Democritus and his Influence on Classical Political Economy

Most essays on the economic ideas of the ancient Greeks are concerned with the Socratic philosophers and very few references to the economic ideas of Democritus can be found. The present paper demonstrates that the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus expressed many interesting psychological and economic ideas, some of which can also be found in the works of the Socratic philosophers that followed. In this manner, the paper concludes that the Aderian philosopher, despite the fact that he did not engage himself primarily with economic issues, as his economic ideas were mainly developed as part of his psychological and philosophical teaching, is nevertheless a fine example of how ancient Greek thought contributed to the formation of the epistemological presuppositions of Political Economy, making Man the Subject of History and of all Social Process.