Pre-Socratic Philosophers: Origins of Philosophy
The Origins of Philosophy in Ancient Greece
Philosophy emerged in the 6th century BC in the Greek colony of Miletus, Asia Minor. Miletus was a thriving commercial port, a crossroads for people from various cultures. Several factors contributed to the rise of philosophy in Greece:
- Political Freedom: The Greek city-state (polis) fostered an environment of free thought and debate among its citizens (excluding slaves).
- Philosophical Leisure: The saying “primum vivere, deinde philosophare” (first live, then philosophize) suggests that a certain level of material security allowed for intellectual pursuits.
- Absence of Dogmatic Religion: The lack of a rigid, centralized religious structure in Greece allowed for the development of rational thought.
- Cultural Diversity: Interaction with diverse cultures broadened perspectives and encouraged questioning of traditional beliefs.
The First Philosophers: The Milesians
The first philosophers, also known as the Milesians or Pre-Socratics (because they predate Socrates), primarily resided in colonies outside of Athens. They focused on the study of nature (physis) and sought the ultimate, eternal principle (arche) underlying all reality. Our knowledge of their ideas comes primarily from fragments of their writings.
Thales of Miletus
Thales was the first Milesian philosopher. He famously predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BC (the only precisely known date associated with him). A philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, he was revered as one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Thales proposed that water was the arche, arguing that:
- The Earth floats on water.
- No living being can survive without water.
- Water can transform into all states of matter (solid, liquid, gas).
Thales broke from mythological explanations, offering an empirical and material account of reality. He also advanced geometric knowledge, leading to the development of Thales’ theorem.
Anaximenes
Anaximenes believed that air was the fundamental principle. He proposed that through processes of rarefaction (thinning) and condensation (thickening), air formed wind, clouds, water, and earth.
Heraclitus of Ephesus
Heraclitus, known for his aphoristic writings, emphasized the constant flux of reality: “Everything flows, and nothing remains.” He is considered a precursor to dialectical thinking. Heraclitus identified fire as the arche and believed in a universal harmony arising from conflict, governed by the logos (reason or principle).
Anaximander
Anaximander created the gnomon (a part of a sundial) and one of the first maps of the Earth. He proposed that life originated in the sea and later spread to land. He called the fundamental principle of nature the Apeiron (meaning infinite, unlimited, and indeterminate). The Apeiron was also synonymous with justice.
Pythagoras of Samos
Pythagoras lived in Croton, Italy, and founded a philosophical school that endured throughout antiquity. He and his followers, the Pythagoreans, believed that numbers were the underlying principle of reality. They represented numbers geometrically: 1 as a point, 2 as a line, and so on. The Tetractys (a triangular figure of ten points) held special significance.
Mystical Aspects of the Pythagoreans:
- Metempsychosis: Belief in the transmigration of souls.
- Essential kinship between all living things.
- Community Rules: Practicing silence, studying music and mathematics.
They criticized mythological gods, affirming the existence of a single, non-anthropomorphic God manifested in the circular motion of the stars and the spherical (perfect) shape of the universe.
Parmenides of Elea
Parmenides distinguished between two ways of knowing: truth and opinion. He argued that the arche is Being. His core argument was that “Being is, and it is impossible for it not to be; Non-being is not, and it cannot possibly be.” Parmenides’ Being is immutable, eternal, unique, and continuous. He considered the sphere to be the perfect representation of Being. His disciple, Zeno, defended his teacher’s ideas through paradoxes, such as that of Achilles and the tortoise.