Andrew Pyle (born 17 March 1955) is a British

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

on the history of philosophical

atomism Atomism (from Greek , ''atomon'', i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its atoms ...

. Pyle is professor Emeritus in Early

Modern Philosophy Modern philosophy is philosophy developed in the modern era and associated with modernity. It is not a specific doctrine or school (and thus should not be confused with ''Modernism''), although there are certain assumptions common to much of it ...

at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, where he also received his doctorate. His dissertation was titled ''Atomism and its Critics:

Democritus Democritus (; el, Δημόκριτος, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. No ...

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

''. Pyle also writes on the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

and has given talks within the university on the nature of

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

historically. Pyle is one of the editors of the ''Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy''. Andrew Pyle engaged in an apologetics debate with William Lane Craig in 2008 on the topic: Does the Christian God Exist? In 2018, Bristol University held an all day conference honouring the thematic themes of Pyle's research

Publications

*''Hume's Dialogues on Natural Religion'' (Continuum, 2006) *''Malebranche'' (Routledge, London, 2003) *''Boyle on Science and the Mechanical Philosophy: A Reply to Chalmers'', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 33 (2002), 175-190 *''The Rationality of the Chemical Revolution'', in Nola & Sankey, eds, After Popper, Kuhn and Feyerabend (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2000) *''Atomism and its Critics: Democritus to Newton'' (Thoemmes, Bristol 1995)

References

External links

Andrew Pyle's faculty page at the University of Bristol
1955 births 20th-century British philosophers 21st-century British philosophers Academics of the University of Bristol English philosophers Historians of philosophy Hume scholars Living people {{UK-philosopher-stub