'Nature and the Greeks' and 'Science and Humanism'

The situation is rather disconcerting. You will ask: What are these particles then, if they are not individuals? And you may point to another kind of gradual transition, namely that between an ultimate particle and a palpable body in our environment, to which we do attribute individual sameness. A number of particles constitute an atom. Several atoms go to compose a molecule. Molecules there are of various sizes, small ones and big ones, but without there being any limit beyond which we call it a big molecule. In fact there is no upper limit to the size of a molecule, it may contain hundreds of thousands of atoms. It may be a virus or a gene, visible under the microscope. Finally we may observe that any palpable object in our environment is composed of molecules, which are composed of atoms, which are composed of ultimate particles … and if the latter lack individuality, how does, say, my wrist-watch come by individuality? Where is the limit? How does individuality arise at all in objects composed of non-individuals?

It is useful to consider this question in some detail, for it will give us the clue to what a particle or an atom really is—what there is permanent in it in spite of its lack of individuality.