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In natural philosophy, atomism is the theory that all the objects in the universe are composed of very small, indestructible building blocks - atoms. Or, stated in other words, that all of reality is made of indivisible basic building blocks. The word atomism unquestionably derives from the ancient Greek word atomos which can be parsed in to "a-" 'not + "tomos" 'cutable'-- a form of the Greek verb "temnein" to cut, meaning "that which cannot be cut into smaller pieces." Atomists are sometimes called Later Ionians. C. G., however, argued that the reputed founders of atomism, Leucippus and his student Democritus coined "atomos" from the name of the Egyptian solar deity Atum after returning from Egypt, and Martin Bernal supported that etymology.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Diamond-caution. ... Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature, known in Latin as philosophia naturalis, is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe that was regnant before the development of modern science. ... For other uses, see Atom (disambiguation). ... Ionian Islands Ionia (Greek Ιωνία) was an ancient region of western coastal of Anatolia (now in Turkey). ... This article is about the philosopher. ... ‎ Democritus (Greek: ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace around 460 BC). ... History Atum (alternatively spelt Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. ... Martin Bernal is a scholar of modern Chinese political history who claims classical civilization in Ancient Greece actually stems from Afroasiatic and Semitic cultures, not just from Europe. ...

Of importance to the philosophical concept of atomism is the historical accident that the particles that chemists and physicists of the early 19th century thought were indivisible, and therefore identified with the uncuttable "a-toms" of long tradition, were found in the 20th century 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. These particles at present show no experimental evidence of size or substructure. However, the trend of empirical evidence for ever-smaller subatomic particles raises the question: "Is matter infinitely divisible?" Since absence of evidence does not amount to evidence of absence, experiment cannot answer this question. A chemist is a scientist who specializes in chemistry. ... Many famous physicists of the 20th and 21st century are found on the list of recipients of the Nobel Prize in physics. ... Properties The electron (also called negatron, commonly represented as e−) is a subatomic particle. ... Properties In physics, the neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass of 940 MeV/c² (1. ... For alternative meanings see proton (disambiguation). ... For other uses of this term, see: Quark (disambiguation) 1974 discovery photograph of a possible charmed baryon, now identified as the Σc++ In particle physics, the quarks are subatomic particles thought to be elemental and indivisible. ... The concept of infinite divisibility arises in different ways in philosophy, physics, economics, order theory (a branch of mathematics), and probability theory (also a branch of mathematics). ...

Thus, as regards quarks, electrons, and other fundamental leptons are concerned, the possibility that they too are composed of smaller particles cannot be ruled out. In the mean-time, however, it is these particles (not chemical atoms) which remain the best candidates for the traditional indivisible objects, with which historical atomism has concerned itself. A lepton is also a unit of currency. ...

Traditional atomism in philosophy

Derives from the word "atom" is used in two distinct divisions: 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, and which involve momentary (instantaneous) atoms, that flash in and out of existence. The tradition of atomism leads to the position that only atoms exist, and there are no composite objects (objects with parts), which would mean that human bodies, clouds, planets, and whatnot all do not exist. This consequence of atomism was openly discussed by atomists such as Democritus, Hobbes, and perhaps even Kant (there is a debate over whether or not Kant was an atomist) among others, and it is also called mereological nihilism or metaphysical nihilism. In contemporary philosophy, atomism is not as popular as it has been in past times, because many contemporary philosophers are not willing to argue that only atoms exist, wherein there are not any things like trees, etc. Simples theory is a similar theory to atomism, but where unlike mereological nihilism, philosophers do hold that more than just atoms exist (such as cars and trees made up of the atoms). ‎ Democritus (Greek: ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace around 460 BC). ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... Dharmakirti (circa 7th century), was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. ... This article is about the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. ... Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ... Mereological nihilism (also called compositional nihilism, or what some philosophers just call nihilism) is the position that objects with proper parts do not exist (not only objects in space, but also objects existing in time do not have any temporal parts), and only basic building blocks without parts exist (e. ... Metaphysical Nihilism Metaphysical nihilism is the theory that there are no objects (objects do not exist). ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Other issues to do with philosophy and atomism

If atomism is the idea that anything might ultimately consist of an aggregation of small units that cannot be sub-divided further, then "atomism" might be applied to even the aggregations of society or logic.

Accordingly, the term social atomism is used to denote the point of view that individuals rather than social institutions and values are the proper subject of analysis since all properties of institutions and values merely accumulate from the striving of the individual. [1] Atomism is the belief that society should be viewed in terms of the individuals importance and that society is artificially constucted. ...

Similarly, Bertrand Russell developed logical atomism in an attempt to identify the atoms of thought, the pieces of thought that cannot be divided into smaller pieces of thought. Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, and pacifist. ... Logical Atomism is a philosophical belief that originated in the early 20th century with the development of Analytic philosophy. ...

