Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
On Forms (Peri Ideōn)
Democritus's c. 430 BCE treatise — atomic shapes (ideai) as the source of perceptible qualities
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | On Forms (Peri Ideōn) (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
On Forms (Peri Ideōn)
The c. 430 BCE moment of Democritus's mature atomic philosophy.
Space
On Forms (Peri Ideōn)
Abdera and the broader pre-Socratic Greek philosophical setting.
Matter
On Forms (Peri Ideōn)
The atoms whose geometrical forms the treatise treats.
Observer
On Forms (Peri Ideōn)
The atomic-philosophical natural philosopher as proper subject.
Energy
On Forms (Peri Ideōn)
The mechanical-atomic energies of interactive geometrical configurations.
Information
On Forms (Peri Ideōn)
The atomic-geometrical-philosophical content of the treatise.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
On Forms is lost; the primary-secondary-quality distinction has remained central to philosophy from Galileo onward. The proper-modern-physical understanding of atoms differs substantially from Democritus's purely-geometrical conception.