Dumbocritus

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Dumbocritus

"[Epicurus] called Nausiphanes a jellyfish, illiterate, a charlatan, and a whore. Plato and his followers he called 'Dionysian toadies,' and Plato himself 'golden'; Aristotle was 'a wastrel' who squandered his patrimony, fought in battles, and sold potions; Protagoras a 'delivery man,' 'Democritus’ scribe,' and a 'village schoolmaster'; and Heraclitus is an 'agitator,' Democritus 'Dumocritus' [Lêrocritus], and Antidorus “Phallodorus” [Sannidorus]; and the Cyzicus school is 'Greece’s enemy,' the dialecticians are 'devastators,' and Pyrrho 'ignorant' and 'uneducated.'" (Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book X; White)

"Sweet exists by convention, bitter by convention, color by convention; atoms and Void (alone) exist in reality . . . We know nothing accurately in reality, but (only) as it changes according to the bodily condition, and the constitution of those things that flow upon (the body) and impinge upon it." (Democritus, Fragment 9; Freeman)

Comments 1

January 13, 2024 at 9:35 AM

Thank you for sharing. "Dumbocritus" certainly gets the sense of it -- to add a little about the word:

Ληρόκριτος (Lērókritos) is from "ληρός" (lērós) meaning "nonsense" "trash" or "idle talk," and "κρίνω" (krínō) which means "to judge" "to pick" or "to decide." Therefore Ληρόκριτος means something like "one who decides nonsense" or "chooser of foolish talk."

Δημόκριτος (Dēmókritos), his actual name, means "people's choice."

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