The Presocratics and ancient atomism
ThalesAnaksimandrosHerakleitosParmenidesDemokritos
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
Thales of Miletus and his successors tried to explain nature through a principle (archē) that is the source of all things rather than through myth: water for Thales, the boundless for Anaximander. Democritus and Leucippus proposed that everything consists of indivisible "atoms" moving in the void. This was reasoning not based on experiment; modern atomic theory has experimental origins.
For specialists
The works of the Presocratics are known only through fragments and testimonies quoted by later authors (the Diels–Kranz collection). Parmenides' argument that change is impossible led the atomists to accept "what is not" (the void). The report that Thales predicted the solar eclipse of 585 BCE rests on Herodotus; its accuracy is debated.
Claims
- Matter consists of infinitely many indivisible particles moving in the void (Democritus).[1]
Evidence
Supporting
It was argued that matter divisible without end would reduce to parts without magnitude, which could not add up to magnitude again.[1]
Challenging
—
Positions
- Aristotle
- There can be no void and matter is continuously divisible; atomism should be rejected.[2]
Connections
Parent
PhilosophyThis topic is a stop on these journeys
Sources
- Book (1983). The Presocratic Philosophers. Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition
- EncyclopediaAncient Atomism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophyplato.stanford.eduarchive
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). The Presocratics and ancient atomism. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/sokrates-oncesi/
@misc{athena_sokrates_oncesi,
title = {The Presocratics and ancient atomism},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/sokrates-oncesi/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history