| Main menu | ||
The Conception of Atomism in Greek and Latin Philosophy |
||
The following is a list of the most important ancient philosophers that proposed an analysis of matter based on the existence of atoms.
For every philosopher there is a short statement that hightlights one of his most fundamental contributions to the idea of what matter is.
If you want to know more about each of them, just click on their names.
| Leucippus (fifth century BCE.) | Leucippus was the first philosopher to affirm the existence of empty space. |
| Democritus (460-370 BCE.) | Democritus maintained the impossibility of dividing things ad infinitum |
| Epicurus (342-270 BCE.) | According to Epicurus, the soul itself is made of a finer and more subtle kind of atoms, which, when the body dies and decays, separate and are dissipated |
| Lucretius (98-55 BCE.) | For Lucretius, matter is composed of atoms, which are inconceivably minute, perfectly solid, and indestructible |