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Definition:
Atomism is difficult to define easily because it has been used in a variety of ways in
philosophy and science. In general, however, atomism refers to any belief that
material reality can be broken down into smaller, simpler, and indivisible pieces
called atoms.
What exactly those atoms are varies from system to system, although the earliest atomic philosophies can be traced back to Democritus and Leucippus in ancient Greece (about the 5th century BCE). Atomism represents the beginning of scientific reductionism: the attempt to explain large-scale phenomena in terms of ever smaller phenomena which are, in fact, responsible for many different events.
One version of atomism, popular in the 17th century, was corpuscularianism. Various philosophers, including Boyle and Locke, believed that all matter was composed of tiny particles, or corpuscles.
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Related Resources:
What is the Philosophy of Science?
The Philosophy of Science is concerned with, obviously enough, science - specifically, how science operates, what the goals of science should be, what relationship science should have with the rest of society, the differences between science and other activities, etc. Everything that happens in science has some relationship with the Philosophy of Science and is predicated upon some philosophical position, even though that may be rarely evident.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
