atomists
Indivisible matter theorists
Atomists are philosophers or scientists who hold that matter is composed of indivisible particles.
The term most often refers to ancient Greek thinkers like Democritus and Leucippus, who proposed that everything consists of tiny, unchangeable atoms moving through void.
In broader use, atomist can describe anyone who explains complex phenomena by reducing them to fundamental units.
The atomists anticipated modern physics by over two millennia.
Unable to be divided
- particlesMinute pieces of matter
- voidWithout legal effect
- motionChange in position
- shapeExternal outline of something
size · arrangement · collision · aggregation · solid · impenetrable · infinite · eternal
Without legal effect
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- necessityIndispensable requirement
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- cheerfulnessState of bright spirits
ethics · sensory perception · pre-Socratic · naturalism · mechanism · reductionism · empiricism · pluralism
Greek thought before dialectics
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- ZenoGreek paradox thinker
- cosmologyStudy of universal structure
- metaphysicsPhilosophy of existence's nature
plurality · being · change · elements · nous · dialectics · Greek philosophy · ontology
Prioritizing goods over spirit
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
- empiricismKnowledge through observation
naturalism · physicalism · monism · causality · necessity · chance · ontology · epistemology
- swerveAbrupt directional change
- voidWithout legal effect
- ataraxiaImperturbable peace of mind
- pleasureHappy, satisfied feeling
Garden · free will · ethics · hedonism · mortality · gods · sensation · canonic
English-origin family name
- BoyleGas behavior law eponym
- molecular theoryMatter composed of particles
- scientific revolutionTransformative change in understanding
- NewtonFamous scientific surname
elements · compounds · Lavoisier · kinetic theory · Boltzmann · revival · seventeenth century
indivisible
Unable to be divided
shape · size · arrangement · collision · aggregation · solid · impenetrable · infinite · eternal · unchangeable
void
Without legal effect
cheerfulness · ethics · sensory perception · pre-Socratic · naturalism · mechanism · reductionism · empiricism · pluralism · indivisibles
pre-Socratic
Greek thought before dialectics
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- ZenoGreek paradox thinker
- cosmologyStudy of universal structure
metaphysics · plurality · being · change · elements · nous · dialectics · Greek philosophy · ontology
materialism
Prioritizing goods over spirit
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
empiricism · naturalism · physicalism · monism · causality · necessity · chance · ontology · epistemology · nominalism
Lucretius
pleasure · Garden · free will · ethics · hedonism · mortality · gods · sensation · canonic · minima
Dalton
English-origin family name
- BoyleGas behavior law eponym
- molecular theoryMatter composed of particles
- scientific revolutionTransformative change in understanding
Newton · elements · compounds · Lavoisier · kinetic theory · Boltzmann · revival · seventeenth century