Letter to Herodotus
Epistole pros Herodoton
The universe consists of nothing but atoms and void, is infinite and eternal, and understanding its physical workings through this atomic theory is necessary groundwork for achieving the freedom from fear that a good life requires.
- atoms and void as the sole ultimate reality
- an eternal, infinite universe without design
- the atomic 'swerve' and free will
- physics as instrumental to ethical peace of mind
- adaptation of Democritus's atomism
Also preserved through Diogenes Laertius's biography, the Letter to Herodotus compresses Epicurus's entire physical theory, adapted from Democritus's atomism, into a summary meant for students to memorize before tackling his fuller physical treatises, now largely lost. Epicurus argues that nothing comes from nothing and nothing perishes into nothing, that the universe consists solely of an infinite number of indivisible atoms moving through infinite void, and that worlds form and dissolve through chance atomic collisions rather than divine design. He introduces the idea that atoms occasionally 'swerve' unpredictably from a determined path, a departure from Democritus's stricter determinism later Epicureans used to defend free will.
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