The Genesis of Atomism as a Problem of Language and Thought
Keywords:
atoms, theory of atoms, atomism, atomistic approach, cross-cultural thesaurus of atomism, Indo-European linguistic substrate, written tradition, oral transmission, the phonocentrism, alphabetic principle, ancient Indian phonetics, continuity, discontinuity, participatorinessAbstract
In the first part of the paper an attempt is made to create a theoretical framework for the cross-cultural study of atomism in two ancient civilizations, which witnessed its appearance – Greek and Indian ones. The attempts are undertaken to provide a theoretical reconstruction of the linguistic and cognitive problem situation in which the atomic theory arises, and to create a cross-cultural thesaurus of atomism. The word “atomism” refers to the philosophical doctrine of atoms (A1), the scientific theory of atoms (A2) and an atomistic approach or method (A3).
In the second part of the paper the author examines the heuristic value of the atomistic approach (A3) in the understanding of the structure of language, and shows that in India, such an approach, manifested in the separation of single speech-sounds (varṇ a) as well as in their phonetic classification, is associated not with a written tradition and letters (as in Greece), but with the oral transmission of the sacred Vedic texts, for accuracy of which the very first phonetics and grammar (6–4 centuries BC) were elaborated, prior to the use of written alphabets. Thus, an amendment is made to the hypothesis of the impact produced by the alphabetic principle on the origins of atomism (J. Nееdham, Vyach.Vs. Ivanov, A.I. Kobzev).