Besides matter, questions have arisen about the infinite divisibility of space and time. In their modern, set-theoretic description, both space and time are infinitely divisible continua, in the sense that between any two points of space, there will always be another point of space. But some current theorists suggest that even space and time, or spacetime, may be discrete in the mathematical sense. See Planck time and Planck length for more about these ideas. In physics, matter is commonly defined as the substance of which physical objects are composed, not counting the contribution of various energy or force-fields, which are not usually considered to be matter per se (though they may contribute to the mass of objects). ... Space has been an interest for philosophers and scientists for much of human history. ... A pocket watch, a device used to tell time Look up time in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Set theory is the mathematical theory of sets, which represent collections of abstract objects. ... Look up continuum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses of this term, see Spacetime (disambiguation). ... Discrete mathematics, also called finite mathematics, is the study of mathematical structures that are fundamentally discrete, in the sense of not supporting or requiring the notion of continuity. ... In physics, the Planck time (tP), is the unit of time in the system of natural units known as Planck units. ... The Planck length, denoted by , is the unit of length approximately 1. ...

A new twist was given to the ancient conundrum of the divisibility of matter by the discovery of quantum mechanics. Until then, no distinction was made between dividing a piece of matter and cutting it into smaller pieces; hence the frequent translation of the Greek word átomos (ἄτομος) as "indivisible" in place of "uncuttable". Whereas the modern atom is indeed divisible, it is actually not cuttable: there is no partition of space such that its parts correspond to parts of the atom. In other words, the quantum-mechanical description of matter no longer conforms to the Cookie cutter paradigm. A conundrum is a puzzling question. ... The concept of infinite divisibility arises in different ways in philosophy, physics, economics, order theory (a branch of mathematics), and probability theory (also a branch of mathematics). ... Fig. ... A partition of U into 6 blocks: an Euler diagram representation. ... Cookie cutter paradigm (CCP) refers to the following set of notions: The parts of a material object are defined by the parts of the space it occupies. ...

Greek atomism

Is there an ultimate, indivisible unit of matter?

Greek stamp honoring Democritus and his modern significance

In the late fifth century BC, 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 we have only a few unhelpful fragments. [2] Image File history File links Democritus_stamp. ... Image File history File links Democritus_stamp. ... ‎ Democritus (Greek: ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace around 460 BC). ... This article is about the philosopher. ... For other uses, see Atom (disambiguation). ... Look up Vacuum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the philosopher. ...

The void is infinite and provides the space in which the atoms can pack or scatter differently. The different possible packings and scatterings within the void make up the shifting outlines and bulk of the objects that we feel, see, eat, hear, smell, and taste. While we may feel hot or cold, hot and cold actually have no real existence. They are simply sensations produced in us by the different packings and scatterings of the atoms in the void that compose the object that we sense as being "hot" or "cold."

The work of Democritus has survived only in secondhand reports, sometimes unreliable 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. [3] 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 us 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. Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus (c. ... Not to be confused with The Nature of Things, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television show about natural science. ...

Philosophers often blamed Democritus for the idea that man created gods; the gods did not create man. 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." Sextus Empiricus (fl. ... Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. ...

Geometry and atoms

Atom	Polyhedron		Number of Faces	Number of Triangles
Fire	Tetrahedron ( Animation) A tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra) is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. ... Image File history File links Tetrahedron. ...		4	24
Air	Octahedron ( Animation) Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (643x607, 26 KB)Tetrahedron, made by me using POV-Ray, see image:poly. ... An octahedron (plural: octahedra) is a polyhedron with eight faces. ... Spinning octahedron, made by me using POV-Ray, see image:poly. ...		8	48
Water	Icosahedron ( Animation) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... [Etymology: 16th century: from Greek eikosaedron, from eikosi twenty + -edron -hedron], icosahedral adjective An icosahedron noun (plural: -drons, -dra ) is any polyhedron having 20 faces, but usually a regular icosahedron is implied, which has equilateral triangles as faces. ... Spinning icosahedron, made by me using POV-Ray, see image:poly. ...		20	120
Earth	Cube ( Animation) Download high resolution version (819x791, 71 KB)Icosahedron, made by me using POV-Ray, see image:poly. ... Three dimensions A cube (or hexahedron) is a Platonic solid composed of six square faces, with three meeting at each vertex. ... Spinning hexahedron, made by me using POV-Ray, see image:poly. ...		6	24
Geometrical basis of atoms according to Plato

Plato (c. 427—c. 347 BC) objected to the mechanistic purposelessness of the atomism of Democritus. He argued that atoms just crashing into other atoms could never produce the beauty and form of the world. In the Timaeus, (28B - 29A) Plato insisted that the cosmos was not eternal but was created, although its creator framed it after an eternal, unchanging model. Download high resolution version (742x826, 50 KB)Hexahedron, made by me using POV-Ray, see image:poly. ... PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... In philosophy, mechanism is a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes. ... The Ancient and Medieval cosmos as depicted in Peter Apians Cosmographia (Antwerp, 1539). ...

One part of that creation were the atoms of fire, air, water, and earth. But Plato did not consider the atoms to be the most basic level of reality, for in his view they were made up of an unchanging level of reality, which was mathematical. The atoms were geometric solids, the faces of which were, in turn, made up of triangles. The square faces of the cube were each made up of four isosceles right-angled triangles and the triangular faces of the tetrahedron, octahedron, and icosahedron were each made up of six right-angled triangles. In geometry, a Platonic solid is a convex regular polyhedron. ... A triangle. ...

