100 must-read books for college students

Chapter 18 The Ancient Masterpiece of Atomic Materialism
Chapter No.17 The masterpiece of ancient atomic materialism: "On the Nature of Things"

"On the Nature of Things" is a poetic and philosophical work of the ancient Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius.Lucretius lived in Roman society

In an era when religious superstition was prevalent and decadent and disorderly, he believed that "On the Nature of Things" was a good cure for "Roman disease".
An important point of view is: the emergence of religious superstition is nothing more than two reasons, one is the ignorance of the laws of nature, the other is the soul

The concept of immortality and the fear of life after death, and the only thing that can dispel fear and darkness is the understanding of the appearance and laws of nature

.Therefore, Lucretius comprehensively explained the atomism of Greek materialism, especially Epicurus's, in "On the Nature of Things".

Doctrines that attempt to explain natural phenomena and the nature of the mind and soul.

He devoted his whole life to writing "On the Nature of Things"

Lucretius (about 99-55 BC), an outstanding materialist philosopher, poet, and atheist at the end of the Roman Republic
author and exponent of atomic theory.About his life, there is no credible record left in history, it is said that he was

Suicide by taking poison due to intermittent mental illness.

At the end of the Roman Republic, internal and external wars continued, and class struggle was very fierce. The famous Spartacus uprising broke out.

Social unrest.People generally feel that they cannot control their own destiny, pursue personal inner peace, and believe in Epicurus'
theory.Lucretius is one of the famous representatives.

"On the Nature of Things" is the only work written by Lucretius in his whole life, but in ancient times and the Middle Ages, this work was ignorant.
It was not until 1473 that it was unearthed by Poggio, an Italian humanist, and survived through the Middle Ages.
A nearly complete manuscript of . "On the Nature of Things" is a poem of more than 7000 lines, and it is not only an excellent literary work
, and is an important philosophical work.In the long poem, Epicurus' atom theory is described most completely and systematically.

The book is divided into six volumes, respectively discussing objects and void; nature and its laws; soul; sensation and lust;
The origin of man and the origin of some anomalous phenomena.

Oppose Religious Superstition Materialist Atomic Theory

The Chinese meaning of "On Nature" is "On Nature". The book is divided into 6 volumes. The main contents of the first and second volumes are atomic

The basic idea of ​​the theory.Lucretius believed that matter is eternal.The first law of nature is that something cannot be created out of nothing, nothing
Things can be produced from nothing by the power of God, and everything needs a certain seed and has a certain substance.Since nothing

nothing can ever come into existence, so nothing can really perish, so the second law of nature is that nothing can return to nothing,
Otherwise, nothing exists.Nature consists of the atom (which he calls the seed, the primordial substance, the primordial) and the void, without a third
kind of nature.Things are not infinitely divisible, they are all composed of indivisible atoms.Atoms are extremely tiny, it is absolutely
With fulfillment, there is no internal change and thus eternal existence.The void is where the atoms move.The universe is spatially void

finite, the number of atoms in an infinite space is also infinite.Atoms have no internal changes, but because of their own
movement due to mass, and also due to impacts from other atoms.It should be noted that Lucretius was not outright atheist

The purpose of his criticism of religious superstition is to eliminate the awe and fear caused by God's interference in the world, thus proving that nature

It exists and moves completely according to its own laws.

In the third volume of "On the Nature of Things", Lucretius turned from the explanation of nature to the investigation of the soul, he argued that not only nature
Things are composed of atoms, and the human mind and soul are also composed of atoms, and the idea of ​​the immortality of the soul is raised.

There were 28 rebuttals.

The former atomists only knew that what they believed to be real was atoms and the void, but Lucretius used a lot of sensibility

To demonstrate this theory, although some examples seem naive today, he insisted on starting from nature itself.

It is very commendable not to explain the route of nature from outside of nature.

Lucretius also made a further elaboration on atomic motion, especially the theory of atomic deviation.He pointed out that atoms in the void
Movement is like the sun's rays obliquely passing through the dark hall of the house, and many particles in the space illuminated by the rays are not
They kept bumping into each other, wrestling in groups, without stopping.Lucretius regards weight as the primary source of atomic motion,
In his view, all material things fall by weight and produce motion, but the real
The reason is not the weight of the atom, but the deviation of the atom itself from the orbit.Atoms are not created by the collision of atoms

The deviation of the atoms, but the deviation of the atoms is the collision of the atoms, and the combination of the atoms.

