serene, devoid of extremes disposition of the soul. The idea of euthymia promotes sensual pleasures and exalts blissful tranquility.

The Greek philosopher also believed that an important aspect of finding happiness is wisdom. Wisdom can only be achieved through the acquisition of knowledge. Anger, hatred, and other vices breed in ignorance.

Democritus and his theory of atoms

The atomic materialism of the ancient atomist comes from his theory of atoms, which strikingly reflects the conclusions of 20th century materialists.

The ability of an ancient thinker to construct a theory about the structure of elementary particles, without being able to confirm it with scientific research, is admirable. How talented and brilliant this man was. Living thousands of years ago, he almost unmistakably penetrated into one of the most difficult to substantiate mysteries of the universe. An atom and a molecule, being in continuous random motion within outer space, contribute to the formation of hurricane vortices and material bodies. The difference in their properties is explained by the shaped and dimensional diversity. Democritus put forward a theory (without empirically possible provability) about changes in the human body when exposed to atomic radiation.

Atheism, the meaning of the soul

In ancient times, people attributed the explanation of mysterious phenomena to divine participation; it is not without reason that the Olympian Gods became famous in the civilized world. In addition, a specific sphere of human activity was associated with a certain mythological hero. For Democritus, such legends were subjective. Being an educated materialist, he easily debunked such misunderstandings, explaining them by ignorance and a predilection for easy explanations of complex issues. The killer argument of the doctrine was the similarity of the celestials with ordinary people, from which it follows that the created deities were artificial.

But the scientist’s “atheism” is not so obvious. The philosopher had no serious problems with the diverse spiritual community and did not oppose state ideology. This is due to his relationship to the soul. Democritus believed in its existence, in his own way. As the thinker believed, the soul was an accumulation of atoms, fused with the physical body, and leaving it during a period of prolonged illness, old age, or before death. The soul is immortal, since it endlessly wanders through the universe as an energy clot. In short, Democritus proposed the law of conservation of energy.

Ataraxian philosophy of Democritus

It was previously described that the ancient Greek sage showed interest in many areas of human activity, medicine was no exception.

The concept of ataraxia was vital for the philosopher. Ataraxia is defined as a mental state of a person, characterized by absolute fearlessness against the background of emotional shock. Democritus attributed this state of soul to a person’s acquisition of wisdom and experience. It can be achieved through the desire for self-improvement and penetration into the mysteries of the universe. Philosophical schools of antiquity became interested in the ataraxic philosophical thought of the thinker (Epicurean, skeptical, Stoic schools).

But Democritus suggests not only learning, knowing, self-improvement, but also thinking. He compares the thought process with knowledge, where the first still dominates.

The philosopher's ataraxia provides a reasoned explanation of the pattern of events. Teaches you to use the ability to remain silent, which takes precedence over talkativeness. The above dogmas are true.