Democritus was a Greek philosopher who lived from 460 B.C. to 370 B.C. He focused mainly on the idea of atomism in our world. Atomism is the philosophy that everything in our world is made up of very small, unbreakable atoms. At that time, it was under much scrutiny by Plato and Aristotle who were the next great philosophers to come after Democritus. Democritus’s ideas eventually paved the way for modern scientists to prove that atoms are a basic building block of everything in nature.
One of Democritus’s most important ideas was his idea of atomic theory. Democritus was agreeing with his predecessor’s idea on how things transform in nature. He believed that nothing in nature transformed because things actually changed; instead, he believed
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He believed that souls were made up of “soul atoms” that would disperse once our bodies had died. He wasn’t wrong when looking in depth at it, based on his materialistic ideas. Democritus believed that once a person died their atoms would be put out into the world to be conjoined with other atoms to combine with and make a new element/compound. As Satris Stephen stated, “According to this view, observable phenomena are explainable in terms of unseen movements that occur according to natural (not supernatural) law” (Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia). This is saying that natural events will take place over time and can be seen at the end of the process. An example of this would be the tectonic plates of earth moving around. The end process of this natural event can be seen in the forms of earthquakes and tsunamis. This somewhat confusing theory of atoms developed by Democritus proved important in helping others look more deeply into the …show more content…
Physicist today have been experimenting with atoms to find out more about what they do. One atom they have been experimenting with is the Higgs Boson that can be found in the Large Hadron Collider. As Abigail Beal wrote, “By smashing particles together at high speeds, to create high-energy collisions, particle accelerators were first used to look into the structure of an atom’s nucleus” (Wired UK). Physicist are experimenting with atoms to find out all they are capable of. When they are able to find out what all they are capable of, it will unlock great things in science. When Democritus came up with the theory of atoms being the basic building block of nature, he most likely didn’t think by this point in time one of his greatest ideas would be an instrumental part of
The origin of the Athenian democracy of the fifth and for centuries can be traced back to Solon. Solon was a poet and a wise statesmen but not a Democrat. His constitutional reform package laid the basis on which an aristocrat called Cleisthenes could pioneer democracy. Cleisthenes championed a radical political reform movement which in 508 -507 ushered in the Athenian democratic constitution. Under this political system Athens successfully resisted the Persian onslaughts that victory in turn encourage the poorest Athenian's to demand a greater say in the ruling of their city. In the late 460's a radicalization of power shifted the balance decisively to the poorest sections of society. This was the democratic Athens that laid the foundations of Western rational and critical thought.
One important contribution of Ancient Greek to the Western Culture is Democracy. The very term itself is of Greek derivation, meaning "People’s Rule". Unlike modern states which call themselves "Democratic". For example, Pericles Funeral Oration gave the greatest contribution to our today’s society. In .(Doc. 2) Pericles stated "Our plan of government favors the many instead of the few". Because of this quote it has contributed the society tremendously due to the fact that the democratic society is a direct democracy. Yet in a way, people have the power to overthrow other powerful representatives; Pericles Funeral Oration, gave us the idea of keeping the civilization as a democracy rather than Oligarchy, Monarchy, and many more. Moreover, Solon an Athenian tyrant discussed his thought about democracy. In .(doc. 4) Solon stated, "I drew up laws for bad and good alike, and set straight justice over each". Solon reveals that he has created laws for the good of others. He wanted every individual having the ...
The Peace and Freedom Party was founded on June 23, 1967. This party was created during the 1960’s while the civil rights and antiwar movements occurred. This party’s intentions back then were to get people to work together instead of fighting each other in order to achieve the goal they were pursuing. Today the party has taken on more issues and continues to address them concerning minority groups, women, the environment and so much more. Their public statement says that they believe in socialism, democracy, ecology, racial equality, internationalism and antiwar movements. Also, they want to represent the working and lower class to give them a voice and bring them together. In other words, this party believes that everyone should live as they
I noticed that when one political party covers almost the entirely of the map, their party will continue winning the election for several years. Like how the election of 1932, the democratic party had about 88% of the electors votes and about 60% of the popular votes. The democratic party continued to win the next four elections.
