Atomism has helped the intellectual being to reach scientific conclusions about our cellular composition. Each particle that makes up the human being has a reason for its existence, according to Miletus, these indivisible particles constitute the origin of the creation of each object that is involved in the universe.
This Greek thinker made many contributions to science, demonstrating for his time how advanced man was already; Unfortunately for Leucippus in current times there is very little that is attributed as his own, this is because his disciple was the one who adopted his theories as his own. If you want to know much more about life this illustrious man and the contributions he made to modern science, you cannot miss this interesting article.
Biography of Leucippus of Miletus
Born in Miletus in the XNUMXth century BC, Leucippus was a Greek philosopher, the first to expose the subdivision that matter could make infinitely, his theory states that each atom is composed of particles that can be increasingly divisible until reaching perhaps its millionth very tiny expression; According to him, each atom could have a moment when it no longer divided.
In his youth he was a disciple of Parmenides who he greatly admired and would later become an object of inspiration by Leucippus, thanks to Parmenides, Leucippus was able to build his theory based on the studies carried out by his teacher previously, who stated that the universe lacks void and movement.
He was the teacher of Democritus, who together with Leucippus developed the theory that we know today as atomism. Very little is known about the life of Leucippus, what is recorded in history is thanks to some documents written by Aristotle, Simplicio or Sexto Empirico.
Another version of events points out that this character never existed, that it was an invention of his disciple Democritus in order to gain prestige with the theory of atomism. However, it remains a question since, as we mentioned previously, there is very little data on the life of Leucippus.
By the time Democritus presents the theory of atomism, he does it alone, so all the credit for the investigation goes to him, that is why the existence of Leucippus is doubted; although Aristotle later cites it in one of his most recognized documents worldwide.
On the other hand, having anonymously involved the theories of atomism in culture, made Democritus more relevant.
The philosophy of Leucippus
It is necessary to make a parenthesis about the daily life of the Greeks of the time, their laws and moral norms were composed of deeply rooted religious beliefs, although it is true that it was a very important civilization for universal history, they still lacked certain scientific principles .
The great advantage was philosophy as a law of life, which was implemented in the day-to-day life of the Greek citizen, thanks to this magnitude of being of being able to inquire about the origin and creation of the universe itself, it allowed him to reach the conclusions that theories that Leucippus raised were not entirely false as they were initially wanted to make them see.
On the other hand, it is not known for sure whether Leucippus intended to cause social controversy, whether he wanted to or not, gave much necessary information to the evolution of man.
In the same vein, Leucippus in his theory stated that the universe was made up of atoms that were configured and disassembled, moving in a vacuum according to their alterations.
Then, the society of that historical period doubted about the total origin of the universe, if the theory that Leucippus of Miletus proposed was real.
Philosophy was increasingly involving man, in itself, this period of time was one of the brightest for the human being, accompanied by rebirth. The man of ancient Greece raised many questions to the various theories, not only because of the uncertainty of knowing if the Gods who were responsible for everything really exist; but by assuming that man's will, thinking and philosophy could be governed by atoms, then, what was the reason for existence if everything that happened in the universe did not depend on man? Somewhat worse, the rational man of the time, felt a great emptiness because he assumed that true freedom was unattainable, if the universe is governed by atoms and not by human will. Is our freedom full?
The atomistic theory
The foundations of this theory are based on two elementary premises: the universe is composed only of matter and vacuum.
All the perception that the human being assumes of his life and surroundings is constituted by the presence of these two universal elements.
It may be that this theory is based on a counterpart to what would be Parmenides' theory of the denial of the existence of emptiness.
In the same vein, Leucippus put into question the theory that his teacher raised, he said that it was totally wrong to think that the meter could not have movements or changes because those were incalculable with only the perception of the senses.
It was evident to witness the changes of a natural element through visual perception, and it did not necessarily mean that this element is the size of an atom.
So Leucippus of Miletus raises the need for the existence of a vacuum so that the atoms that move in it could do so freely and thus be able to modify the matter that was composed of them.
Unlike the concept of emptiness that Pythagoras exposes as the presence of air, the emptiness that Leucippus demonstrates has a literal meaning, it is empty.
For Leucippus, matter is made up of millions of tiny particles in size, thus, these particles are impossible to perceive before the limiting senses of the human being.
The atomists affirm the presence of irregular atoms that have certain characteristics in their shape as an organic figure without calculable lengths, and some atoms are perfectly symmetrical; both are elementary for the functioning of matter in the universe.
Of course, depending on the characteristics of the atoms that make up a certain type of matter, the object or element will have a different function within the universe itself, that is, the atoms that make up fire are mostly different from those that make up Water.
Leucippus today
Today, all advances in the area of medicine have been strictly structured under the theory of Leucippus. The eradication of some deadly diseases that in their time disciplined human existence, were protected by atomism.
In turn, the technological advances that have allowed human beings to experience themselves on a universal level, are and will always be based on the theory of atomism of Leucippus of Miletus.