atomism
Indivisible units philosophy
Atomism is the philosophical doctrine that reality consists of indivisible, fundamental units.
In ancient Greek thought, Democritus proposed that all matter comprises tiny particles called atoms moving through void.
The term extends to any theory that explains complex phenomena by reducing them to discrete, irreducible components: psychological atomism, logical atomism.
More broadly, atomism describes approaches that analyze wholes by examining their smallest parts, sometimes criticized for missing how parts interact: The atomism of the study ignored how communities actually function.
Philosophy of existence's nature
- ontologyStudy of existence's nature
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
reductionism · pluralism · monism · physicalism · naturalism · causality · substance · empiricism
Ancient atomism's founder
- EpicurusAthenian pleasure-seeking sage
- pre-SocraticGreek thought before dialectics
- voidWithout legal effect
- indivisibleUnable to be divided
Lucretius · materialism · mechanistic · natural philosophy · classical antiquity · Epicureanism · infinite universe · chance
Minute pieces of matter
- quarksFundamental hadron components
- electronsNegative charges in atoms
- protonsPositive nuclear particles
- neutronsUncharged subatomic particles
elementary particles · indivisible · corpuscles · Dalton · Bohr · kinetic theory · molecular · nuclear
English surname, aristocratic
- WittgensteinPhilosopher of language limits
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- Vienna CircleLogical empiricism's founding collective
- correspondenceExchanged written communication
Doctrine of personal independence
- societyOrganized communal human existence
- isolatedSeparated from others
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
- self-sufficientAble to provide independently
liberalism · rational choice · aggregation · collective action · Hobbes · social contract · market · competition
Wholes trump components
- organicismUnified living systems theory
- GestaltOrganized perceptual whole
- interconnectionMutual joining of parts
- contextualismBelief justification varies situationally
field theory · wholes · integration · complexity · synergy · interdependence · networks
metaphysics
Philosophy of existence's nature
- ontologyStudy of existence's nature
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
determinism · reductionism · pluralism · monism · physicalism · naturalism · causality · substance · empiricism · rationalism
Democritus
Ancient atomism's founder
- EpicurusAthenian pleasure-seeking sage
- pre-SocraticGreek thought before dialectics
- voidWithout legal effect
Lucretius · indivisible · materialism · mechanistic · natural philosophy · classical antiquity · Epicureanism · infinite universe · chance · necessity
particles
Minute pieces of matter
- quarksFundamental hadron components
- electronsNegative charges in atoms
- protonsPositive nuclear particles
neutrons · elementary particles · indivisible · corpuscles · Dalton · Bohr · kinetic theory · molecular · nuclear · quantum
Russell
English surname, aristocratic
- WittgensteinPhilosopher of language limits
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- Vienna CircleLogical empiricism's founding collective
individualism
Doctrine of personal independence
- societyOrganized communal human existence
- isolatedSeparated from others
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
self-sufficient · liberalism · rational choice · aggregation · collective action · Hobbes · social contract · market · competition · self-interest
holism
Wholes trump components
- organicismUnified living systems theory
- GestaltOrganized perceptual whole
- interconnectionMutual joining of parts
contextualism · field theory · wholes · integration · complexity · synergy · interdependence · networks
- Greek conceptslogos, ethos, pathos, hubris, arete
- Greek philosophyAristotle, Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Academy
- Greek scienceAristotle, Archimedes, Euclid, Ptolemy, Hippocrates
- philosophiesempiricism, stoicism, nihilism, idealism, materialism
- -ismspostmodernism, feminism, Marxism, Darwinism, realism
- ancient scienceAristotle, Plato, Ptolemy, Galen, Pythagoras
atomismfield theory
Study of spatial phenomena
holism · monism · Aristotelian physics · plenum · Aristotelianism
atomismholism
Wholes trump components
systems thinking · organicism · gestalt theory · synergism · contextualism
atomismcollectivism
Group primacy doctrine
communitarianism · organicism · corporatism · socialism · communalism
- atomic bombFission-triggered mass destruction device
- atomic energyForce from split nuclei
- atomic structureInternal composition of atoms
- atomic powerEnergy from fission reactions
- atomic fusionNuclei merging into heavier elements
- atomic weaponBomb using nuclear reactions
atomic, atomize, subatomic, atomization, atomistic, atomic bomb, atomic number, atomic weight