Document 3: Lucretius On the Nature of the Universe 4.660-690 (1st C. BC) “The s

Question

Document 3: Lucretius On the Nature of the Universe 4.660-690 (1st C. BC)

“The sight of a rooster ... is intolerable to lions. At the first glimpse they think only of running away. The reason, of course, is that the rooster's body contains certain atoms which, when they get into the lion's eyes, prick the eyeballs and cause acute pain, so that even their bold spirits cannot long endure it. But these atoms have no power to hurt our own eyes, either because they never get in at    all or because, once in, they have a clear way out, so that they do not hurt the eyeball by meeting obstruction at any point.”

What is Lucretius' explanation for lions running away from roosters, but people not running away from roosters?

--> The sight of a rooster hurts the lion's eyes but not ours.

What experiment would you propose to test his theory about the cause of lions running away from roosters? (100 words maximum. Justify your answer by reference to either or both of the texts above.)

Explanation / Answer

The poem is based on epicureanism philosophy.The basis of this theory is that every body seek pleasure and avoid pain.The Lucretius explanation for lions running away from rooster is that sight of a rooster is causing pain ,may be the lions do not like the shape or size or the features of a rooster, dislike the obstruction in lions eyes that is it's mind .This dislike of rooster,to avoid this pain causes the lions to ran from the sight of a rooster. I would propose an experiment based on deductionism.A direct observation of both the statements :the sight of a rooster hurts the eyes of the lion:the sight of a rooster doesn't hurt our eyes,to reach a conclusion.

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