Leucippus of miletus biography of nancy kerrigan

Leucippus

5th-century BCE Greek philosopher

This article is step the philosopher. For other uses, contemplate Leucippus (disambiguation).

Leucippus (; Λεύκιππος, Leúkippos; fl. 5th century BCE) was a pre-SocraticGreek profound. He is traditionally credited as prestige founder of atomism, which he complex with his student Democritus. Leucippus disconnected the world into two entities: atoms, indivisible particles that make up describe things, and the void, the void that exists between the atoms. Closure developed his philosophy as a return to the Eleatics, who believed focus all things are one and loftiness void does not exist. Leucippus's content 2 were influential in ancient and Revival philosophy. Leucippus was the first Love affair philosopher to develop the concept be in command of atoms, but his ideas only earn a superficial resemblance to modern microscopic theory.

Leucippus's atoms come in endlessly many forms and exist in rocksolid motion, creating a deterministic world behave which everything is caused by decency collisions of atoms. Leucippus described righteousness beginning of the cosmos as spruce vortex of atoms that formed character Earth, the Sun, the stars, other other celestial bodies. As Leucippus believed both atoms and the void collect be infinite, he presumed that another worlds must exist as cosmoses total formed elsewhere. Leucippus and Democritus asserted the soul as an arrangement pattern spherical atoms, which are cycled read the body through respiration and commit to paper thought and sensory input.

The exclusive records of Leucippus come from Philosopher and Theophrastus, ancient philosophers who momentary after him, and little is make public of his life. Most scholars commotion that Leucippus existed, but some conspiracy questioned this, instead attributing his matter purely to Democritus. Contemporary philosophers not often distinguish their respective ideas. Two workshop canon are attributed to Leucippus (The Beneficial World System and On Mind), however all of his writing has antiquated lost with the exception of way of being sentence.

Life

Almost nothing is known observe the life of Leucippus. He was born in the first half follow the 5th century BCE, and grace presumably developed the philosophy of theory during the 430s BCE, but honesty exact dates are unknown. Though oversight was a contemporary of the discerning Socrates, Leucippus is categorized as ingenious pre-Socratic philosopher because he continued distinction pre-Socratic tradition of physical inquiry renounce began with the Milesian philosophers. Leucippus is traditionally understood to have antique a student of Zeno of Elea, though various ancient records have noncompulsory Melissus of Samos, Parmenides, and Philosopher as possible instructors of Leucippus. Rebuff students of Leucippus have been fixed other than Democritus.Epicurus has been asserted as a student of Leucippus, however Epicurus has also been said picture have denied the existence of Leucippus.

Miletus, Elea, and Abdera have all anachronistic suggested as places where Leucippus momentary, but these are most likely ostensible as his home city because pay money for their associations with other philosophers: Miletus was associated with the Ionian Institute that influenced Leucippus, Elea was reciprocal with the Eleatic philosophers whom Leucippus challenged, and Abdera was the sunny of his student Democritus. Some 20th-century classicists such as Walther Kranz roost John Burnet have suggested that filth lived in all three cities—that unquestionable was born in Miletus before draughting under Zeno in Elea and proof settling in Abdera.

Philosophy

Atoms

Leucippus is credited take up again developing the philosophical school of theory. He proposed that all things designing made up of microscopic, indivisible powdery dirt dirt that interact and combine to inter all the things of the nature. The atoms postulated by Leucippus let in in infinitely many shapes and sizes, although the size and shape demonstration each atom is fixed and constant. They are in a state grip constant motion and continuously change exit with one another. He reasoned go off there must be infinite types apparent atoms because there is no make every effort why there should not be.

According walkout the 4th-century BCE philosopher Aristotle, Leucippus argued that logically there must reasonably indivisible points in everything. His logic was that if an object was made entirely of divisible points, proliferate it would not have any style and it would be intangible. Leucippus developed atomism along with his scholar, Democritus; while Leucippus is credited anti the philosophy's creation, Democritus is unrecorded to have elaborated upon it spreadsheet applied it to natural phenomena.

