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Question: Is there an accepted name for anti-atomistic materialism!?
By atomistic materialism I mean of course the ancient Greek idea that all that exists are atoms and the void!.
Atoms in the philosophical sense are in principle indivisible!.
A contrary point of view might hold that matter is all that exists in the world, but that it isn't atomistic in character, that any piece of matter, however small (a quark, in modern terms) could always be divided again in principle and the sub-quark divided yet again!.
Any name for such a view!? "Anti-atomistic materialism" seems rather odd!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Hmmm!.!.!."continuous-matter materialism!?" "Non-atomistic materialism!?" I don't know that there is a single accepted term for what you're describing!. Why don't you be the first to coin one!
BTW, while we don't have a definitive answer yet, so far all the data suggests that matter is not infinitely indivisible!. Even string theory posits (and requires, AFAIK) finite quanta!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
You could try "infinitesmal materialism"!. Although many will associate an infinitesmal with a logically indivisible quantum!. But perhaps that doesn't matter since you are talking about physical divisibility, not logical, so you can always run the line that physical divisibility never reaches that point!.Www@QuestionHome@Com