Twelve Fundamentals of Nature

Diogenes Laertius records that Epicurus wrote a volume dedicated to what appears to be Twelve Fundamentals, or Twelve Elementary Principles, of Nature. That volume does not survive, and we do not know the contents of the list.

Various commentators have attempted to reconstruct the list by comparing the material presented in the letter to Herodotus to that which is presented in the opening books of Lucretius. The following list is a version reconstructed by Norman Dewitt in his book “Epicurus And His Philosophy.”

1. Matter is uncreatable.
2. Matter is indestructible.
3. The universe consists of solid bodies and void.
4. Solid bodies are either compounds or simple.
5. The multitude of atoms is infinite.
6. The void is infinite in extent.
7. The atoms are always in motion.
8. The speed of atomic motion is uniform.
9. Motion is linear in space, vibratory in compounds.
10. Atoms are capable of swerving slightly at any point in space or time.
11. Atoms are characterized by three qualities: weight, shape and size.
12. The number of the different shapes is not infinite, merely innumerable.

An alternate proposal has been reconstructed by Diskin Clay: "Epicurus' Last Will and Testament" - by Diskin Clay

Our friend Twentier has previously provided this commentary:

Clay provides at least two lists of ΣΤΟΙΧΕΙΩΜΑΤΑ (STOIKHEIOMATA), with very minor differences. Also, I note that Clay does not try to reconstruct the same ΔΩΔEKA ΣTOIXEIΩΣEIΣ (DODEKA STOIKHEIOSEIS) that De Witt does (the "Twelve"). He omits the Propositions about uniform atomic motion and the atomic swerve.

In Paradosis and Survival (12), he writes:

1. “Nothing comes into being out of nothing.” (EH 38.8-39.1, DRN I 145-150, 159-160)
2. “Nothing is reduced to nothing.” (EH 39.1-2, DRN I 215-218, 237)
3. “The universe always was as it is and always will be.” (EH 39.1-2, DRN II 294-307; V 359-363) (Atomic Theory; Quantum Field Theory)
4. “The universe is made up of bodies and void.” (EH 39.6-40.2, DRN I 418-428)
5. “Bodies are atoms and their compounds.” (EH 40.7-9, DRN I 483-486)
6. “The universe is infinite.” (EH 41.6-10, DRN I 958-1001)
7. “Atoms are infinite in number and space extends without limit” (EH 41.11-42.4, DRN I 1008-1020)
8. “Atoms of similar shape are infinite in number, but the variety of their shapes is indefinite, not infinite.” (EH 42.10-43.4, DRN II 522-527)
9. “Atomic motion is contstant and of two kinds.” (EH 43.5-44.1, DRN II 95-102 [I 952])
10. “Atoms share only three of the characteristics of sensible things: shape, weight, mass.” (EH 54.3-6, DRN II 748-752)

In Lucretius' Translation of Greek Philosophy (35-39), Clay writes:

1. “Nothing is created out of nothing” (DRN I 145-150, 159-160)
2. “Nothing is reduced to nothing.” (DRN I 215-218, 237)
3. “The universe is made up of two components: body and void.” (DRN I 418-428)
4. “Body is understood as atoms and their compounds.” (DRN I 438-486)
5. “Atoms share only three of the characteristics of sensible things: shape, weight, mass.” (DRN II 748-752)
6. “Atomic motion is constant and of two kinds.” (DRN I 952)
7. “The universe is infinite.” (DRN I 958-864)
8. “The atoms are infinite in number, and space extends without limit.” (DRN 1008-1020)
9. “Atoms of similar shape are infinite in number, but the variety of their shapes is indefinite, not infinite” (DRN I 1008-1020)

Clay also has a slightly different version in Lucretius and Epicurus, but I do not have access to it. They are essentially the same, but Clay never presents the same list in the same order twice.

Also, Don has provided this:

[T]he primary problem [si] trying to reconstruct a lost text with NO surviving fragments. My understanding is that the ONLY reference to the "Twelve Fundamentals" is the one in Diogenes Laertius: colour varies with the arrangement of the atoms he states in his "Twelve Rudiments". Δώδεκα στοιχειώσεσί ; further, that they are not of any and every size ; at any rate no atom has ever been seen by our sense.

Epicurus uses στοιχεῖα in the letter to Menoikeus (123) to refer to the elements of the noble/good life: στοιχεῖα τοῦ καλῶς ζῆν.

Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, στοιχεί-ωσις

Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, στοιχεῖον

Discussion of this topic is here: The Twelve Fundamentals - Discussion on Lucretius Today Podcast