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Buddhist atomism is a school of atomistic
Atomism

In natural philosophy, atomism is the philosophical theses that was theoryzed by Leucippus in the fifth century BC. For it all the objects in the universe are composed of very small, indestructible building blocks ? atoms ....
 Buddhist philosophy that flourished on the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
 during two major periods. During the first phase, which began to develop prior to the 4th century BCE, Buddhist atomism had a very qualitative, Aristotelian
Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greeks philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, Poetics , theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology....
-style atomic theory
Atomic theory

In chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a theory of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, as opposed to the obsolete notion that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity....
. This form of atomism identifies four kinds of atoms, corresponding to the standard elements. Each of these elements has a specific property, such as solidity or motion, and performs a specific function in mixtures, such as providing support or causing growth.






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Buddhist atomism is a school of atomistic
Atomism

In natural philosophy, atomism is the philosophical theses that was theoryzed by Leucippus in the fifth century BC. For it all the objects in the universe are composed of very small, indestructible building blocks ? atoms ....
 Buddhist philosophy that flourished on the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
 during two major periods. During the first phase, which began to develop prior to the 4th century BCE, Buddhist atomism had a very qualitative, Aristotelian
Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greeks philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, Poetics , theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology....
-style atomic theory
Atomic theory

In chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a theory of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, as opposed to the obsolete notion that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity....
. This form of atomism identifies four kinds of atoms, corresponding to the standard elements. Each of these elements has a specific property, such as solidity or motion, and performs a specific function in mixtures, such as providing support or causing growth. Like the Hindus and Jains, the Buddhists were able to integrate a theory of atomism with their theological presuppositions.

The second phase of Buddhist atomism, which flourished in the 7th century CE, was very different from the first. Indian Buddhist philosophers, including Dharmakirti
Dharmakirti

Dharmakirti , was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhism founders of Indian philosophical logic Indian logic. He was one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, according to which the only items considered to exist are momentary Buddhist atoms and states of consciousness....
 and Dignaga
Dignaga

Dignaga was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic.He was born into a Brahmin family in Simhavakta near Kanchi , and very little is known of his early years, except that he took as his spiritual preceptor Nagadatta of the Vatsiputriya school....
, considered atoms to be point-sized, durationless, and made of energy. In discussing Buddhist atomism, Stcherbatsky
Fyodor Shcherbatskoy

Fyodor Ippolitovich Shcherbatskoy or Stcherbatsky was a Russian Indologist who, in large part, was responsible for laying the foundations in the Western world for the scholarly study of Buddhist philosophy....
 writes:

See also

  • Dignaga
    Dignaga

    Dignaga was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic.He was born into a Brahmin family in Simhavakta near Kanchi , and very little is known of his early years, except that he took as his spiritual preceptor Nagadatta of the Vatsiputriya school....
  • Dharmakirti
    Dharmakirti

    Dharmakirti , was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhism founders of Indian philosophical logic Indian logic. He was one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, according to which the only items considered to exist are momentary Buddhist atoms and states of consciousness....
  • Mereological nihilism
    Mereological nihilism

    Mereological nihilism is the position that objects with proper parts do not exist , and only basic building blocks without parts exist, and thus the world we see and experience full of objects with parts is a product of human misperception ....


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