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Work #1187 · Mature

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

Democritus of Abdera
c. 430 BCE · Ionian Greek
Cosmological treatise (lost) · Greek atomism / Pre-Socratic natural philosophy

Democritus's c. 430 BCE lost cosmological masterwork — foundation of Greek atomism

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos) (Mature)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Variable
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

The c. 430 BCE moment of the foundational atomist cosmology.

Space

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

Abdera and the broader pre-Socratic Greek philosophical setting.

Matter

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

The atomic-material foundation of all phenomena as the cosmology describes.

Observer

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

The natural-philosophical observer as proper subject.

Energy

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

The mechanical-deterministic energies of atomic motion.

Information

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

The atomist-cosmological content of the lost work.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Great World-System (Megas Diakosmos)

The work is lost; reconstruction relies on hostile-Platonist witnesses, friendly-Aristotelian witnesses, and the doxographic tradition. Modern atomic-physical theory has substantially vindicated the foundational atomist intuition; the philosophical details remain contested.