Lucretius expounded the idea of ​​the infinity of the universe and its infinite number.He believes that the world we live in is finite because every
What is born in time must also die in time.

Lucretius is also a sensualist in terms of epistemology.He believes that foreign objects have a thin layer of likeness flowing from the surface

It comes out and impacts our eyes to cause vision, and other sense organs are also affected by similar outflows to produce various sensations.

On the basis of materialist reflection theory, he emphasized that feeling is the whole basis on which our cognition depends, and in our daily life

, there are many cases where it seems that the senses are wrong, but he thinks that it is not the senses that are wrong but the opinions of the mind.he thinks
These opinions are added by ourselves, so that we think we have seen those things that our senses do not see.

Lucretius did not explain these phenomena one by one, but put forward that "it is the feeling that first creates the concept of truth, and the feeling

It is also irrefutable. "For if feelings are to be refuted, a more trustworthy authority must be found, and there is no

of.First, reasoning cannot refute feelings, because reasoning itself is based on feelings, and reasoning cannot be done unless the feelings are true.

may be correct.Second, no one sense can judge another, since each sense has its own unique
tasks and capabilities.Besides, none of the senses can blame itself.Therefore, the feeling is real.if not

Trust our senses, "Not only will all reasoning be overthrown, but even our life will collapse at once", because
Feeling is "the whole foundation on which our life and security depend."If you see cliffs and other dangers and do not avoid them

If you open it, you will lose your life.

Lucretius firmly believed that the truth and the world could be known through feeling.He firmly opposed skepticism, pointing out that skepticism believes that any

If nothing can be known, then he cannot know whether this (nothing can be known) can be known, he

And where to get the standard of truth?He sneered, "This man has put his own head where his feet should be.

"

The main content of the fifth volume of "On Nature of Things" includes a cosmology and a theory about the origin of human beings and the origin of civilization.

In fundamental respects that do not exceed the achievements of pre-Socratic natural philosophy, the latter aspect is particularly striking, and it contains many

Most of them are similar to the theory of the origin of modern society.From these ideas, we can see the relationship between modern state of nature theory and social

The germs of contract theory.

The last volume of the Treatise on the Nature of Things is an explanation of natural phenomena such as thunder, electricity, and earthquakes, and finally Thucydides' Pelopon
The description of the "Plague of Athens" in the history of the Nissa War, the whole book ends here, obviously the author has not completed this work.

Lucretius, like Epicurus, took his atomic theory as a theoretical weapon against religious superstition.Against religious superstition is Lou

The central question of Cretius' philosophy.He extols Epicurus, whom he regards as the destroyer of religion, saying that when men

Moaning under the weight, it was a Greek (Epicurus) who first dared to raise mortal eyes against that terror; no
What god's prestige, or thunderbolt's strike, or sky's dreadful thunderclap, could awe him.Lucretius hated religion deeply,

Believe that religion is the source of human misfortune and evil.

Lucretius pointed out that the idea of ​​God originated from imagination.Men do not understand the law of the rising and setting of the stars, the wind, the lightning, and the thunder

Naruto, just imagine that there is a superhuman god that is the reason for all this.Since then, religion has brought infinite pain and infinite suffering to people.

Tears, people no longer use a calm and objective attitude to study the laws of things, but use useless prayers to appease the wrath of God

.He believes that religious belief is an insult to the gods and a kind of harm to himself, which destroys the peace and tranquility of the soul.

Lucretius' struggle against religion is resolute and powerful, to a certain extent revealing the epistemological origin of religion.of course he
Many of his specific arguments are unscientific today, and he did not and cannot reveal the class roots of religion, but
His spirit of fighting atheism is worth learning from today's people.

"On the Nature of Things" comprehensively and systematically expounds and develops the atomic theory and atheism of Democritus and Epicurus in the language of poetry.

On Thought is the only systematic work on the study of ancient atomic materialism.
Development has had a profound impact.

Each volume of the Treatise on the Nature of Things begins with a tribute to Epicurus, and it does provide a comprehensive and exhaustive exposition of the ancient principles.
Thoughts on sub-theory, but at the same time it has a perfect development.This work is the only one that completely preserves the principles of ancient materialism.

Important literature on sub-theory.There is no doubt that it occupies an extremely important position in the history of philosophy.

(End of this chapter)