DEMOCRITUS

BIO

• 460 BCE - 370 BCE
• He lived in Abdera, Thrace
• "Laughing Philosopher"

KNOWN INFLUENCES

• Democritus influenced many known philosophers.
• Aristotle
• Theophrastus
• Diogenes

MAJOR IDEAS

• His style of philosophy is focused more on modern science than any other philosopher.
• He did not care if he was wealthy or not. He only cared about his studies.
• He created the concept of the "atom", which is greek for "indivisible"
• He believed that everything was made up of atoms and cannot be destroyed.
• He thought highly of personal integrity and social responsibility.

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MAJOR IDEAS CONT.

• He argued that a person's conscience should prevent them from doing harm.
• He distinguished two kinds of knowing. "Genuine" and "Bastard"
• The bastard knowing is only based off of perception.
• The genuine knowing is based of of reasoning and thought process.

WORK CITED

• http://www.egs.edu/library/democritus/biography