STUDY QUESTIONS FOR ANAXAGORAS

AN THE ATOMISTS (DEMOCRITUS & LEUCIPPUS)

Anaxagoras
1. Why does Anaxagoras think that there is no limit in the smallness or largeness of
things?
2. What does Anaxagoras mean when he says that "all things have a portion of
everything?"
3. Why is Mind the exception such that it is mixed with no other things?
4. How do coming-to-be and passing-away resolve into mixture and separation ruled by
Mind?

Democritus & Leucippus
5. What are the grounds for thinking that bodies are composed of indivisible things?
6. How are compounds produced?
7. What does Simplicius think Leucippus and Democritus hold as the cause of the
indivisibility of atoms?
8. What line of reasoning does Aristotle claim the atomists use to reach the conclusion
that there must be indivisible bodies?
9. How does Philoponus analyze what the atomists must mean when they speak of atoms
coming into contact with each other?
10. How do atoms move?
11. How do atoms account for the differences in the taste of foods?
12. What is the difference between "legitimate" and "bastard" judgment?