The Atomists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Atomists - Essay Example Pure atomism is known as mechanism, dating back to Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Heraclitus, promoting the idea that the universe has been derived from one primitive, homogenous substance. Atomism gives rise to materialistic reductionism, which explains how larger phenomena can be divided into smaller ones, in charge of many events happening in the universe. (3) Another significant phenomenon is determinism, which explains that every event that occurs in the universe is a result of a previous serious of events. However, atomist determinism has many explanatory weaknesses, like the order of the cosmos is not being controlled by an external force, but controls itself. Hence, natural laws have been outlawed. Determinism is against free will because it bounds the occurring of an event to a prior series of events, and thus, lacks originality. The elimination of an extra outside force controlling the events of the universe, and an inability to define any alternative form of controll ing force, led Aristotle to reject