The definition of atoms as things "that cannot be cut up or actively divided up and split," seems more like a precursor to modern physics rather than philosophy (80) Sophists such as Critas asked questions, not about the natural world, but the moral and political life of citizens and acted as "independent, often itinerants teachers of wisdom," and above all conveyers of "political skills" that were of vital importance in a free-for-all democracy like ancient Athens, where the ability to "speak well" and persuasively was a vital survival skill (6;96). The Sophists were rivals to Socrates because they claimed that morality was based in convention,...

Some philosophers asked questions about matter, others about morality, but philosophy did not evolve as a seamless line of ideas, rather different questions seemed pressing, depending on the political state of affairs of the nation.
Works Cited

Pre-Socratic Reader: Selected Fragments and Testimonial.

Edited by Patricia Curd. Translations by Richard D. McKirahan. Jr. New York: Hackett Publishing Company, 1996.