Democritus and Lucretius on death and dying
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23200743 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cristopher C W Taylor (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Pages | 77-86 |
| Publication date | 2007-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Democritus (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/ej.9789004151604.i-352.15 |
| OpenAlex | W916141590 |
| ISBN | 9789004151604 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
This chapter compares the views of death and of the process of dying attributed to Democritus by various ancient sources with those found in Lucretius. Democritus conceives the soul as a simple psycho-physical structure, a web of spherical and highly mobile atoms permeating the entire structure of the body. Since death is the cessation of psychic functioning, consequent on the loss of a number of soul-atoms sufficient to sustain that functioning, this view of the soul naturally leads to a view of the distinction between life and death as a continuum, rather than as a sharp cut-off. Lucretius’ explanation is that the anima -atoms in the limbs are dispersed, while those in the rest of the body remain active. Modern science has therefore largely abandoned the idea of a moment of death, which is central to the Epicurean picture, underlying its confidence that ‘death is nothing to us’. Keywords: anima -atom; Democritus; Lucretius
Epicureanism · Epistemology · Nothing · Psychic · Soul · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Medicine · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2021 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |