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Single Idea 515
[filed under theme 13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 1. Scepticism
]
Full Idea
We know nothing in reality; for truth lies in an abyss.
Gist of Idea
We know nothing in reality; for truth lies in an abyss
Source
Democritus (fragments/reports [c.431 BCE], B117), quoted by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.72.10
Book Ref
'Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers', ed/tr. Freeman,Kathleen [Harvard 1957], p.104
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]
|