Greek Philosopher: Leucippus

Leucippus was a Greek philosopher and a pupil of Zeno of Elea, probably born in Abdera (though some have said Elea, and others say at Miletus). Virtually nothing is known of his life (hence this hub being so short) and none of his writings survive. He is, however, credited with founding the atomic theory of matter, which was later further developed by his pupil, the Greek philosopher Democritus.

According to his theory, all matter is compromised of identical indivisible particles called atoms. In ancient Greek philosophy the word "atom" was used to describe the smallest bit of matter that could be conceived. This "fundamental particle", to use the present-day term for this concept, was thought of as an indestructible. In fact, the Greek word for atom means "not divisible". Knowledge about the size and nature of the atom grew very slowly throughout the centuries when men could only speculate about it.

Materialism is a philosophy based on the ideas that matter is the only thing in the universe that has reality, and that matter is the basis of all that exists.

The word comes from the Latin materia, which means matter.

Materialists think that physical changes in the body and nervous system cause all mental processes. They justify this belief by pointing out that people can really know only what they see, hear, smell, taste or touch. They deny the existence fo mind or soul as distinct from matter,  and insist that feelings, thoughts and will have no independent existence.

This form of materialism was first expressed by two Greek philosophers, Democritus and Leucippus. They stated that invisible material particles make up the physical world, and that similar particles make up the mind. Some later philosophers, including Epicurus and Lucretius, accepted this idea.

Materialism has always been a popular philosophy among scientists, because, if everything in the world is made of matter, then we can analyze and understand the world according to the laws which govern the way matter behaves. This idea is called scientific materialism.

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• Greek Philosophy Capstone Series

• Leucippus at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy