Democritus's economic ideas in the context of classical political economy

This paper argues that the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus expressed many interesting economic ideas, some of which can also be found in the works of the Socratic philosophers. The paper shows that the Abderian 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, ethical 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.