What is the doctrine of psychological atomism? how does scepticism result from this teaching?
2007-09-17 06:20:47 · 1 answers · asked by 23344 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Psychological Atomism is the theory that every item or idea is a separate independent entity. Every universal concept can be broken down to its individual and distinct components.
This leads to Nominalism, which holds that Universals do not exist in a metaphysical sense, but are rather a name or term for an association of individual atomic ideas or items.
Further, if our understanding of the external world is merely an accumulation of atomic constructs...how can we know the world in a truly physical sense? This statement is the basis of skeptical theory as it is referenced in your question.
2007-09-19 23:24:24 · answer #1 · answered by M O R P H E U S 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