Qualities

From Epicurus Wiki

Epicurean physical theory maintains that qualities of objects, such as color, temperature, softness, etc., are secondary attributes relating to the arrangement of the object's component atoms. These descriptions are only applicable to compound bodies; the qualities of the atoms themselves are fixed and limited. This much was held in common with the Democritean account, but Epicurus goes further by asserting that qualities of compound bodies are "real" (Gr. onta), while Democritus regards them merely as "conventions" (Gr. νόμοι, nomoi, "laws").