The Atomist World

1
The Atomist World

• Consistent Development of alternative world view
  from about 6th century BC to 1st century AD

2
Basic Concepts

• The Universe is in a constant state of
  transformation (how anti-Aristotelian can you get
  than that!)
• There is an infinite number of atoms and they are
  in constant movement in an infinite void.
• Collisions between atoms form complex bodies.

3
Atom Dynamics

• some atoms may have "hooks" and attach themselves
  readily to atoms that have "handles" others are
  "smooth" and resist formation into larger units
• The shapes fall into certain and often
  complementary categories, and as the atoms
  collide they tend to form the same basic
  structure again and again (e.g, "people",
  "trees", etc)
• This makes the Cosmos a statistical outcome! ?
  This doesnt mean that rules dont apply

4
More Dynamics

• All such qualities as heat, color, taste and so
  on are derived from, and reducible to,
  differences in the primary properties of atoms
  such as shape and position.
• The atoms fall in one direction and equally fast.

5
Problems with these dynamics

• If the atoms all fall in one direction, how can
  they possibly interact/collide?
• Epicurus there must be a built-in swerve that
  occurs at random intervals (note this invokes an
  ad hoc device, just like the introduction of
  epicycles)
• Implication the visible world is a consequence
  of random collisions and fortuitous combination
  of atoms.