Editing Democritus (section)

{{Short description|Greek philosopher (c. 460–c. 370 BC)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name = Democritus
| image = Unknown greek pushkin.jpg
| caption = A philosopher, possibly Democritus. Casting of bust of the [[Villa of the Papyri]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=De Petra |editor1-first=Giulio |editor2-last=Sogliano |editor2-first=Antonio |editor3-last=Patroni |editor3-first=Giovanni |editor4-last=Mariani |editor4-first=L. |editor5-last=Bassi |editor5-first=Domenico |editor6-last=Marucchi |editor6-first=Orazio |editor7-last=Conti |editor7-first=A. |editor6-link=Orazio Marucchi |title=Illustrated guide to the National Museum in Naples : sanctioned by the Ministry of education |publisher=Naples : Richter & Co. |page=68 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedguide00museiala/page/n1/mode/2up |access-date=9 May 2024}}</ref>
| birth_date ={{circa|460 BC}}
| birth_place = [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]], [[Thrace]]
| death_date ={{circa|370 BC}} (aged approximately 90)
| era = [[Pre-Socratic philosophy]]
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| school_tradition = [[Atomism]]
| main_interests = {{hlist |style = padding:0.1em 0; line-height:1.3em; |[[Physis|Nature]]}}
| notable_ideas =
 {{unbulleted list |item_style=padding:0.15em 0;line-height:1.25em;
  |[[Atoms]] and the [[Vacuum|void]] as the fundamental constituents of the physical world{{efn|[[Diels–Kranz numbering system|DK]] B125: "ἐτεῇ δὲ ἄτομα καὶ κενόν"}}
 }}
}}

'''Democritus''' ({{IPAc-en|d|ɪ|ˈ|m|ɒ|k|r|ɪ|t|ə|s}}, {{respell|dim|OCK|rit|əs}}; {{langx|el|Δημόκριτος}}, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; {{circa|460}} – {{circa|370 BC}}) was an [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|pre-Socratic philosopher]] from [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]], primarily remembered today for his formulation of an [[atomism|atomic theory]] of the [[universe]].{{sfn|Barnes|1987}} Democritus wrote extensively on a wide variety of topics.<ref name="Kenny">{{Cite book |last=Kenny |first=Anthony |url= |title=Ancient Philosophy |publisher=Oxford Publications |isbn=9780198752721 |pages=27}}</ref>

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]].{{sfn|Berryman|2016}} He was known in antiquity as the ‘laughing philosopher’ because of his emphasis on the value of cheerfulness.<ref>{{Cite sep| author-last=Berryman |author-first=Sylvia |date = 2023| title=Democritus |url-id = democritus |access-date=30 April 2024}}</ref>