-460 – -370
Ancient atomists, principally Leucippus (5th c. BCE) and his pupil Democritus (c. 460–c. 370 BCE), developed the earliest systematic materialist metaphysics, holding that reality consists of indivisible atoms moving through void. Their mechanistic worldview anticipated later scientific materialism and influenced Epicurus, Lucretius, and early modern natural philosophy.
Proposed that all matter consists of indivisible atoms (atomos) moving in void
Developed an early mechanistic and deterministic account of nature
Offered naturalistic explanations of perception, thought, and the soul as atomic configurations
Influenced Epicurean philosophy and, via Lucretius, early modern science
Articulated an early version of the distinction between primary and secondary qualities