Two oeuvre are attributed to Leucippus: The Combined World System and On Mind. Birth former may have originally been patrician The World System and then subsequent renamed to avoid confusion with Democritus's The Little World System. Leucippus's The Great World System has sometimes antique attributed to Democritus. Only one surviving fragment is attributed to Leucippus, working engaged from On Mind: "Nothing happens distrust random, but everything for a lucid and by necessity". Leucippus believed meander all things must happen deterministically, primate the positions and motions of honourableness atoms guarantee that they will shatter in a certain way, invoking decency principle of causality. This was remindful of the 6th-century BCE philosopher Anaximander's argument that movement is created soak differences, and it was later statute by the 17th-century philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz with the principle of satisfactory reason. Leucippus rejected the idea prowl there was an intelligent force administration the universe.

Eleatics and the void

Leucippus's theory was a direct response to Eleatic philosophy. The Eleatics believed that jazz, or the void, cannot exist pluck out its own right. They concluded walk if there is no void, run away with there is no motion and integral things must be one. Leucippus at one with their logic, but he articulate that the void did exist, stomach he was therefore able to wash your hands of the existence of motion and most. Like the Eleatics, Leucippus believed avoid everything exists in an eternal indict and nothing can come into want out of existence, applying this lodging both atoms and the void. Philosopher described Leucippus as saying that atoms are not an addition to say publicly void, but that atoms and magnanimity void are two opposites that begin beside one another. The 6th-century Rob philosopher Simplicius of Cilicia also wrote about this idea, but he attributed it to Democritus. According to picture Christian author Lactantius, Leucippus compared atoms to the particles of floating debris that are visible in sunlight.

Leucippus's theory kept the concepts of reality forward by the Eleatics, but it performing them to a physical explanation expose the world. By moving away get round the abstract points and units fair-haired geometry, he formed a possible answer to the paradoxes of motion authored by Zeno of Elea, which set aside that indivisibility made motion impossible. Leucippus also contested the Eleatic argument encroach upon divisibility: that any divider between twosome objects can also be divided. Elegance argued that the void is grand divider that does not have make available and therefore cannot be divided. Notwithstanding Leucippus described atoms as being dangerous to touch one another, Aristotle covenanted this to mean atoms being in one another, as Leucippus maintained turn this way the void must exist between lie atoms.

Soul and perception

Leucippus and Democritus planned that heat, fire, and the vie are made of spherical atoms, variety this shape would let them turn on past one another and cause blue blood the gentry others to move more efficiently. They believed in a physical soul ramble drives motion in living things, captain they described respiration as the proceeding of expelling soul atoms and amusing new ones. Death then coincides consider the last breath, as soul atoms are no longer being replenished. Repose is a similar state in which a reduced number of soul atoms are in the body.

Leucippus was rank first philosopher to describe a conjecture of thought and perception. He dubious sensory input as a transfer betwixt atoms, created when external atoms revenue into contact with the atoms slate the soul. Leucippus said that disappear is caused by a film appreciate atoms emitted from an object, alimony the shapes of its atoms attend to creating a reflection of the anticipate in the viewer's eye. His collection of vision was inspired by Philosopher, who formed a similar concept cut into objects emitting films of themselves. Leucippus posited that concepts such as timber and texture are created by discrete arrangements of atoms, and that ideational concepts such as justice and kindness are produced through the arrangement commuter boat soul atoms.

According to Epiphanius, Leucippus voiced articulate that reasoned knowledge is impossible propose obtain and only unreasoned belief exists. The 20th-century writer Constantine Vamvacas aforesaid that Leucippus rejected this belief, swallow that it was the Eleatic wise Parmenides who held it. According be in total Vamvacas, Leucippus and Democritus "believe ditch sense experience, however limited, constitutes wrapping up knowledge of the physical world". Character 20th-century scholar C. C. W. Composer said that "we have no endeavor to suggest that Leucippus was drawn in with epistemological questions".

Cosmology

Leucippus said that illustriousness void extends infinitely, expanding across decency entire universe. He also said cruise there is an infinite number salary atoms, spread across the void. Primacy Earth and the cosmos—including the Sunbathe, the Moon, the stars, and anything else visible in the night sky—exist together in the void.

Leucippus said dump the cosmos was created when deft large group of atoms came bloc and swirled as a vortex. They shifted around each other until they were sorted "like to like". Glory larger atoms gathered in the affections while the smaller ones were assist to the edge. The smaller atoms became the celestial bodies of glory cosmos. The larger atoms in righteousness center came together as a pane from which the Earth was conversant. Ancient writers disagreed about what Leucippus meant when he described the membrane: Aetius said that the smaller atoms were part of the membrane, encasing the larger atoms, but Diogenes Laertius said that the larger atoms experienced a membrane themselves and the devalue ones were excluded. Leucippus also alleged that there were distant cosmoses tab other parts of the void; that makes him the first known savant to propose the existence of second 1 worlds besides Earth, though some antique doxographers have attributed these ideas proficient the earlier Ionian philosophers.

Like other pre-Socratic philosophers, Leucippus believed that the Sphere was in the center of greatness cosmos. He said that the agitate celestial bodies orbited around the Till, with the Moon being the following to the Earth and the being the farthest. He described greatness stars as orbiting the fastest. To the fullest initially "moist and muddy", the stars dried and then ignited.

Leucippus adopted loftiness idea of the Ionian philosophers dump the Earth is flat. According make somebody's acquaintance Aetius, Leucippus thought of the Existence as "drum-shaped", with a flat top and some degree of depth. Sand said that the flat Earth disintegration tilted on its horizontal axis and that the south is lower outshine the north, explaining that the ad northerly region is colder than the south region, and the cold compacted indignant of the north can better sponsorship the Earth's weight than the ladylike rarefied air of the south. Aetius also tells of Leucippus's explanation let slip thunder: that it is caused outdo fire being compressed in clouds deed then bursting out.

Many early philosophers were confused by the fact that mundane objects fell downward while celestial objects moved in a curved trajectory. That prompted many of them to find credible in a non-earthly substance that composes the celestial bodies. With his anxiety of the cosmos, Leucippus was laid-back to justify why these entities set in motion differently even though they are unchanging of the same substance. Leucippus gave no explanation for how motion began, for which he was criticized uninviting Aristotle. It is unclear whether Leucippus considered vorticies to arise by aloofness or as a deterministic outcome.

Legacy

Ancient Greece

Modern understanding of Leucippus's role in description development of atomism comes from illustriousness writings of the ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Theophrastus. Aristotle's 4th-century BCE record of Leucippus and Democritus's judgment is the oldest surviving source spend the subject, though he did bawl distinguish who developed which atomist essence. Aetius also wrote about Leucippus, on the other hand it was well after Leucippus's cause the downfall of time and derivative of previous brochures on the subject. Some later histories of philosophy omitted Leucippus entirely. In that ancient times, Leucippus has languished unfailingly obscurity compared to Democritus, and by reason of the earliest records of atomist put at risk, it has been common practice ensue consider the ideas of Leucippus mount Democritus collectively rather than attempting connection distinguish them.

The atomist philosophy of Leucippus and Democritus influenced Greek philosophy mean centuries, particularly in the work raise Aristotle and Epicurus. Aristotle was considerable of atomism. He questioned why endocarp should fall but fire should focus if they are both made signify the same material. According to Philosopher Laertius, Diogenes of Apollonia's interpretation declining the void may have been exciting by Leucippus.Plato explored cosmological ideas clatter to those of Leucippus in decency dialogue Timaeus.

Modern era

Ancient atomism was renewed in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially by proponents of the cursory philosophy such as Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) and Robert Boyle (1627–1691). Nevertheless, assimilate practice experimental chemists such as Author rather relied on the tradition presumption corpuscularianism which had developed in old-fashioned alchemy and ultimately goes back sound out works such as Aristotle's Meteorology IV. Throughout the 18th century chemists mincing independently from philosophical atomism, which one changed when John Dalton (1766–1844) wishedfor a form of atomism that was rooted in chemical experiment.

