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Atomism

In natural philosophy, atomism is the theory that all the objects in the universe are composed of very small, invisible, indestructible building blocksatoms. The word atomism derives from the ancient Greek word atomos, which means "that which cannot be cut into smaller pieces." Traditional atomism is used in two distinct domains: The atoms of physical science, and that of philosophy. Atomism is traditionally associated with the latter, where philosophers have argued that the basic building blocks of reality, and which make up absolutely anything that exists, are incredibly tiny objects that do not have physical parts, cannot be split, divided or cut, and which are either point-sized (sizeless) or they have a tiny size. Those that have a tiny size are called Democritean atoms. This was the case for the Greek theories of atomism. Indian Buddhists, such as Dharmakirti and others, also contributed to well-developed theories of atomism that involve momentary (instantaneous) atoms that flash in and out of existence. Atomism became immensely popular in the early nineteenth century, when scientists like Dalton posited that all substances were made up of but a few elements which consist of indivisible atoms. However, in the twentieth century, these uncuttable "atoms" were found to be composed of even smaller entities: Electrons, neutrons, and protons. Further experiments showed that protons and neutrons are made of even more fundamental quarks. The trend of empirical evidence for ever-smaller subatomic particles raises the question of matter being infinitely divisible. Yet even if a theoretical smallest particle could be found, with the advent of quantum theory, atomism could no longer be sustained. Its downfall came with the discovery of the wave-particle duality, that all such point-like particles are simultaneously waves whose extension in space is theoretically unbounded. Sometimes, matter behaves like particles; other times like waves. Thus, the historical position of atomism should be seen as but one way of looking at a more complex reality that is both local and global, discrete and holistic at the same time.

Greek atomism
Is there an ultimate, indivisible unit of matter?

Greek stamp honoring Democritus and his modern significance In the late fifth century B.C.E., Democritus and Leucippus taught that the hidden substance in all physical objects consists of different arrangements of 1) atoms and 2) void. Both atoms and the void were never created, and they will be never ending. Democritus became famous for this idea, but he followed closely what his teacher, Leucippus, taught (Lloyd 1970, 45-48). No word written by Leucippus has survived, and of the writings of Democritus have brought forth only a few unhelpful fragments. The void is infinite and provides the space in which the atoms can pack or scatter differently. The different possible packing and scatterings within the void make up the shifting outlines and bulk of the objects that people feel, see, eat, hear, smell, and taste. While one may feel hot or cold, hot and cold actually have no real existence. They are simply sensations produced in one by the different pickings and scatterings of the atoms in the void that compose the object that one senses as being "hot" or "cold." The work of Democritus has survived only in secondhand reports, sometimes unreliably or conflicting. Much of the best evidence is that reported by Aristotle in his criticisms of atomism, who regarded him as an important rival in natural philosophy. His ideas are also represented in the derivative works of Democritus's followers, such as Lucretius's On the Nature of Things. These derivative works allow one to work out several segments of his theory on how the universe began its current stage. The atoms and the void are eternal. And after collisions that shatter large objects into smaller objects, the resulting dust, still composed of the same eternal atoms as the prior configurations of the universe, falls into a whirling motion that draws the dust into larger objects again to begin another cycle. Philosophers often credit Democritus with the idea that humans created gods; the gods did not create humanity. For example, Sextus noted, "Some people think that we arrived at the idea of gods from the remarkable things that happen in the world. Democritus says that the people of ancient times were frightened by happenings in the heavens such as thunder,

lightning, and thought that they were caused by gods" (Taylor 1999, p. 140). According to Democritus, the workings of the universe are entirely mechanical, driven by what he called the "vibrations," the velocities and impacts of the constituent atoms. He explained that things happen because of what he called "necessity," the mechanistic collisions and aggregations of the atoms according to their own "nature."

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