Democritus

Also known as Democritus of Abdera, Laughing Philosopher, Demokritos

Democritus (, ; , Dēmókritos, meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. Democritus wrote extensively on a wide variety of topics.

OverviewAI-generated

Democritus was a male Greek philosopher, mathematician, and art historian born in 460 BCE in Ancient Abdera or Miletus. He died in 360 BCE in Greece. A student of Leucippus, he was influenced by Leucippus and practiced atomism. He wrote in Ancient Greek and is described by sources including the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary and The Nuttall Encyclopædia. His works include five titles, and he is referenced by 1,027 other encyclopedia articles.

Democritus taught Hippocrates, Metrodorus of Chios, Protagoras, and Anaxarchus, and his doctoral student was Bion of Abdera. He is associated with atheism and is present in The Divine Comedy. His native name is Δημόκριτος. Notable quotes attributed to him include "Man is a universe in little" and "Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man." He is listed on the Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4 focus list.

Synthesized by Vinony from 33 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Last.fm, Wikiquote, Open Library, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Key facts

Philosopher.name: Democritus
Philosopher.image: Unknown greek pushkin.jpg
Philosopher.caption: A philosopher, possibly Democritus. Casting of e Villa of the Papyri.
Philosopher.birth_place: Abdera, Thrace
Philosopher.death_date: (aged approximately 90)
Philosopher.era: Pre-Socratic philosophy
Philosopher.region: Western philosophy
Philosopher.school_tradition: Atomism

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Gender: male
Citizenship: Greece
Place of birth: Miletus
Place of death: Greece
Occupation: art historian
Languages spoken: Ancient Greek
Religion: atheism
Notable work: quadratrix of Hippias
Student of: Leucippus
Doctoral student: Bion of Abdera
Field of work: philosophy
Movement: atomism
Image: Unknown greek pushkin.jpg

Show 13 more facts

Commons category: Democritus
date of birth: 0460-01-01
date of death: 0360-01-01
student: Anaxarchus
name in native language: Δημόκριτος
ethnic group: Greeks
writing language: Ancient Greek
present in work: The Divine Comedy
influenced by: Leucippus
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
maintained by WikiProject: WikiProject Mathematics
P8168: symbolic dynamics
significant place: Ancient Abdera

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~28 min read

Encyclopedic overview

22 sections

Contents

Life
Philosophy
Atomism
Epistemology
Mathematics
Anthropology
Ethics
Aesthetics
Works
Legacy
Classical antiquity
Renaissance and early Modern Period
Modern atomism
The Laughing Philosopher
See also
Notes
Citations
References
Ancient testimony
Translations
Further reading
External links

None of Democritus' original work has survived, except through second-hand references. Many of these references come from Aristotle, who viewed him as an important rival in the field of natural philosophy. He was known in antiquity as the ‘laughing philosopher’ because of his emphasis on the value of cheerfulness.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Democritus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.