LEUCIPPUS AND DEMOCRITUS ETHICAL ATOMISM

Abstract

In this article, we start from the general thesis of the atomism – everything in the universe is composed by atoms – to assume an atomist reading of the ethical fragments of Democritus. If Leucippus and Democritus explain not only the beginning of the world, as well as the constitution of the soul and the body from the relation atom‑emptiness (to be‑not to be), this structure will also be applied to the ethical maxims that we know. Despite this, the relation soul‑body is one of superiority (the knowledge that drift of the sensations it’s obscure), it is also of interdependence, that leads Democritus to blame soul when body is only a tool of its vices or the need to take care of soul and body in the same way. However, it is in the soul that we must look for true knowledge (subtle), as well as the pleasures that value the man. From this relation, we will also analyse the consequences in the education as well as in the life in society.