He postulated the geometric structure of the atoms of the four elements as summarized in the table to the right. The cube, with its flat base and stability, was assigned to earth; the tetrahedron was assigned to fire because its penetrating points and sharp edges made it mobile. The points and edges of the octahedron and icosahedron were blunter and so these less mobile bodies were assigned to air and water. Since atoms could be decomposed into triangles, and the triangles reassembled into atoms of different elements, Plato's model offered a plausible account of changes among the primary substances (Cornford 1957, 210-239; Lloyd 1970, 74-7).

The rejection of atoms

Sometime before 330 BC Aristotle asserted that the elements of fire, air, earth, and water were not made of atoms, but were continuous. Aristotle considered the existence of a void, which was required by atomic theories, to violate physical principles. Change took place not by the rearrangement of atoms to make new structures, but by transformation of matter from what it was in potential to a new actuality. (This theory is called hylomorphism.) A piece of wet clay, when acted upon by a potter, takes on its potential to be an actual drinking mug. Aristotle has often been criticized for rejecting atomism, but in ancient Greece the atomic theories of Democritus and Plato remained "pure speculations, incapable of being put to any experimental test. Granted that atomism was, in the long run, to prove far more fruitful than any qualitative theory of matter, in the short run the theory that Aristotle proposed must have seemed in some respects more promising." (Lloyd 1968, 165; see also Lloyd 1970, 108-9). Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC - 330s BC - 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 335 BC 334 BC 333 BC 332 BC 331 BC - 330 BC - 329 BC 328 BC 327... Aristotle (Greek: Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... Hylomorphism (Greek υλο- hylo-, wood, matter + -morphism < Greek -μορφη, morph, form) is a philosophical concept that highlights the significance of matter in the composition of being, regarding matter to be as essential to a being as its form. ...

Atoms and ethics

Epicurus (341-270) studied atomism with Nausiphanes who had been a student of Democritus. Although Epicurus was certain of the existence of atoms and the void, he was less sure we could adequately explain specific natural phenomena such as earthquakes, lightning, comets, or the phases of the Moon (Lloyd 1973, 25-6). Few of Epicurus's writings survive and those that do reflect his interest in applying Democritus's theories to assist people in taking responsibility for themselves and for their own happiness—since he held there are no gods around that can help them. Epicurus (Greek ) (341 BC, Samos – 270 BC, Athens) was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of Epicureanism, a popular school of thought in Hellenistic Philosophy that spanned about 600 years. ...

Three hundred years later, Lucretius in his epic poem On the Nature of Things would depict Epicurus as the hero who crushed the monster Religion through educating the people in what was possible in the atoms and what was not possible in the atoms. However, Epicurus expressed a non-aggressive attitude characterized by his statement: "The man who best knows how to meet external threats makes into one family all the creatures he can; and those he can not, he at any rate does not treat as aliens; and where he finds even this impossible, he avoids all dealings, and, so far as is advantageous, excludes them from his life." [4] Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus (c. ... Not to be confused with The Nature of Things, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television show about natural science. ...

The exile of atomism

While Aristotelian philosophy eclipsed the importance of the atomists, their work was still preserved and exposited through commentaries on the works of Aristotle. In the 2nd century, Galen (A.D. 129-216) presented extensive discussions of the Greek atomists, especially Epicurus, in his Aristotle commentaries. According to historian of atomism Joshua Gregory, there was no serious work done with atomism from the time of Galen until Gassendi and Descartes resurrected it in the 16th century; “the gap between these two ‘modern naturalists’ and the ancient Atomists marked “the exile of the atom” and “it is universally admitted that the Middle Ages had abandoned Atomism, and virtually lost it.” Galen. ... Joshua Gregory (1790–20 August 1838) was an early settler in colonial Western Australia. ... Pierre Gassendi (January 22, 1592 &#8211; October 24, 1655) was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician, best known for attempting to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity. ... René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 &#8211; February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ...

However, scholars still had Aristotle’s critiques of atomism, and it seems unlikely that all ideas of atomism could have been lost in the West. In the Medieval universities there were rare expressions of atomistic philosophy. For example, in the fourteenth century Nicholas of Autrecourt considered that matter, space, and time were all made up of indivisible atoms, points, and instants and that all generation and corruption took place by the rearrangement of material atoms. The similarities of his ideas with those of al-Ghazali suggest that Nicholas may have been familiar with Ghazali's work, perhaps through Averroes' refutation of it (Marmara, 1973-74). The first European medieval universities were established in Italy and France in the late 12th and early 13th Century for the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology. ... Nicholas or Nicolaus of Autrecourt, in French Nicholas dAutrécourt (1299 - 1369), was a French medieval philosopher and theologian known principally for developing skepticism to extreme logical conclusions and even being considered the sole genuinely skeptic philosopher of medieval times. ... Abu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-GhazzālÄ« (1058-1111) (Persian: ), known as Algazel to the western medieval world, born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia (modern day Iran). ... Ibn Rushd, known as Averroes (1126 – December 10, 1198), was an Andalusian-Arab philosopher and physician, a master of philosophy and Islamic law, mathematics, and medicine. ...

