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also called atomic theory. philosophy. the theory that minute, discrete, finite, and indivisible elements are the ultimate const-tuents of all matter.
psychology. a method or theory that reduces all psychological phenomena to simple elements.
historical examples

therefore he searched the past, and soon found what he wanted in the atomism of democritus.
a critical history of greek philosophy w. t. stace

but in this instance the facts do not take us into atomism and anarchy.
human nature and conduct john dewey

his theory is a mixture of vitalism and atomism, designed to eliminate the “fortune and chance” resident in digby’s concept.
medical investigation in seventeenth century england charles w. bodemer

into the history of atomism cudworth plunges with vast erudition.
encyclopaedia britannica, 11th edition, volume 7, slice 8 various

mechanism as to motion, atomism as to structure, materialism as to substance, that is the whole system of democritus.
three philosophical poets george santayana

it is the stand-point from which atomism would be adopted as the philosophic system.
pedagogics as a system karl rosenkranz

epicurus, therefore, adopted the atomism of democritus en bloc, or with trifling modifications.
a critical history of greek philosophy w. t. stace

continuity of growth not atomism is thus the alternative to fixity of principles and aims.
human nature and conduct john dewey

the belief in indestructible “things” very early took the form of atomism.
our knowledge of the external world as a field for scientific method in philosophy bertrand russell

there is, however, great difference of opinion among the exponents of atomism in regard to the nature of the atom.
the development of metaphysics in persia muhammad iqbal

noun
an ancient philosophical theory, developed by democritus and expounded by lucretius, that the ultimate const-tuents of the universe are atoms see atom (sense 3)

any of a number of theories that hold that some objects or phenomena can be explained as constructed out of a small number of distinct types of simple indivisible ent-ties
any theory that holds that an understanding of the parts is logically prior to an understanding of the whole compare holism (sense 3)

(psychol) the theory that experiences and mental states are composed of elementary units