Democritus (c.500BC):
As to when this Greek philosopher existed, it is not certain. Tradition characterizes him as a person who was continually laughing at the follies of mankind. Only very few fragments of his work have come down to us. According to Chambers, "Democritus's atomic system assumes an infinite multitude of atoms." That all of these atoms exist for no particular reason, and, from "their multitudinous combinations springs that vast and varying aggregate called nature ..." Nature, Democritus further supposed, conducted itself by a definite set of laws; but followed, and follows, no design.
It is too easy for those of us who have been 'trained' into the various dominant traditions of 'mediterranean' thought, to forget that there are other, wondrous, ways of thinking.
Have just discovered (via Mother Damnable) a wonderful blog named Wildpic.
5 comments:
I owe, I owe,
So off to work I go,
With a shovel and a pick,
And a great big ..HOE!
It's off to work I go.
Go into 2006 with a lot of happiness and friends.
Thankyou JT. Too hot today, so came home at 12noon.
12 31 05
Hey Davo: Happy New Year:) I like the above description of Democritus and your subsequent statement. Thinking outside of a box, or sphere or parallelogram can be quite refreshing. It is also difficult because sometimes people are too short sighted to see applications of such ideas. However, he sure was awfully clever!!! Take Care:)
Mahndisa, human beings are not boxes, spheres, parallelograms. They have their own unique geometry.
Best wishes any way,
d
Post a Comment