Atomism, << AT uh mihz uhm, >> is a philosophical view that developed in Greece during the 400’s B.C. The atomists asserted that reality consisted of two things: atoms and void. The term atom comes from the Greek word atomos, which means uncuttable. According to the atomists, atoms are invisible and indivisible bits of matter that are ungenerated and indestructible. They are unlimited in number and vary in size, shape, and arrangement. Atoms have come together by chance to form our world and the things in it as well as innumerable other worlds.
The atomists believed the motion of the atoms is governed by necessity. They also believed every event is the result of a series of collisions. The atomists theorized that events can be predicted in advance. The philosopher Epicurus introduced a major revision with the idea that atoms are subject to an occasional swerve. Epicurus thought the swerve broke the pattern of predetermined events and provided a basis for free will.
The atomistic philosophy was formulated by Leucippus during the second half of the 400’s B.C. It was developed in detail by Democritus, taken over and modified somewhat by Epicurus, and popularized by the Roman poet Lucretius. The best source for knowledge of Greek atomism comes from Lucretius’s poem On the Nature of Things.