Still, “the exile of the atom” is an appropriate description of the interim between the ancient Greeks and the revival of Western atomism in the 16th century, in view of atomism’s success elsewhere during that time. If the atom was in exile from the west, it was in India and Islam that atomistic traditions continued.

Indian atomism

The Indian atomistic position, like many movements in Indian Philosophy and Mathematics, starts with an argument from Linguistics. The Vedic etymologist and grammarian Yaska (ca. 7th c. BC) in his Nirukta, in dealing with models for how linguistic structures get to have their meanings, takes the atomistic position that words are the "primary" carrier of meaning - i.e. words have a preferred ontological status in defining meaning. This position was to be the subject of a fierce debate in the Indian tradition from the early Christian era till the 18th century, involving different philosophers from the Nyaya, Mimamsa and Buddhist schools. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, which are the earliest sacred texts of India,. The Vedas were first passed down orally and therefore have no known date. ... Headline text --67. ... This article is about grammar from a linguistic perspective. ... Yaska Acharya is a celebrated Sanskrit scholar and grammarian of ancient India. ... (Sanskrit ni-āyá, literally recursion, used in the sense of syllogism, inference)) is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic. ... The main objective of the Purva (earlier) Mimamsa school was to establish the authority of the Vedas. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by...

In the pratishakhya text (ca. 2nd c. BCE),^{[citation needed]} the gist of the controversy was stated cryptically in the sutra form as "saMhitA pada-prakr^tiH".^[1] According to the atomist view, the words (pada) would be the primary elements (prakrti) out of which the sentence is constructed, while the holistic view considers the sentence as the primary entity, originally "given" in its context of utterance, and the words are arrived at only through analysis and abstraction. Shiksha (IAST ) by Gargeya is one of the six Vedangas, treating the traditional Hindu science of phonetics and phonology of Sanskrit. ... A pada ( foot) in Sanskrit poetic meter (chandas) is a quarter of a full verse (the foot of a quadruped being one out of four), e. ...

These two positions came to be called a-kShaNDa-pakSha (indivisibility or sentence-holism), a position developed later by Bhartrihari (c. 500 AD), vs. kShaNDa-pakSha (atomism), a position adopted by the Mimamsa and Nyaya schools (Note: kShanDa = fragmented; "a-kShanDa" = whole). Bhartrihari (c 450–510) was an Indian author of Wikipedia and early figure in Indic linguistic theory. ... The main objective of the Purva (earlier) Mimamsa school was to establish the authority of the Vedas. ... (Sanskrit ni-āyá, literally recursion, used in the sense of syllogism, inference)) is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic. ...

Between the 5th–3rd century BC, the atom (anu or aṇor) is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 8, Verse 9): (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 5th century BC started on January 1, 500 BC and ended on December 31, 401 BC. // The Parthenon of Athens seen from the hill of the Pnyx to the west. ... The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. ... For other uses, see Atom (disambiguation). ... Bhagavad G&#299;ta &#2349;&#2327;&#2357;&#2342;&#2381;&#2327;&#2368;&#2340;&#2366;, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23&#8211;40. ...

kaviḿ purāṇam anuśāsitāram aṇor aṇīyāḿsam anusmared yaḥ sarvasya dhātāram acintya-rūpam āditya-varṇaḿ tamasaḥ parastāt
One meditates on the omniscient, primordial, the controller, smaller than the atom, yet the maintainer of everything; whose form is inconceivable, resplendent like the sun and totally transcendental to material nature

The ancient “shAshvata-vAda” doctrine of eternalism, which held that elements are eternal, is also suggestive of a possible starting point for atomism (Gangopadhyaya 1981).

There has been some debate among scholars as to the origin of Indian atomism; the general consensus is that the Indian and Greek versions of atomism developed independently. However, there is some doubt on this, given the similarities between Indian atomism and Greek atomism and the proximity of India to scholastic Europe, as well as the account, related by Diogenes Laertius, of Democritus "making acquaintance with the Gymnosophists in India".^[2] In any event, the earliest schools of Indian atomism (in the linguistic tradition), as well as certain epistemological positions such as the materialist Uddalaka, were developed before Greek positions associated with philosophers such as Leucippus and Democritus. Diogenes Laërtius, the biographer of the Greek philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname from the town of Laerte in Cilicia, and by others from the Roman family of the Laërtii. ... ‎ Democritus (Greek: ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace around 460 BC). ... Gymnosophists is the name (meaning naked philosophers) given by the Greeks to certain ancient Indian philosophers who pursued asceticism to the point of regarding food and clothing as detrimental to purity of thought. ... This article is about the philosopher. ...

The atomist position had transcended language into epistemology by the time that Nyaya-Vaisesika, Buddhist and Jaina theology were developing mature philosophical positions. (Sanskrit ni-āyá, literally recursion, used in the sense of syllogism, inference)) is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic. ... Vaisheshika, also Vaisesika, (Sanskrit: &#2357;&#2376;&#2358;&#2374;&#2359;&#2367;&#2325;)is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy (orthodox Vedic systems) of India. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... This article is under construction. ...

