Part 2
1) Democritus said "by convention there is sweet, by convention there is hot and cold, by convention there is color… but in reality there is only atoms and the void" what did he mean?
Democritus was a pioneer into the world of the very small. As an Atomist, he studied the elements that make up all matter, and for him, reality. The quote "by convention there is sweet, by convention there is hot and cold, by convention there is color… but in reality there is only atoms and the void" gives a general idea of what Democritus' philosophy was. He believed that everything was made up of either atoms or void. These atoms are perpetual, imperceptible and infinite in number. They have many different shapes sizes and forms; concave, angular, barbed, spherical. These particles exist in a space of infinite size. Democritus calls this 'the Void', 'Nothingness' or 'the Infinite'. As the particles whizz around in the void they often collide and interact. As they may stick to or be attracted to one another, they accumulate and become interlocked. Democritus says that they are held together until a stronger force than their interlocking disrupts and disperses them. In this essay, we will see how this philosophy explains the previous quote and allows us insight into Democritus' mind.
Democritus said that sight is prompted by an image, but the image does not appear directly on the pupil. Instead, the air (being composed of atoms) between the viewer and the viewed becomes contracted, and the eye receives an impression of the picture thusly. He also distinguishes heavy and light by size, because if an object is broken down to its constituent parts, the atomic units would weigh differently according to their size. However, for compound materials the rules are variable. A compound's weight depends on the amount of void present within it. Since the void is weightless, a compound with more empty space is lighter, one with less space is heavier. This is closely analogous to the modern concept of density. Hard and soft are dealt with similarly, the more compact the atomic placement is in an object, the harder it is, and looser placement means a softer compound. However, the difference between hard and soft, heavy and light is in the position and arrangement of the void. This is why iron could be harder than lead, but lead could be heavier. He believed that iron was an uneven substance with a lot of void. It was compact in some places, but had more empty spaces than lead. Lead on the other hand had less void and a more uniform texture, making it heavier and softer than iron.
Democritus' ideas on taste are very interesting, he says that anything that tastes "sharp", meaning tart, is angular and much twisted, small and thin. This piercing shape allows it to slip in everywhere, and its rough, angular shape holds it to other "sharp atoms" On the opposite side, sweet atoms are round and quite large, they relax the body s they pass slowly through it. He has a way to explain color also, stating that white is smooth surfaced because everything that is not rough or hard to penetrate and that does not cast a shadow is bright. Conversely, black is formed with atoms that are rough, crooked and uneven because these cast shadows; their pores are not straight and easy to penetrate. Red atoms are the same as fire atoms, because when anything heats up, it turns red.
Democritus found that the way that he had begun
to look at the world forced him to reevaluate his views on reality, perception
and knowledge. He believed that his philosophy of all showed that in fact we know
nothing about anything, everything is a subjective opinion at best. Furthermore,
it is truly impossible in his eyes to know what any thing really is, again being
simply a belief. He says that there are two types of knowledge, bastard and genuine.
To Democritus, the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are all paths
to bastard knowledge. Of course, genuine knowledge is more desirable than bastard
knowledge, being less tainted by human interpretation. The way to genuine knowledge
is to break down something until bastard knowledge is no longer able to sense
it because it is too small; one needs a finer instrument. This instrument then
is a tool of genuine knowledge for Democritus, it allows a technological distance
between the biased human and their subject. It is also more useful, in his words
because "it has the finer instrument for knowing"
(1)
. In conclusion, Democritus was attempting to tell
humankind that sense perception is not the ultimate reality in the universe.
He was also trying to encourage the use of mathematics and reason, believing
them to be the true path to the knowledge of reality. His was a mechanistic
world view, where the movement of the whole is determined by the movement of
its parts. His philosophy was a refutation of conventional sensual observation
and scientific method, urging a popularization in instrumentation and theoretical
mathematical structures. Another quote attributed to Democritus will serve to
illustrate how different his philosophy was, even to himself; "Miserable mind,
you get your evidence from us and do you try to overthrow us? The overthrow
will be your downfall."
(2)
. Texts
Consulted North, John The Norton History of
Astronomy and Cosmology W.W. Norton & Co., New York. 1994 Sambursky, Shmuel Physical Thought
from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists Pica Press, New York. 1975 1. 1 As quoted:
Sambursky, Shmuel Physical
Thought from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists Pica Press, New York. 1975
2. 2 As quoted: Sambursky, Shmuel Physical Thought from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists
Pica Press, New York. 1975