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Work #1189 · Mature

On Cheerfulness

Democritus of Abdera
c. 420 BCE · Ionian Greek
Ethical treatise (lost) · Greek atomism / Pre-Socratic ethics

Democritus's c. 420 BCE ethical treatise — euthumia (cheerfulness) as the proper end of human life

Attribute Fingerprint

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

Attribute On Cheerfulness (Mature)
Time · Extent Finite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
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 Singular
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

On Cheerfulness

The c. 420 BCE moment of Democritus's mature ethical work.

Space

On Cheerfulness

Abdera and the broader Greek philosophical setting.

Matter

On Cheerfulness

The embodied human person whose euthumia the treatise pursues.

Observer

On Cheerfulness

The practical-philosophical-ethical subject as proper observer.

Energy

On Cheerfulness

The cognitive-emotional energies of the cheerful soul.

Information

On Cheerfulness

The ethical-content of the treatise as preserved in the extensive fragments.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

On Cheerfulness

On Cheerfulness is lost as a whole text; the ethical fragments, preserved in much greater number than the physical-cosmological fragments, give substantial reconstruction.