Keep A Journal Throughout The Course

Week 1One of the famous pre Socratic Scholar we have discussed is Democritus. He was perhaps the most successful of the ancient philosophers from a scientific standpoint, and yet he was largely ignored in the ancient world. We know that he believed that the whole universe was governed by natural laws which were understandable and predictable, a very modern view. Using reason Democritus also predicted the existence of atoms and vacuums. This was at a time when it was impossible to detect anything smaller than the eye can see and the idea of nothingness and vacuums was anathema to most thinkers. His wide ranging studies also took on the finer points of philosophy, biology, human society, and geometry. As well as being right on so many matters, even if unacknowledged, he was also a cheery individual known as the Laughing Philosopher. Due to the takeover of the barbarians that started in 476, all institutions of civilization and culture failed— all but one. The Church of Jesus Christ endured when the greatest and most powerful of the works of man were laid into ruins. Before the end of the 8th century, the Church had set on foot a strong tendency