Will Durant wrote in Our Oriental Heritage: Will Durant William James Durant (November 5, 1885–November 7, 1981) was an American philosopher, historian, and writer. ...

"Two systems of Hindu thought propound physical theories suggestively similar to those of Greece. Kanada, founder of the Vaisheshika philosophy, held that the world was composed of atoms as many in kind as the various elements. The Jains more nearly approximated to Democritus by teaching that all atoms were of the same kind, producing different effects by diverse modes of combinations. Kanada believed light and heat to be varieties of the same substance; Udayana taught that all heat comes from the sun; and Vachaspati, like Newton, interpreted light as composed of minute particles emitted by substances and striking the eye." This article discusses the adherents of Hinduism. ... This is a discussion of a present category of science. ... Kanada (also transliterated as Kanad and in other ways; Sanskrit कणाद) was a Hindu sage who founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika. ... Vaisheshika, also Vaisesika, (Sanskrit: वैशॆषिक)is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy (orthodox Vedic systems) of India. ... This article is under construction. ... ‎ Democritus (Greek: ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace around 460 BC). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Heat (disambiguation) In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is energy transferred from one body or system to another as a result of a difference in temperature. ... Udayana also known as Udyanacharya lived in 10th century, near Darbhanga, Bihar state, India. ... Vācaspati Miśra (900–980 CE) was an Indian philosopher who founded one of the main Advaita Vedanta schools, the Bhāmatī school (named after his commentary on Shankaras Brahmasūtrabhāşya), and whose work was an important forerunner of the Navya-Nyāya system of thought. ...

Indian atomism in the Middle Ages was still mostly philosophical and/or religious in intent, though it was also scientific. Because the “infallible Vedas”, the oldest Hindu texts, do not mention atoms (though they do mention elements), atomism was not orthodox in many schools of Hindu philosophy, although accommodationist interpretations or assumptions of lost text justified the use of atomism for non-orthodox schools of Hindu thought. The Buddhist and Jaina schools of atomism however, were more willing to accept the ideas of atomism. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Veda redirects here. ...

Nyaya-Vaisesika school

Main articles: Nyaya and Vaisesika

The Nyaya-Vaisesika school developed one of the earliest forms of atomism; scholars date the Nyaya and Vaisesika texts from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC. Like the Buddhist atomists, the Vaisesika had a pseudo-Aristotelian theory of atomism. They posited the four elemental atom types, but in Vaisesika physics atoms had 24 different possible qualities, divided between general (intensive and extensive properties|extensive) properties and specific (intensive) properties. Like the Jaina school, the Nyaya-Vaisesika atomists had elaborate theories of how atoms combine. In both Jaina and Vaisesika atomism, atoms first combine in pairs (dyads), and then group into trios of pairs (triads), which are the smallest visible units of matter. This is an interesting analogy to keep in mind when considering the fact that in the modern elementary particle theory, pairs or triplets of quarks combine to create most typical forms of matter. (Sanskrit ni-āyá, literally recursion, used in the sense of syllogism, inference)) is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic. ... Vaisheshika, also Vaisesika, (Sanskrit: &#2357;&#2376;&#2358;&#2374;&#2359;&#2367;&#2325;)is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy (orthodox Vedic systems) of India. ... (Sanskrit ni-āyá, literally recursion, used in the sense of syllogism, inference)) is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic. ... Vaisheshika, also Vaisesika, (Sanskrit: &#2357;&#2376;&#2358;&#2374;&#2359;&#2367;&#2325;)is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy (orthodox Vedic systems) of India. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 1st century BC started on January 1, 100 BC and ended on December 31, 1 BC. An alternative name for this century is the last century BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero. ... In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not made up of smaller particles. ... The six flavours of quarks and their most likely decay modes. ...

Buddhist school

Main article: Buddhist atomism

The Buddhist atomists had very qualitative, Aristotelian-style atomic theory. According to ancient Buddhist atomism, which probably began developing before the 4th century BC, there are four kinds of atoms, corresponding to the standard elements. Each of these elements has a specific property, such as solidity or motion, and performs a specific function in mixtures, such as providing support or causing growth. Like the Hindu Jains, the Buddhists were able to integrate a theory of atomism with their theological presuppositions. Later Indian Buddhist philosophers, such as Dharmakirti and Dignāga, considered atoms to be point-sized, durationless, and made of energy. Buddhist Atomism Dharmakirtis tradition of Buddhist atomism Buddhist atoms in the tradition of Buddhist atomism underwent a very rich period during the time of Dharmakirti. ... A silhouette of a Buddha statue at Ayutthaya, Thailand. ... The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. ... Dharmakirti (circa 7th century), was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. ... Dignāga (5th century AD), was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. ...

