Abstract

In the ethical fragments, Democritus presents old age as an age when moderation develops more easily than in youth (68B294 DK). The fact that he also describes old age as “a general mutilation” (πήρωσις ὁλόκληρος) (68B296 DK) suggests that his atomic theory may have been used to account for the phenomenon. Understood as a loss of atoms in all parts of the body, the πήρωσις in turn causes leaks of psychic atoms which can have an impact on the temperament of old people. If this hypothesis is correct, it adds to the number of possible links between the atomic theory and the moral thoughts of Democritus.