Leucippus and Democritus: Atom-Smashing Parmenides!

Considering their time, Leucippus and Democritus weren't too shabby on their conception of the atom as the building block of all that is. In a flurry of philosophical theories where the elements (Avatar: Last Airbender elements, not the flashy chemistry ones), the gods or some indefinite substance called the boundless is supposed to make up the entirety of the universe, it's refreshing to see two philosophers who are a little less wide-of-the-mark. What's more, one major detail in their philosophy gives poor Parmenides (one of my least favorite philosophers of the bunch) a much-needed swift kick in the pants.....they grant their version of "what is not" (aka: the void, the nothing, the empty) to actually exist, as opposed to being simply the negation of atoms (aka: what is, the something). And, blessed relief, this move takes their theory out of the aggravating realm of rational skepticism (which is where you end up if you question the tenability of sense experience; thanks a lot, Parmenides).

With regard to Parmenides, I wholeheartedly agree.

This representation of "what is not" is highly reminiscent of the way modern folk might describe space (the final frontier). That interesting observation having been made, their basic theory of atoms is what's really impressive because (yet another bow to Parmenides) atoms actually satisfy the Parmenidian pre-requisites for existence. The characteristics of atoms that made this possible were their indivisibility, their constancy (unchanging nature), their indefinite number, their uniformity and their exemption from the coming-to-be and passing-away process. Granted, not all of the assumptions about atoms that made them Parmenides-Approved are actually accurate; after all, with today's advanced technologies, we actually can split atoms. It's just an expensive (not to mention explosive) process. Nonetheless, in a time when philosophers were struggling to meet Parmenidian standards for their understanding of coming-to-be and passing-away, Leucippus' and Democritus's philosophy is both scientifically and philosophically ahead of its time.