Jaina school

The most elaborate and well-preserved Indian theory of atomism comes from the philosophy of the Jaina school, dating back to at least the first century BC. Some of the Jaina texts that refer to matter and atoms are Panchastikayasara, Kalpasutra, Tattvaarthasutra and Pannavana Suttam. The Jains envisioned the world as consisting wholly of atoms, except for souls. Paramāņus or atoms were considered as the basic building blocks of all matter. Their concept of atoms was very similar to classical atomism, differing primarily in the specific properties of atoms. Each atom, according to Jaina philosophy, has one kind of taste, one smell, one color, and two kinds of touch, though it is unclear what was meant by “kind of touch”. Atoms can exist in one of two states: subtle, in which case they can fit in infinitesimally small spaces, and gross, in which case they have extension and occupy a finite space. Certain characteristics of Paramāņu correspond with that sub-atomic particles. For. Eg. Paramāņu is characterized by continuous motion either in a straight line or in case of attractions from other Paramāņus, it follows a curved path. This corresponds with the description of orbit of electrons across the Nucleus. Ultimate particles are also described as particles with positive (Snigdha i.e. smooth charge) and negative (Rūksa – rough) charges that provide them the binding force. Although atoms are made of the same basic substance, they can combine based on their eternal properties to produce any of six “aggregates,” which seem to correspond with the Greek concept of “elements”: earth, water, shadow, sense objects, karmic matter, and unfit matter. To the Jains, karma was real, but was a naturalistic, mechanistic phenomenon caused by buildups of subtle karmic matter within the soul. They also had detailed theories of how atoms could combine, react, vibrate, move, and perform other actions, all of which were thoroughly deterministic. This article is under construction. ...

Islamic atomism

Atomistic philosophies are found very early in Islam, and represent a synthesis of the Greek and Indian ideas. Like both the Greek and Indian versions, Islamic atomism was a charged topic that had the potential for conflict with the prevalent religious orthodoxy. Yet it was such a fertile and flexible idea that, as in Greece and India, it flourished in some schools of Islamic thought. For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...

The most successful form of Islamic atomism was in the Asharite school of philosophy, most notably in the work of the philosopher al-Ghazali (1058-1111). In Asharite atomism, atoms are the only perpetual, material things in existence, and all else in the world is “accidental” meaning something that lasts for only an instant. Nothing accidental can be the cause of anything else, except perception, as it exists for a moment. Contingent events are not subject to natural physical causes, but are the direct result of God’s constant intervention, without which nothing could happen. Thus nature is completely dependent on God, which meshes with other Asharite Islamic ideas on causation, or the lack thereof (Gardet 2001). The Asharite (Arabic الأشعرية al-ash`aryah) is a school of early Muslim philosophy that wasinstrumental in drastically changing the direction of Islamic philosophy, separating its development radically from that of philosophy in the Christian world. ... Abu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-GhazzālÄ« (1058-1111) (Persian: ), known as Algazel to the western medieval world, born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia (modern day Iran). ... The Asharite (Arabic الأشعرية al-ash`aryah) is a school of early Muslim philosophy that wasinstrumental in drastically changing the direction of Islamic philosophy, separating its development radically from that of philosophy in the Christian world. ...

Other traditions in Islam rejected the atomism of the Asharites and expounded on many Greek texts, especially those of Aristotle. An active school of philosophers in Spain, including the noted commentator Averroes (1126-1198 AD) explicitly rejected the thought of al-Ghazali and turned to an extensive evaluation of the thought of Aristotle. Averroes commented in detail on most of the works of Aristotle and his commentaries did much to guide the interpretation of Aristotle in later Jewish and Christian scholastic thought. Ibn Rushd, known as Averroes (1126 – December 10, 1198), was an Andalusian-Arab philosopher and physician, a master of philosophy and Islamic law, mathematics, and medicine. ...

Atomic Renaissance

Aristotle held sway in the universities of Europe for most of the Middle Ages, and even through the time of Newton Aristotelian physics was the standard, although other theories were beginning to be introduced to university curricula by then (Kargon 1966). By the late 16th century, criticism of Aristotle was mounting. Experimental philosophy was gaining ground, and with the evidence weighing in against the old physics, atomism soon reappeared in new forms. The main figures in the rebirth of atomism were Rene Descartes, Pierre Gassendi, and Robert Boyle, but there were many important ancillary figures as well.

One of the first groups of atomists in England was a cadre of amateur scientists known as the Northumberland circle, led by Henry Percy (1585-1632 AD), the 9th Earl of Northumberland. Although they published little of account, they helped to disseminate atomistic ideas among the burgeoning scientific culture of England, and may have been particularly influential to Francis Bacon, who became an atomist around 1605, though he later rejected some of the claims of atomism. Though they revived the classical form of atomism, this group was among the scientific avant-garde: the Northumberland circle contained nearly half of the confirmed Copernicans prior to 1610 (the year of Galileo’s The Starry Messenger). Other influential atomists of late 16th and early 17th centuries include Giordano Bruno, Thomas Hobbes (who also changed his stance on atomism late in his career), and Thomas Hariot. A number of different atomistic theories were blossoming in France at this time, as well (Clericuzio 2000). Northumberland is a county in the North East of England. ... It has been suggested that Idols of the mind be merged into this article or section. ... Sidereus Nuncius (usually translated into English as Sidereal Messenger, although Starry Messenger and Sidereal Message are also seen) is a short treatise published in Latin by Galileo Galilei in March 1610. ... Giordano Bruno. ... “Hobbes” redirects here. ... Thomas Harriot (ca. ...

