Anaximander: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Pre-Socratic IonianGreek philosopher (c. 610 – c. 546 BC)}}

'''Anaximander''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|ˌ|n|æ|k|s|ɪ|ˈ|m|æ|n|d|ər}} {{respell|an|AK|sih|MAN|dər}}; {{lang-grc-gre|Ἀναξίμανδρος}} ''Anaximandros''; {{nowrap|{{circa|610|546}} BC}})<ref>{{Cite web |last=Couprie |first=Dirk L. |title=Anaximander |url=https://iep.utm.edu/anaximan/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref> was a [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|pre-Socratic]] [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Greek philosopher]] who lived in [[Miletus]],<ref name=Chambers>"Anaximander" in ''[[Chambers's Encyclopædia]]''. London: [[George Newnes Ltd|George Newnes]], 1961, Vol. 1, p. 403.</ref> a city of [[Ionia]] (in modern-day Turkey). He belonged to the [[Milesian school]] and learned the teachings of his master [[Thales]]. He succeeded Thales and became the second master of that school where he counted [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]] and, arguably, [[Pythagoras]] amongst his pupils.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] |title=Life of Pythagoras}}<!--gosh this could be made a bit more useful--></ref>

Anaximander was an early proponent of [[science]] and tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe, with a particular [[cosmogony|interest in its origins]], claiming that nature is ruled by laws, just like human societies, and anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long.<ref>Park, David (2005) ''The Grand Contraption'', Princeton University Press {{ISBN|0-691-12133-8}}</ref> Like many thinkers of his time, Anaximander's [[philosophy]] included contributions to many disciplines. In [[astronomy]], he attempted to describe the mechanics of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. In physics, his postulation that the indefinite (or [[Apeiron (cosmology)|apeiron]]) was the source of all things, led Greek philosophy to a new level of conceptual [[abstraction]]. His knowledge of [[geometry]] allowed him to introduce the [[gnomon]] in Greece. He created a [[World map|map of the world]] that contributed greatly to the advancement of [[geography]]. HeAnaximander was also involved in the [[politics]] of Miletus and was sent as a leader to one of its colonies.

Anaximander, son of Praxiades, was born in the third year of the 42nd [[Olympiad]] (610 BC).<ref name="Refutation">[[Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus]] (?), ''[[Refutation of All Heresies]]'' (I, 5)</ref> According to [[Apollodorus of Athens]], Greek grammarian of the 2nd century BC, he was sixty-four years old during the second year of the 58th Olympiad (547–546&nbsp;BC), and died shortly afterwards.<ref>In his ''Chronicles'', as reported by [[Diogenes Laërtius]], ''[[Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers]]'' (II, 2).</ref>

Establishing a timeline of his work is now impossible, since no document provides chronological references. [[Themistius]], a 4th-century [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[rhetoric]]ian, mentions that he was the "first of the known Greeks to publish a written document on nature." Therefore, his texts would be amongst the earliest written in [[prose]], at least in the Western world. By the time of [[Plato]], his philosophy was almost forgotten, and [[Aristotle]], his successor [[Theophrastus]], and a few [[Doxography|doxographers]] provide us with the little information that remains. However, we know from Aristotle that Thales, also from Miletus, precedes Anaximander. It is debatable whether Thales actually was the teacher of Anaximander, but there is no doubt that Anaximander was influenced by Thales' theory that everything is derived from water. One thing that is not debatable is that even the ancient Greeks considered Anaximander to be from the [[Monist]] school which began in Miletus, with Thales followed by Anaximander and which ended with [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]].<ref>Richard D. McKirahan, ''Philosophy before Socrates'', Ch 5, 32–34</ref> 3rd-century [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] rhetorician [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] depicts Anaximander as leader of the Milesian colony to [[Sozopol|Apollonia]] on the [[Black Sea]] coast, and hence some have inferred that he was a prominent citizen.<ref name="Chisholm1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Anaximander|volume=1|page=944}}</ref> Indeed, ''Various History'' (III, 17) explains that philosophers sometimes also dealt with political matters. It is very likely that leaders of Miletus sent him there as a legislator to create a constitution or simply to maintain the colony's allegiance.

== Theories ==

Some scholars{{who|date=May 2022}} see a gap between the existing mythical and the new [[rationalism|rational]] way of thought which is the main characteristic of the [[Archaic Greece|archaic period]] (8th to 6th century BC) in the Greek [[city-state]]s.<ref>[[Herbert Ernest Cushman]] claims Anaximander has "the first European philosophical conception of god", ''A beginner's history of philosophy'', Volume 1 pg. 24</ref> This has given rise to the phrase "Greek miracle". But ifthere wemay follownot carefullyhave the course of Anaximander's ideas, we will notice that there was notbeen such an abrupt break as initially appears. The basic elements of nature ([[Water (classical element)|water]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Fire (classical element)|fire]], [[Earth (classical element)|earth]]) which the first Greek philosophers believed made up the universe in fact represent the primordial forces imagined in earlier ways of thinking. Their collision produced what the mythical tradition had called cosmic harmony. In the old cosmogonies&nbsp;– [[Hesiod]] (8th&nbsp;– 7th century&nbsp;BC) and [[Pherecydes of Syros|Pherecydes]] (6th century BC)&nbsp;– [[Zeus]] establishes his order in the world by destroying the powers which were threatening this harmony (the [[Titans (mythology)|Titans]]). Anaximander claimed that the cosmic order is not [[monarchic]] but [[geometric]], and that this causes the equilibrium of the earthEarth, which is lying in the centre of the universe. This is the projection on nature of a new political order and a new space organized around a centre which is the static point of the system in the society as in nature.<ref>C. Mosse (1984) ''La Grece archaique d'Homere a Eschyle''. Edition du Seuil. p 235</ref> In this space there is ''isonomy'' (equal rights) and all the forces are symmetrical and transferable. The decisions are now taken by the assembly of ''[[Glossary of rhetorical termsDemos#DemosOther_uses|demos]]'' in the ''[[agora]]'' which is lying in the middle of the city.<ref>J. P. Vernart (1982) ''Les origins de la pensee grecque''. PUF Pariw. p 128, J. P. Vernart (1982) ''The origins of the Greek thought''. Cornell University Press.</ref>

