PHIL 681: Tenth Short Paper

Due April 13


(Reminder: You do not have to do this particular paper. You need to do any four short papers (or three short papers plus a presentation), plus the major semester paper, over the course of the semester.)

Option One
    What does Democritus' and Leucippus' "void" (or "the empty," to kenon) seem to be? In what sense do they appear to suggest it is "not being," and in what sense "is" it? That is, how can it both "be" and "not be," according to the pre-Socratic Atomists? Why is "the empty" a necessary part of the Atomist cosmology and cosmogony?
    You may find particularly useful the recommended articles by Berryman, Sedley, Longrigg, and Mourelatos; and the recommended chapters in Curd's The Legacy of Parmenides and Graham's Explaining the Cosmos.
    You may certainly quote the text, but when you do so you must explain what you think the quotations mean and imply. There is no need to use any sources other than the assigned texts and listed recommended texts. Your discussion of these secondary texts should not simply repeat or paraphrase their arguments, but should also show your assessment of their accuracy and of the sufficiency of the support they give for their points. This paper should be approximately 4-5 pages long (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins). It is due in class on April 13.
   

_____________________________________________________________________________
    
Option Two
    Graham argues (Explaining the Cosmos Chapter 9) that Democritus and Leucippus represent a second stage of responses to Eleatic challenges, the first stage being represented by Empedocles and Anaxagoras. Democritus and Leucippus, Graham argues, respond not only (or perhaps not mainly) to Parmenides, but rather to points raised by Melissus and/or Zeno; and where Democritus and Leucippus do treat Parmenidean concerns, their focus is different from that of Anaxagoras and Empedocles.
    Using the text of the fragments of Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Leucippus and Democritus, discuss Graham's argument: Are his suggestions about the issues and philosophers that engage the interest of the pre-Socratic Atomists supported by the fragments? How so, or how not? Is his analysis of the problems these Atomists tried to resolve supported by the fragments? (For example, are they trying to address ontological problems, epistemological problems, or both?) Explain.
    You may certainly quote the text, but when you do so you must explain what you think the quotations mean and imply. There is no need to use any sources other than the assigned texts and listed recommended texts. Your discussion of these secondary texts should not simply repeat or paraphrase their arguments, but should also show your assessment of their accuracy and of the sufficiency of the support they give for their points. This paper should be approximately 4-5 pages long (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins). It is due in class on April 13.