Democritus
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"'From the fact that honey appears bitter to some and sweet to others Democritus concluded that it is neither sweet nor bitter, Heraclitus that it is both.' This report from Sextus Empiricus (PH 11.63) testifies that arguments from conflicting appearances came early to the repertoire of philosophy. --"Conflicting Appearances" (1979) by Myles Burnyeat |
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Democritus was a pre-Socratic Greek materialist philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace ca. 460 BC - died ca 370 BC), popularly known as the philosopher of laughter. Democritus was a student of Leucippus and co-originator of the belief that all matter is made up of various imperishable, indivisible elements which he called atoma (sg. atomon) or "indivisible units", from which we get the English word atom. Popularly known as the Laughing Philosopher (for laughing at human follies), the terms Abderitan laughter, which means scoffing, incessant laughter, and Abderite, which means a scoffer, are derived from Democritus.
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