Diogenes’s concepts of global citizenship are:
Dalton’s atomic theory, which stated “the atoms were tiny, indivisible, indestructible particles” (Bender), differed drastically from that of the Greeks’ in that it “wasn’t just a philosophical statement that there are atoms because there must be atoms” (Bender). Although Aristotle believed that there are four terrestrial elements, earth, water, air, and fire, Democratus believed that “a piece of a substance can be divided into smaller pieces of that substance until we get down to a fundamental level at which you can’t divide the substance up and still have pieces of that substance” (“Atoms”). Aristotle’s theory was popular, but incorrect; Democratus’s was closer to our current theory, yet he remained relatively unpopular and obscure. This demonstrates of the key way in which a personal point of view can, in fact, retard the pursuit of knowledge. The scientist with the better oratory abilities has his theories more widely accepted. Dalton’s own theory, which extrapolated upon four basic
The idea of a government representative of the people is rooted in the Athenian democracy dating back to the fifth century BC. Thomas Jefferson states in the Declaration of Independence, “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The Declaration of Independence reflects the importance of the public intervention, showing that the actions of the government deeply affect the lives of the people, and therefore they should have a say in government. This concept is very similar to the ideology of Cleisthenes, an Athenian statesman and reformer who was an aristocrat exiled from Athens under tyrant rule.
During the age of Pericles, the ideal form of government was believed to be a government formed by all of the citizens regardless of wealth or social standing. This was known as democracy, literally meaning “ government of the people” [Document 3.] This government favored the many instead of the few. Athens was a direct democracy, meaning every citizen participated in debates. Western civilization used this philosophy of government by many, and created an indirect democracy where citizens elect officials to make and enforce laws.
An uncertain, disputable idea, Jacksonian Democracy in the strictest sense alludes just to the domination of Andrew Jackson and the Democratic party after 1828. All the more freely, it insinuates the whole scope of just changes that continued nearby the Jacksonians' triumph from extending the suffrage to rebuilding government establishments. From another point, notwithstanding, Jacksonianism shows up as a political drive fixing to subjection, the oppression of Native Americans, and the festival of racial domination to such an extent that a few researchers have expelled the expression "Jacksonian Democracy" as a logical inconsistency in wording. Socially and mentally, the Jacksonian development spoke to not the rebellion of a particular class
Democracy was a revolutionary development for the Ancient Greek society it was an innovative idea which gave the citizens of Ancient Greeks the freedom to participate in the governmental system and contribute in the processes and decisions, this in turn helped Ancient Greece succeed politically and economically. This democratic society not only helped Greece succeed in the Mediterranean region but also influenced modern day society. The Ancient Greeks succeeded significantly and were highly advanced for this period, the progressive thoughts and ideas demonstrated by individuals in this society contributed to the development of democracy in Athens which has become one of the most beneficial forms of government created.
The Atomic Theory began in roughly 400BC with Democritus in Ancient Greece and is universally believed to be correct today. Democritus who was born in 460 BC and died 370 BC and is known as the father of modern science. Democritus proclaimed that everything is made up of atoms. He continued his theory to say that atoms will always be in motion, between atoms there is empty space, atoms are unbreakable, there are an infinite number of atoms all different sizes and shapes. He also said that iron atoms are solid and strong and have hooks to lock them together, water atoms are smooth and slippery, salt atoms have sharp jagged edges because of its taste and air atoms are light and spiralling.
Democracy comes from two Greek words: a noun demos which means, "people" and a verb, kratein, which means "to rule" (Ober 120). Democracy first appeared in Athens towards the beginning of the fifth century B.C. The biggest difference between Athenian democracy and almost all other democracies is that the Athenian version was a direct democracy rather than being representative. Democracy came about in Athens as a result of the growing navel power and the reforms made by leaders such as Cleisthenes and Pericles.
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of
This new idea of rational thought spread to the Greek capitol, Athens. Here politics and democracy exploded. Politicians and citizens were now able to debate issues and question justice. This form of independent thinking brought great pride and self-confidence to members of the Greek society. This allowed for huge successes for further philosophy, architecture, art, mathematics, anatomy, botany, literature, and creativity.
The idea of the atom started all the way back from the ancient Greece. What is sad about this is that one philosopher’s idea it was rejected by the rest of the philosophers of the time. Philosophers like Aristotle. The ancient Greeks did not have all the modern technology we have now and were not equipped to test their atomic theory. The theory they had hypothesized was if you keep dividing something, the smallest living thing had to be an atom.