The Atomists were started by Luccippus in Miletus in 440 BC, but the key figure in the movement was Democritus.
Democritus – 420 BC
Scientific, but imaginative and vigorous, with a delight in everything. Probably the last of the true followers of “disinterested science”.
Believed that everything was composed of “atoms” – ie indivisible and indestructible particles, always in random motion. The collision of atoms gave rise to “vortices” which could combine to produce both bodies and worlds.
The initial configuration of particles was not explained, and could have arisen by “chance” – any causal system must assume an initial state – but thereafter the universe develops according to natural laws – ie “necessity”.
There was no purpose to the universe itself. The goal of life was cheerfulness – achieved by moderation and culture, avoiding violence and passion.
They thought in terms of “absolute space” rather than “relative motion”
Developed concepts of “plenum” – being space full of matter – and “void” – being empty space or not-being. Atoms were indivisible because they contained no void. They were therefore internally unchanging. If an apple contained no void, it would be indivisible and indestructible because there would be no void to pass a knife through to separate the parts.
They regarded perception and thought as physical processes.. There were 2 sorts of perception – senses and understanding. Eg weight, density and hardness were within the object, but warmth, taste and colour were not in the object but a function of the senses.
Democritus did not seek any purpose or final objective for events, unlike contemporaries Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, who sought an underlying purpose behind events – leading to the inevitable conclusion of a creator of one kind or another. This was a key distinction between 2 completely different approaches to philosophy. The question “why?” can occur in 2 forms:
Mechanistic why – what earlier circumstances caused an event?
Teleological why – what purpose did the event serve?
Mechanistic questions lead to scientific knowledge.
Teleological questions lead to a blind alley, and can only end in the proposition of a creator or artificer.
Note – Mechanistic questions cannot be asked about the universe as a whole, only about its parts, otherwise it will also inevitably end in the proposition of a creator.
The Atomists were the last of the mechanists and the disinterested science form of philosophy until the Renaissance. After the Atomists, philosophy declined into a propaganda tool used to manipulate people and gain advantage by influencing peoples’ thoughts with religious and political dogma, superstition and ethics, and with undue emphasis on “man”, rather than the “universe”.