A more well-known advocate of atomism in the early 16th century was Galileo Galilei (1564-1642 AD). He first published a work based on atomism in 1612, Discourse on Floating Bodies (Redondi 1969). In The Assayer, Galileo offered a more complete physical system based on a corpuscular theory of matter, in which all phenomena—with the exception of sound—are produced by “matter in motion”. Galileo found some of the basic problems with Aristotelian physics through his experiments, and he utilized a theory of atomism as a partial replacement, but he was never unequivocally committed to it. For example, his experiments with falling bodies and inclined planes led him to the concepts of circular inertial motion and accelerating free-fall. These notions contradicted the Aristotelian theories of impulse and natural place, which dictated that bodies fall equal distances in equal times and all motion (except that of the heavens) is finite. Atomism could not explain the law of fall, but was consistent with his concept of inertia, since motion was conserved in ancient atomism (but not in Aristotelian physics). Galileo scholar Pietro Redondi has even suggested that the root of the church’s persecution of Galileo was his rejection of Aristotelian philosophy and championing of atomism (Redondi 1969). Although that was certainly not the whole story behind the so-called Galileo Affair, it is another intriguing element and may have a germ of truth. Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who is closely associated with the scientific revolution. ...

Despite the success (and controversy) generated by 16th and 17th century atomists, atomism was not fully revived until Descartes and Gassendi published their new physics systems based on corpuscular (in the case of Descartes) and atomistic (in the case of Gassendi) theories. Descartes’ mechanical philosophy of corpuscularism had much in common with atomism, and may be considered in some sense another version of it. Descartes (1596-1650 AD) thought everything physical in the universe to be made of tiny “corpuscles” of matter. Like the ancient atomists, Descartes claimed that sensations, such as taste or temperature, are caused by the shape and size of tiny pieces of matter. The main difference between atomism and corpuscularism was the existence of the void. For Descartes, there could be no vacuum, and all matter was constantly swirling to prevent a void as corpuscles moved through other matter. Another key distinction between Descartes’ corpuscularism and classical atomism is Descartes’ concept of mind/body duality, which allowed for an independent realm of existence for thought, soul, and most importantly, God. Gassendi’s system was much closer to classical atomism, but without the atheistic undertones. René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 &#8211; February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... Pierre Gassendi (January 22, 1592 &#8211; October 24, 1655) was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician, best known for attempting to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity. ...

Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655 AD) was a Catholic priest from France who was also an avid natural philosopher. He was particularly intrigued by the Greek atomists, so he set out to “purify” atomism from its heretical and atheistic philosophical conclusions (Dijksterhius 1969). Gassendi formulated his atomistic conception of mechanical philosophy partly in response to Descartes; he particularly opposed Descartes’ reductionist view that only purely mechanical explanations of physics are valid, as well as the application of geometry to the whole of physics (Clericuzio 2000). Pierre Gassendi (January 22, 1592 – October 24, 1655) was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician, best known for attempting to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity and for publishing the first official observations of the Transit of Mercury in 1631. ...

The final form of atomism that came to be accepted by most English scientists after Robert Boyle (1627-1692 AD) was an amalgam of the two French systems. In The Sceptical Chymist (1661), Boyle shows some of the problems with Aristotelian physics that arise from chemistry experimentation, and offers up atomism as a possible explanation. The unifying principle that led to the acceptance of this hybrid atomism was the mechanical philosophy, which was becoming widely accepted by Western scientists. Despite the problems with atomism, it was clear by the end of the 17th century that it was a better alternative than Aristotelian physics, especially since it was compatible with the mechanical philosophy. Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (25 January 1627 – 30 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor, and early gentleman scientist, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In philosophy, mechanism is a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes. ...

A different atom for each element

By the late 1700s, the useful practices of engineering and technology began to influence philosophical explanations for the composition of matter. Those who speculated on the ultimate nature of matter began to verify their "thought experiments" with some repeatable demonstrations, when they could. Events and trends The Bonneville Slide blocks the Columbia River near the site of present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon with a land bridge 200 feet (60 m) high. ... A scientific demonstration is a scientific experiment carried out for the purposes of demonstrating scientific principles, rather than for hypothesis testing or knowledge gathering (although they may originally have been carried out for these purposes). ...

Roger Boscovich provided the first general mathematical theory of atomism, based on the ideas of Newton and Leibniz but transforming them so as to provide a programme for atomic physics. - Lancelot Law Whyte Essay on Atomism, 1961, p 54. Roger Boscovich (Rudic Boskovic) 1711 - 1787 18th Century Roman Catholic priest; greatest Croatian scientist of his time; Forerunner of Modern Physics. ... Lancelot Law Whyte was a scientist working with Albert Einstein on the unified field theory, based on the theory of Roger Boscovich. ...

In 1808, John Dalton assimilated the known experimental work of many people to summarize the empirical evidence on the composition of matter. He noticed that distilled water everywhere analyzed to the same elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Similarly, other purified substances decomposed to the same elements in the same proportions by weight. Year 1808 (MDCCCVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... John Dalton John Dalton (September 6, 1766 – July 27, 1844) was an English chemist and physicist, born at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth in Cumberland. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Standard atomic weight 15. ...

