“Cheerfulness arises through moderation of enjoyment and a measured way of life.”
— DemocritusDiels-Kranz 68 B191, preserved in Stobaeus, Anthology; approximate English rendering
Commentary
This fragment states the ethical ideal most often associated with Democritus, which the later tradition called euthymia, or cheerfulness of the soul, and which he regarded as the highest good. The claim that cheerfulness results from measured enjoyment and proportionate living makes tranquillity a product of moderation rather than of either pleasure or its absence. Gregory Vlastos, in his essay Ethics and Physics in Democritus (1945), argued that this ethic is closely tied to the atomist physics, since a soul whose atoms are finely balanced will be stable and calm. C. C. W. Taylor, in The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus (1999), places the fragment among the ethical sayings that present Democritus as a practical moralist, one who sought a settled inner state rather than external goods. David Furley, in his studies of the atomists, has discussed the relation between the ethical and physical teachings, and has argued that the two are less separate than they appear. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield discuss the theme of cheerfulness in their account of the Presocratic ethics, noting its resonance with later Greek schools. The wording is an approximate English rendering, and the fragment's Greek should be checked, since the term translated as cheerfulness has several possible senses.
Commentary
This fragment states the ethical ideal most often associated with Democritus, which the later tradition called euthymia, or cheerfulness of the soul, and which he regarded as the highest good. The claim that cheerfulness results from measured enjoyment and proportionate living makes tranquillity a product of moderation rather than of either pleasure or its absence. Gregory Vlastos, in his essay Ethics and Physics in Democritus (1945), argued that this ethic is closely tied to the atomist physics, since a soul whose atoms are finely balanced will be stable and calm. C. C. W. Taylor, in The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus (1999), places the fragment among the ethical sayings that present Democritus as a practical moralist, one who sought a settled inner state rather than external goods. David Furley, in his studies of the atomists, has discussed the relation between the ethical and physical teachings, and has argued that the two are less separate than they appear. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield discuss the theme of cheerfulness in their account of the Presocratic ethics, noting its resonance with later Greek schools. The wording is an approximate English rendering, and the fragment's Greek should be checked, since the term translated as cheerfulness has several possible senses.