New Perspective on the First Atomists, Leucippus and Democritus

This book is dedicated solely to Leucippus and Democritus, the first atomists and will focus on their ideas about atoms, cosmogony and cosmology as a reply to problems set by Parmenides. It argues that we have underestimated their use of ou mallon (‘not rather’ or indifference) considerations. These were used not only for the shape and size of atoms, but for the number, position and velocities of atoms and for the times and places of cosmos formation. The much quoted Fr. 2 (‘Nothing happens at random but everything for a reason and by necessity') does not have the universal application which is commonly assumed, when examined with its context.This radically alters our understanding of what happens outside of the cosmoi which is significantly less determinate and less deterministic than is generally supposed. Instead of being able to give a form of Laplacian answer positions, velocities of atoms in the void and the time and place of cosmos formation are genuinely ou mallon. A key issue examined by Gregory is reason and sufficient reason in Parmenides and the early atomists. He also presents the co-ordinate argument about whether the early atomists can be considered to be mechanists under any sensible definition of the term. This new perspective gives Leucippus and Democritus a more interesting, subtle and nuanced reply to issues raised by Parmenides, and allows a re-appraisal of their pivotal role in early Greek philosophy and science.