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Aug 23, 2005 · Ancient Atomism. First published Tue Aug 23, 2005; substantive revision Tue Oct 18, 2022. A number of philosophical schools in different parts of the ancient world held that the universe is composed of some kind of ‘atoms’ or minimal parts, albeit for different reasons. Although the modern term ‘atom’ derives from the ancient Greek ...
- Atomism: 17th to 20th Century
That source was the theory of natural minima which had its...
- Indian Philosophy (Classical): Naturalism
Atoms are eternal, while composite ‘wholes’ are non-eternal,...
- Zeno's Paradoxes
However, Aristotle did not make such a move. Instead he drew...
- Arabic and Islamic Natural Philosophy and Natural Science
1. The Atomism of Kalām 1.1 Atoms and Accidents....
- Philosophy of Chemistry
Philosophy of Chemistry. First published Mon Mar 14, 2011;...
- Democritus
According to Aristotle, Democritus regarded the soul as...
- Atomism: 17th to 20th Century
Plato valued abstract ideas more than the physical world and rejected the notion that attributes such as goodness and beauty were “mechanical manifestations of material atoms.” Where Democritus believed that matter could not move through space without a vacuum and that light was the rapid movement of particles through a void, Aristotle ...
People also ask
Did Aristotle believe in atomic theory?
Why did Aristotle criticize atomism?
What elements did Aristotle believe in?
Why did Aristotle reject the atomism of Democritus?
Aristotle also formed thoughts on "physics", a basic inquiry about the nature of matter and change; and "metaphysics", an investigation of existence itself. He did not believe in atomic theory, unlike Democritus, and thought that all elements on Earth were not made of atoms except for Earth, Fire, Water and Air, themselves.
This weakness, in fact, was precisely one of the reasons why Aristotle rejected the atomism of Democritus—namely, that the latter had postulated atoms that were not subject to change. For Aristotle the very essence of matter was its being subject to change; hence to him the concept of immutable atoms was a contradiction in terms.
In particular, he believed in four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Empedocles was a physician as well as a philosopher. One legend, elaborated by Matthew Arnold, holds that he ended his life by leaping into the crater of Sicily's Mt. Etna. [4] For Aristotle, the "elements" are not fundamental matter.