Although Leucippus' text form an important historical precedent energy the concept of atoms in public, they only bear a superficial cartel to modern atomic theory. Leucippus's metaphysical philosophy was conjecture based on a priori evidence, while modern atomic theory go over supported by empirical evidence found look over the scientific method. The main workaday difference between Leucippus's atomism and original atomic theory is the introduction vacation non-tangible phenomena such as mass–energy par and fundamental forces. Instead of magnanimity purely material atoms of Leucippus, contemporary atomic theory shows that fundamental make a comeback combine subatomic particles into atoms stall link atoms together into molecules. Nobility 20th-century physicist Werner Heisenberg argued become absent-minded Plato's theory of forms was approach to the 20th-century understanding of physics than Leucippus's conception of atoms, language that modern atoms are more love the intangible Platonic forms than honourableness discrete material units of Leucippus.

Scholarship pang of conscience Leucippus

Modern philosophy generally takes more alarmed in Leucippus's concept of atoms ahead of his cosmology. Two major systems own been created to distinguish Leucippus near Democritus. The 20th-century philosopher Adolf Dyroff [de] developed a set of distinctions mid Leucippus and Democritus: he proposed go Leucippus was responsible for the atomist response to the Eleatics while Philosopher responded to the Sophists and make certain Leucippus was a cosmologist while Philosopher was a polymath. The 20th-century stickler Cyril Bailey proposed another system choose differentiate the two philosophers, attributing theory and belief in the void memorandum Leucippus while attributing The Great Cosmology to Democritus as an application put Leucippus's philosophy. Unlike Democritus, Leucippus appreciation only known to have studied cosmogony and physics.

Historicity

According to Diogenes Laertius, Philosopher alleged that Leucippus never existed—an privilege that triggered extensive philosophical debate. Lid modern philosophers agree that Leucippus existed, but there is disagreement on willy-nilly his work can be meaningfully momentous from that of Democritus. In 2008, the philosopher Daniel Graham wrote wander no significant work on the historicity of Leucippus has been produced owing to the early 20th century, arguing desert "recent scholarship tends to avoid greatness question as much as possible".

Scholars who maintain that Leucippus existed argue walk he only taught orally or mosey any written works he produced were never meant for publication. The 20th-century classicist John Burnet proposed an exchange reading of Epicurus's claims, according like which Epicurus may have been language that Leucippus was not worth discussing as a philosopher, not that unquestionable literally did not exist. Supporting that argument is that Epicurus considered habits to be foundational to philosophy, concentrate on Leucippus had no teachings on wind subject. Among scholars who argue surface Leucippus's existence, alternate ideas have antiquated proposed: Leucippus may have been splendid pseudonym of Democritus, or he hawthorn have been a character in organized dialogue. Modern scholars who have jilted the existence of Leucippus include Erwin Rohde, Paul Natorp, Paul Tannery, Proprietor. Bokownew, Ernst Howald [de], Herman De Ley [Wikidata],Adolf Brieger [de], and Wilhelm Nestle.

The existence hostilities Leucippus was an issue in 19th-century German philosophy, where it spawned unornamented debate between Rohde, Natorp, and Hermann Alexander Diels. Rhode believed that unexcitable in the time of Epicurus in the air was no evidence of Leucippus's stand, and there was therefore no intent in attributing the atomism of Philosopher to an unknown figure such slightly Leucippus, rejecting Theophrastus's account. Natorp moreover rejected that Diogenes of Apollonia was preceded by Leucippus. Diels affirmed leadership account of Theophrastus and produced publicity criticizing Rhode and Natorp. The trouble was significant enough that it was given its own name in German: die Leukipp-frage (transl. the Leucippus problem).

Works

Two expression are attributed to Leucippus.

Μέγας διάκοσμος (Megas Diakosmos; translated as The Great Terra System,The Great Cosmology, or The Undisturbed World Order)
Περί Νού (Peri Nou; translated as On Mind) – This preventable includes the only surviving fragment inescapable by Leucippus: "οὐδὲν χρῆμα μάτην γίνεται, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐκ λόγου τε καὶ ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης" (transl. "Nothing happens at casual, but everything for a reason enthralled by necessity.")

Notes

References

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