Democritus
c. 460 BCE – 360 BCE · aged 100
Greek philosopher (c. 460–c. 370 BC)
- Born
- 460 BCE · Ancient Abdera
- Died
- 360 BCE
Life timeline
Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.
- c. 460 BCEBornBorn in Ancient Abdera
- c. 360 BCEDiedDied
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Meanwhile in the world
Major world events during their lifetime (460 BCE – 360 BCE).
- 431 BCE – 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
Biography
Democritus ( dih-MOK-rih-təs; Greek: Δημόκριτος, Dēmókritos; c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek 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.
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.
Text from the Wikipedia article Democritus, CC BY-SA 4.0
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