The Origins of Atomism

Epicurus' atomism is grounded in empirical consideration of how best to explain the phenomena that we observe around us. That might well be different from the reasons for which democracy and Eucipus espouse their atomism. They may well have been thinking more in terms of a reaction to Parmenides or to various Eleatic thinkers. In which case original atomism might be, here's how there could be many things. Quite. The only thing they'd be trying to preserve about our experience is the observation that there are many things. And that there is some degree of change because we often focus on atoms of course but I think the void is equally important.