Order without teleology: Epicurean cosmogony, theology, and anthropology

This chapter deals with some of the central themes of Epicurean philosophy: cosmogony, meteorology, theology, psychology, and the origin of language. What links these different areas together is Epicurus’ fundamental assumption that nature’s order is not explained by intelligent design, teleology, or anthropocentric providence, but by formative principles intrinsic to its physical-atomic structure. In developing this view, Epicurus was both drawing upon the earlier atomism of Democritus and likely reacting to both Plato and Aristotle, whose natural philosophies regularly appeal to teleological modes of explanation. Epicurus responded to these ideas by theorizing a universe whose structure wholly depends on the interactions of atoms moving through the void.