So the universe has two ingredients: Being, which satisfies the Eleatic criteria by being ‘full’, unchanging, and homogeneous, and Non‐being or empty space. Against these arguments, says Aristotle, Leucippus proposed to rescue the sensible world of plurality and motion by asserting that empty space, ‘the non‐existent’, may nevertheless serve to separate parts of what exists from each other.

with no separating spaces, is ruled out because ( a) infinite divisibility would mean there are no real units at all, and ( b) finite divisibility is physically inexplicable. Division of what is real into units in contact, i.e. Parmenides had argued that what is real is one and motionless, since empty space is not a real existent motion is impossible without empty space, and plurality is impossible without something to separate the units.

Aristotle's account of the origin of the theory rightly relates it to the Eleatic School. Of his physical theories, on which his fame rests, only meagre quotations and summaries remain most of the texts that have come down to us under his name are brief and undistinguished moral maxims.įrom the time of Aristotle, Democritus and Leucippus are jointly credited with the creation of the atomic theory of the universe (see atomism) it is now impossible to distinguish the contribution of each. mentions 70 titles, classified as follows: Ethics, Physics, Unclassified, Mathematics, Music (which includes philological and literary criticism), Technical, and Notes. There is a story that he visited Athens-‘but no one knew me’ this may be a reflection of the undoubted fact that Plato, although he must have known his work, never mentioned him by name.ĭiog. In time he became known as ‘the laughing philosopher’, probably because he held that ‘cheerfulness’ was a goal to be pursued in life. to various later accounts, and lived to a great age. to his own statement quoted by Diogenes (4) Laertius.

Democritus atomic theory