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Single Idea 20908
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / g. Atomism
]
Full Idea
Democritus say that it is possible that there exists an atom of the size of the world.
Gist of Idea
There could be an atom the size of the world
Source
report of Democritus (fragments/reports [c.431 BCE], A047) by Pseudo-Plutarch - On the Doctrine of the Philosophers 1.12.6
Book Ref
Democritus: 'Early Greek Phil VII: Democritus', ed/tr. Laks,A/Most,G [Harvard Loeb 2016], p.117
A Reaction
The editor says this may have been a criticism of Democritus - presumably a reductio ad absurdum. But Democritus has no upper limit on the size of an atom. It challenges the imagination to treat such a huge thing as indivisible.
The
54 ideas
from Democritus
16146
|
Two can't be a self-contained unit, because it would need to be one to do that
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
13551
|
Democritus says wealth is a burden to the virtuous mind
[Democritus, by Seneca]
|
3357
|
Democritus denies reality to large objects, because atomic entities can't combine to produce new ones
[Benardete,JA on Democritus]
|
598
|
Democritus said that substances could never be mixed, so atoms are the substances
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
5882
|
Democritus says soul consists of smooth round bodies brought together in accidental collision
[Democritus, by Cicero]
|
6034
|
Atomists say soul has a rational part in the chest, and a diffused non-rational part
[Democritus, by Aetius]
|
20916
|
Animals have a share of reason
[Democritus, by Porphyry]
|
6033
|
Democritus said everything happens of necessity, by natural motion of atoms
[Democritus, by Cicero]
|
5088
|
Some say there is a determinate cause for every apparently spontaneous event
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
21670
|
Democritus said atoms only move by their natural motions, which are therefore necessary
[Democritus, by Cicero]
|
17542
|
'Full' and 'Void' secularised Parmenides's Being and Not-being
[Democritus, by Heisenberg]
|
5947
|
If only atoms are real and the rest is convention, we wouldn't bother to avoid pain
[Democritus, by Diogenes of Oen.]
|
13219
|
When atoms touch, why don't they coalesce, like water drops?
[Aristotle on Democritus]
|
23314
|
Greeks explained regularity by intellectual design, not by laws
[Democritus, by Frede,M]
|
24059
|
Democritus is wrong: in a void we wouldn't see a distant ant in exact detail
[Aristotle on Democritus]
|
5101
|
Movement is impossible in a void, because nothing can decide the direction of movement
[Aristotle on Democritus]
|
20893
|
Nothing comes from non-existence, or passes into it
[Democritus, by Diog. Laertius]
|
20903
|
The only distinctions are Configuration (shape), Disposition (order) and Turning (position)
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20902
|
Being does not exist more than non-being
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
1525
|
Atomists say there are only three differences - in shape, arrangement and position
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20901
|
True Being only occurs when it is completely full, with atoms and no void
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20904
|
The non-existent exists as much as the existent, because it has causal powers
[Democritus]
|
1533
|
Because appearance is infinitely varied, atomists assume infinitely many shapes of atom
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20911
|
There are unlimited worlds of varying sizes, some without life or water
[Democritus, by Hippolytus]
|
20905
|
Growth and movement would not exist if there were no void to receive them
[Democritus]
|
20899
|
Atoms cling together, until a stronger necessity disperses them
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20898
|
Atoms are irregular, hooked, concave, convex, and many other shapes
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20908
|
There could be an atom the size of the world
[Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch]
|
1527
|
There must be atoms, to avoid the absurdity of infinite division down to nothing
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20909
|
The basic atoms are without qualities - which only arise from encounters between atoms
[Democritus, by Galen]
|
1535
|
Democritus said people imagined gods as the source of what awed or frightened them
[Democritus, by Sext.Empiricus]
|
20912
|
The soul is the same as the mind
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20914
|
The directive centre is located in the whole head
[Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch]
|
20915
|
The soul is destroyed with the body
[Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch]
|
577
|
Democritus says there is either no truth, or it is concealed from us
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|
20913
|
Democritus says the soul is the body, and thinking is thus the mixture of the body
[Democritus, by Theophrastus]
|
1532
|
Sensible qualities can't be real if they appear different to different creatures
[Democritus, by Theophrastus]
|
1537
|
Happiness is identifying and separating the pleasures
[Democritus, by Stobaeus]
|
20910
|
Everything happens necessarily, and for a reason
[Democritus]
|
20894
|
Man is separated from reality
[Democritus]
|
20895
|
We actually know nothing, and opinions are mere flux
[Democritus]
|
1528
|
We in fact know nothing, but we each restructure our reality with beliefs
[Democritus]
|
492
|
It is obviously impossible to understand the reality of each thing
[Democritus]
|
20896
|
It is not possible to know what sort each thing is
[Democritus]
|
493
|
Experiences are merely convention; only atoms and the void are real
[Democritus]
|
20897
|
Obscure knowledge belongs to the five senses, and genuine knowledge is the other type
[Democritus]
|
495
|
Wisdom creates a healthy passion-free soul
[Democritus]
|
515
|
We know nothing in reality; for truth lies in an abyss
[Democritus]
|
20892
|
Democritus was devoted to discovering causal explanations
[Democritus, by Eusebius]
|
517
|
All evidence comes from senses, so they are indispensable to the mind
[Democritus]
|
1536
|
If a cone is horizontally sliced the surfaces can't be equal, so it goes up in steps
[Democritus]
|
1540
|
Pleasure and pain guide our choices of good and bad
[Democritus]
|
20917
|
Contentment comes from moderation and proportion in life
[Democritus, by Stobaeus]
|
24041
|
Democritus says spherical atoms are fire, and constitute the soul [psuche]
[Democritus, by Aristotle]
|