The theory that all matter is composed of invisible, irreducible units; generally, any theory that see complex structures or grouping as constituted of elementary components. Holistic theories, in contrast, see the whole as more than the sum of its parts.
In ancient cosmologies, paricularly Greek and Indian, the four basic, irreducible substances that constitute all matter: earth, air, fire, and water. The modern understanding of chemical elements—those substances composed of only one kind of atom—has in common with the ancient concept the basic principle of irreducibility.
在古代的宇宙观中，特别是希腊人和印度人，土、气、火、水四种基本的最小的物质构成了万物。物质只由原子组成，这种现代的对化学元素的理解与古代基本起源的不可化约性概念颇有相似之处。
Greek term meaning, variously, “word,”"reason,”speech,”"discourse,” and “principle”; a central concept in ancient Greek philosophy and later religious thought. While it has been used in variety of contexts, logos usually refers in some way to a power that brings the world into order. Thus, the words according to which the world was gathered from chaos into cosmos (order) constitute the logos.
希腊术语，有多重意义，如“词”、“理性”、“言语”、“交谈”以及“本源”。逻各斯是希腊哲学的中心概念，后来被用于宗教思想中。虽然逻各斯可以在不同的语境中使用，但是在某种程度上通常指一种可以使世界守序的力量。因此，逻各斯即等同于那些意指将世界由混沌而收拾出秩序的词语。
Itinerant teachers who thirved in Athens in fifth and early fourth centuries B.C.E. From the term”Sophist”come the words”sophistry,”or specious argument, and”sophisticated,” with its connotation of clever glibness;but the Greek word sophistes denoted merely the master of a craft, a clever adept, or a wise man.
公元前5世纪至公元前4世纪早期波形与雅典的巡回教师。从“智者”这个属于引申出指似是而非的辩论的“诡辩”一词，以及暗指聪明油滑的“世故”一词。但希腊语中“智者”一词仅表示掌握某种技艺的人、聪明的老手、或有智慧的人。
