Understanding the Notion of ‘vacuum’ in the Philosophy of Democritus from Abdera Cover Image

Rozumienie pojęcia „próżni” w filozofii Demokryta z Abdery
Understanding the Notion of ‘vacuum’ in the Philosophy of Democritus from Abdera

Author(s): Dawid Biedrzyński
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: vacuum; something; nothing; infinity; chaos

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses one of the key notions concerning the basic constituents of the universe, which for Democritus are atoms and vacuum. The primary aim of this article is to show that the complexity of the applied category does not allow for the interpretation of philosophy of atomists as that of naïve materialism. At the same time, it is pointed out that the notion of ‘vacuum’ as used by Democritus suggests a high level of abstraction of his considerations. It is also shown that the category of kenon places Democritus’s philosophy in a wider context of historical-philosophical evolution of such key notions as ‘infinite’ and ‘undefined’.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 33
  • Page Range: 85-100
  • Page Count: 16