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The thesis is a comparative study on atomism of Democritus and Epicurus on contingency and dedicated to Marx's friend, mentor, and future father-in-law, Ludwig von Westphalen. Francis Wheen describes it as "a daring and original piece of work in which Marx set out to show that theology must yield to the superior wisdom of philosophy". [1]
Eating delicious food, as well as fulfilling desires and removing pain, which is itself considered a pleasurable act, are all examples of kinetic pleasure in the physical sense. [45] [51] According to Epicurus, feelings of joy would be an example of mental kinetic pleasure. [45]
Also like Democritus, Epicurus was a materialist who taught that the only things that exist are atoms and void. [93] [11] Void occurs in any place where there are no atoms. [94] Epicurus and his followers believed that atoms and void are both infinite and that the universe is therefore boundless. [95]
Democritus was also a pioneer of mathematics and geometry in particular. According to Archimedes, [h] Democritus was among the first to observe that a cone and pyramid with the same base area and height has one-third the volume of a cylinder or prism respectively, a result which Archimedes states was later proved by Eudoxus of Cnidus.
[47] [48] Hence, Epicurus advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one's lifetime, yet doing so moderately in order to avoid the suffering incurred by overindulgence in such pleasure. [47] Epicurus actively recommended against passionate love, and believed it best to avoid marriage altogether.
In 1967, Pamela Huby suggested that Epicurus was the original discoverer of the "free-will problem". Huby noted that there had been two main free-will problems, corresponding to different determinisms, namely theological determinism (predestination and foreknowledge) and the physical causal determinism of Democritus.
Epicurus was not an atheist, although he rejected the idea of a god concerned with human affairs; followers of Epicureanism denied the idea that there was no god. While the conception of a supreme, happy and blessed god was the most popular during his time, Epicurus rejected such a notion, as he considered it too heavy a burden for a god to have to worry about all the problems in the world.
The poem consists of six untitled books, in dactylic hexameter.The first three books provide a fundamental account of being and nothingness, matter and space, the atoms and their movement, the infinity of the universe both as regards time and space, the regularity of reproduction (no prodigies, everything in its proper habitat), the nature of mind (animus, directing thought) and spirit (anima ...