Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists, 1972
By: Edmunds, Lowell
Title Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists
Type Article
Language English
Date 1972
Journal Phoenix
Volume 26
Issue 4
Pages 342-357
Categories no categories
Author(s) Edmunds, Lowell
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
Fortune, which Democritus so disparaged, had the last laugh on the laughing philosopher when through the fragmentation of his work it obscured a cardinal principle of the atomist system, necessity. Or would Democritus have called this the fatum libellorum? At any rate, the obscurity of this principle is immediately apparent, both in the ancient doxographical tradition and in modern scholarship. Without endorsing any of the views which variously identify necessity with some one characteristic of the atoms, their weight or aboriginal motion, or with the void they move in,x one can yet attempt to undo the identification of necessity with the famous "whirl" of the atoms2 and to see necessity as a single concept of which the causal operation in the system is uniform. Even Zeus was subject to necessity, and one might think of Democritus as refining and systematizing an ancient belief, in the same way that in making r6 'povev physical he subscribed, says Theophrastus, to a "most antique opinion," to which all the poets and sages adhered... [p. 342]

{"_index":"sire","_type":"_doc","_id":"753","_score":null,"_source":{"id":753,"authors_free":[{"id":1118,"entry_id":753,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":80,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Edmunds, Lowell","free_first_name":"Lowell","free_last_name":"Edmunds","norm_person":{"id":80,"first_name":"Lowell","last_name":"Edmunds","full_name":"Edmunds, Lowell","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/116147319X","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists","main_title":{"title":"Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists"},"abstract":"Fortune, which Democritus so disparaged, had the last laugh on the \r\nlaughing philosopher when through the fragmentation of his work it \r\nobscured a cardinal principle of the atomist system, necessity. Or would \r\nDemocritus have called this the fatum libellorum? At any rate, the \r\nobscurity of this principle is immediately apparent, both in the ancient \r\ndoxographical tradition and in modern scholarship. Without endorsing \r\nany of the views which variously identify necessity with some one \r\ncharacteristic of the atoms, their weight or aboriginal motion, or with the \r\nvoid they move in,x one can yet attempt to undo the identification of \r\nnecessity with the famous \"whirl\" of the atoms2 and to see necessity as a \r\nsingle concept of which the causal operation in the system is uniform. \r\nEven Zeus was subject to necessity, and one might think of Democritus as \r\nrefining and systematizing an ancient belief, in the same way that in \r\nmaking r6 'povev physical he subscribed, says Theophrastus, to a \"most \r\nantique opinion,\" to which all the poets and sages adhered... [p. 342]","btype":3,"date":"1972","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/2OUib0xfSoDLMrh","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":80,"full_name":"Edmunds, Lowell","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}}],"book":null,"booksection":null,"article":{"id":753,"journal_id":null,"journal_name":"Phoenix","volume":"26","issue":"4","pages":"342-357"}},"sort":[1972]}

  • PAGE 1 OF 1
Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists, 1972
By: Edmunds, Lowell
Title Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists
Type Article
Language English
Date 1972
Journal Phoenix
Volume 26
Issue 4
Pages 342-357
Categories no categories
Author(s) Edmunds, Lowell
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
Fortune, which Democritus so disparaged, had the last laugh on the 
laughing philosopher when through the fragmentation of his work it 
obscured a cardinal principle of the atomist system, necessity. Or would 
Democritus have called this the fatum libellorum? At any rate, the 
obscurity of this principle is immediately apparent, both in the ancient 
doxographical tradition and in modern scholarship. Without endorsing 
any of the views which variously identify necessity with some one 
characteristic of the atoms, their weight or aboriginal motion, or with the 
void they move in,x one can yet attempt to undo the identification of 
necessity with the famous "whirl" of the atoms2 and to see necessity as a 
single concept of which the causal operation in the system is uniform. 
Even Zeus was subject to necessity, and one might think of Democritus as 
refining and systematizing an ancient belief, in the same way that in 
making r6 'povev  physical he subscribed, says Theophrastus, to a "most 
antique opinion," to which all the poets and sages adhered... [p. 342]

{"_index":"sire","_type":"_doc","_id":"753","_score":null,"_source":{"id":753,"authors_free":[{"id":1118,"entry_id":753,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":80,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Edmunds, Lowell","free_first_name":"Lowell","free_last_name":"Edmunds","norm_person":{"id":80,"first_name":"Lowell","last_name":"Edmunds","full_name":"Edmunds, Lowell","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/116147319X","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists","main_title":{"title":"Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists"},"abstract":"Fortune, which Democritus so disparaged, had the last laugh on the \r\nlaughing philosopher when through the fragmentation of his work it \r\nobscured a cardinal principle of the atomist system, necessity. Or would \r\nDemocritus have called this the fatum libellorum? At any rate, the \r\nobscurity of this principle is immediately apparent, both in the ancient \r\ndoxographical tradition and in modern scholarship. Without endorsing \r\nany of the views which variously identify necessity with some one \r\ncharacteristic of the atoms, their weight or aboriginal motion, or with the \r\nvoid they move in,x one can yet attempt to undo the identification of \r\nnecessity with the famous \"whirl\" of the atoms2 and to see necessity as a \r\nsingle concept of which the causal operation in the system is uniform. \r\nEven Zeus was subject to necessity, and one might think of Democritus as \r\nrefining and systematizing an ancient belief, in the same way that in \r\nmaking r6 'povev physical he subscribed, says Theophrastus, to a \"most \r\nantique opinion,\" to which all the poets and sages adhered... [p. 342]","btype":3,"date":"1972","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/2OUib0xfSoDLMrh","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":80,"full_name":"Edmunds, Lowell","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}}],"book":null,"booksection":null,"article":{"id":753,"journal_id":null,"journal_name":"Phoenix","volume":"26","issue":"4","pages":"342-357"}},"sort":["Necessity, Chance, and Freedom in the Early Atomists"]}

  • PAGE 1 OF 1