Practice question · True or false
Democritus held that sweetness and bitterness are properties of atoms themselves.
Hints
- Recall his statement about convention and reality.
- He says these qualities exist by convention, while in reality there are only atoms and void.
Show the answer
False
Why
False, "by convention sweet, by convention bitter; in reality atoms and void." Sweetness arises in the interaction between atoms and a perceiver, which is the first clear statement of the primary/secondary quality distinction.
Practise The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus
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