Therefore we may conclude that the ultimate particles of all homogeneous bodies are perfectly alike in weight, figure, etc. In other words, every particle of water is like every other particle of water; every particle of hydrogen is like every other particle of hydrogen, etc.

Furthermore, he concluded that there was a unique atom for each element, using Lavoisier's definition of an element as a substance that could not be analyzed into something simpler. Thus, Dalton concluded the following. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (August 26, 1743 - May 8, 1794) was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry, finance, biology, and economics. ...

Chemical analysis and synthesis go no farther than to the separation of particles one from another, and to their reunion. No new creation or destruction of matter is within the reach of chemical agency. We might as well attempt to introduce a new planet into the solar system, or to annihilate one already in existence, as to create or destroy a particle of hydrogen. All the changes we can produce, consist in separating particles that are in a state of cohesion or combination, and joining those that were previously at a distance.

And then he proceeded to give a list of relative weights in the compositions of several common compounds, summarizing: [5] Analytical chemistry is the analysis of material samples to gain an understanding of their chemical composition and structure. ... Synthesis (from the ancient Greek σύν (with) and θεσις (placing), is commonly understood to be an integration of two or more pre-existing elements which results in a new creation. ...

1st. That water is a binary compound of hydrogen and oxygen, and the relative weights of the two elementary atoms are as 1:7, nearly;

2nd. That ammonia is a binary compound of hydrogen and azote nitrogen, and the relative weights of the two atoms are as 1:5, nearly...

Dalton concluded that the fixed proportions of elements by weight suggested that the atoms of one element combined with only a limited number of atoms of the other elements to form the substances that he listed. Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... Ammonia is a compound with the formula NH3. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ...

See also

• Andrew Pyle
• Atomic theory
• Buddhist atomism
• History of chemistry
• Infinite divisibility
• The History and Adventures of an Atom - a satire by Tobias Smollett

Andrew Pyle (born 17 March 1955) is a British philosopher who is an expert on the history of philosophical atomism. ... In chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a theory of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, as opposed to obsolete beliefs that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity. ... Buddhist Atomism Dharmakirtis tradition of Buddhist atomism Buddhist atoms in the tradition of Buddhist atomism underwent a very rich period during the time of Dharmakirti. ... Portrait of Monsieur Lavoisier and his Wife, by Jacques-Louis David The history of chemistry may be said to begin with the distinction of chemistry from alchemy by Robert Boyle in his work The Sceptical Chymist (1661). ... The concept of infinite divisibility arises in different ways in philosophy, physics, economics, order theory (a branch of mathematics), and probability theory (also a branch of mathematics). ... The History and Adventures of an Atom, by Tobias Smollett (1769). ... Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (March 19, 1721 - September 17, 1771) was a Scottish author, best known for his picaresque novels, such as Roderick Random and Peregrine Pickle. ...

External links

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Atomism: Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century
• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Atomism in the Seventeenth Century
• Jonathan Schaffer, "Is There a Fundamental Level?" Nous 37 (2003): 498-517.[6] Article by a philosopher who opposes atomism
• Information on Buddhist atomism
• Article on traditional Greek atomism
• Atomism from the 17th to the 20th Century at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Notes

1. ^ Bimal Krishna Matilal (1990). The word and the world: India's contribution to the study of language. Oxford. Yaska is dealt with in Chapter 3. 
2. ^ Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers, ix, 35.

Bimal Krishna Matilal is regaded as one of the foremost Indian philosophers of modern times. ...

References

• Clericuzio, Antonio. Elements, Principles, and Corpuscles; a study of atomism and chemistry in the seventeenth century. Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
• Cornford, Francis MacDonald. Plato's Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato. New York: Liberal Arts Press, 1957.
• Dijksterhuis, E. The Mechanization of the World Picture. Trans. by C. Dikshoorn. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-691-02396-4
• Firth, Raymond. Religion: A Humanist Interpretation. Routledge, 1996. ISBN 0-415-12897-8.
• Gangopadhyaya, Mrinalkanti. Indian Atomism: history and sources. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1981. ISBN 0-391-02177-X
• Gardet, L. “djuz’” in Encyclopaedia of Islam CD-ROM Edition, v. 1.1. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
• Gregory, Joshua C. A Short History of Atomism. London: A. and C. Black, Ltd, 1981.
• Kargon, Robert Hugh. Atomism in England from Hariot to Newton. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966.
• Lloyd, G. E. R. Aristotle: The Growth and Structure of his Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. ISBN 0-521-09456-9
• Lloyd, G. E. R. Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle. London: Chatto and Windus; New York: W. W. Norton, 1970. ISBN 0-393-00583-6
• Lloyd, G. E. R. Greek Science After Aristotle. New York: W. W. Norton, 1973. ISBN 0-393-00780-4
• Marmara, Michael E. "Causation in Islamic Thought." Dictionary of the History of Ideas. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973-74. online at the of Virginia Electronic Text Center.
• Redondi, Pietro. Galileo Heretic. Translated by Raymond Rosenthal. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-691-02426-X
• Taylor, C. C. W., translator, commentator. The Atomists, Leucippus and Democritus: a text and translation with commentary by C. C. W. Taylor. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8020-4390-9