Democritus: Democritus and Atomistic Politics

Democritus is taken to be the Greek father of the 'atomic view' of the ultimate nature of reality. Very little of his writings survive. The author of this book claims that one reason is that Plato who took the 'agonistic' or competitive spirit very seriously helped ensure this. Democritus was along with his exploration of the physical fabric of reality tried to understand Perception, ethics, politics, the Law through his theory. Samples of his wisdom: "Men ask for health in their prayers to the gods: they do not realize that the power to achieve it lies in themselves.Lacking self- control they perform contrary actions and betray health to their desires." "Whoever wishes to be content in life should not engage in many activities, either public or private , nor do anything beyond his ability and nature." "We know nothing truly , for the truth lies hidden in the depth." Democritus believed that the soul should be protected from painful upheavals. He is taken to be by Montaigne a laughing and mocking philosopher, contrasted with a sad and sympathetic Heraclitus. This excellent small volume clearly sets out the main lines of Democritus thought, and also tells how his work has been understood through the ages. One major problem , not of this work, but of the 'philosophy of Democritus' is that we know so little of it, it does not cohere in providing a picture of reality in real depth. I conclude with something irrelevant , the most famous reference to the skeptical Democritus of all, this stanza of William Blake. "The atoms of Democritus, and Newton's particles of light, were sands before the Red Sea shore, where Israel's tents do shine so bright."