=== Apeiron ===

For him, it became no longer a mere point in time, but a source that could perpetually give birth to whatever will be. The indefiniteness is spatial in early usages as in [[Homer]] (indefinite sea) and as in [[Xenophanes]] (6th century BC) who said that the earthEarth went down indefinitely (to ''apeiron'') i.e. beyond the imagination or concept of men.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kirk |first1=G. S. |last2=Raven |first2=J. E. |last3=Schofield |first3=M. |title=The Presocratic Philosophers|name-list-style=amp| date=2003| publisher=Cambridge University Press| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kFpd86J8PLsC| isbn=978-0-521-27455-5| page=110}}</ref>

Aristotle writes (''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'', I.III 3–4) that the [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|Pre-Socratics]] were searching for the element that constitutes all things. While each pre-Socratic philosopher gave a different answer as to the identity of this element ([[water (classical element)|water]] for Thales and [[air (classical element)|air]] for Anaximenes), Anaximander understood the beginning or first principle to be an endless, unlimited primordial mass (''apeiron''), subject to neither old age nor decay, that perpetually yielded fresh materials from which everything we perceive is derived.<ref>[[Pseudo-Plutarch]], ''The Doctrines of the Philosophers'' (I, 3).</ref> He proposed the theory of the ''apeiron'' in direct response to the earlier theory of his teacher, Thales, who had claimed that the primary substance was water. The notion of temporal infinity was familiar to the Greek mind from remote antiquity in the religious concept of immortality, and Anaximander's description was in terms appropriate to this conception. This ''archē'' is called "eternal and ageless". (Hippolytus (?), ''Refutation'', I,6,I;DK B2)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guthrie |first=William Keith Chambers |title=A History of Greek Philosophy| date=2000| publisher=Cambridge University Press| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ogUR3V9wbbIC| isbn=978-0-521-29420-1 |page=83}}</ref>

<blockquote>"''Aristotle puts things in his own way regardless of historical considerations, and it is difficult to see that it is more of an anachronism to call the Boundless " intermediate between the elements " than to say that it is " distinct from the elements." Indeed, if once we introduce the elements at all, the former description is the more adequate of the two. At any rate, if we refuse to understand these passages as referring to Anaximander, we shall have to say that Aristotle paid a great deal of attention to some one whose very name has been lost, and who not only agreed with some of Anaximander's views, but also used some of his most characteristic expressions. We may add that in one or two places Aristotle certainly seems to identify the " intermediate " with the something " distinct from " the elements''."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Early Greek Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/earlygreekphilos0000burn_e8u1|url-access=registration|last=Burnet|first=John|publisher=A. & C. Black, Ltd.|year=1930|location=Great Britain|pages=[https://archive.org/details/earlygreekphilos0000burn_e8u1/page/57 57]|isbn=9780713603378}}</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>"It is certain that he [Anaximander] cannot have said anything about elements, which no one thought of before Empedokles, and no one could think of before Parmenides. The question has only been mentioned because it has given rise to a lengthy controversy, and because it throws light on the historical value of Aristotle's statements. From the point of view of his own system, these may be justified; but we shall have to remember in other cases that, when he seems to attribute an idea to some earlier thinker, we are not bound to take what he says in an historical sense."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Early Greek Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/earlygreekphilos0000burn|url-access=registration|last=Burnet|first=John|publisher=A. & C. Black, Ltd.|year=1930|location=Great Britain|pages=[https://archive.org/details/earlygreekphilos0000burn/page/56 56]–57}}</ref></blockquote>

For Anaximander, the [[Principle (chemistry)|principle]] of things, the constituent of all substances, is nothing determined and not an element such as water in Thales' view. Neither is it something halfway between air and water, or between air and fire, thicker than air and fire, or more subtle than water and earth.<ref>[[Aristotle]], ''[[On Generation and Corruption]]'' (II, 5)</ref> Anaximander argues that water cannot embrace all of the opposites found in nature — for example, water can only be wet, never dry — and therefore cannot be the one primary substance; nor could any of the other candidates. He postulated the ''apeiron'' as a substance that, although not directly perceptible to us, could explain the opposites he saw around him.

<blockquote>"If Thales had been right in saying that water was the fundamental reality, it would not be easy to see how anything else could ever have existed. One side of the opposition, the cold and moist, would have had its way unchecked, and the warm and dry would have been driven from the field long ago. We must, then, have something not itself one of the warring opposites, something more primitive, out of which they arise, and into which they once more pass away."<ref name="Burnet 1930 54"/></blockquote>Anaximander explains how the [[Classical element|four elements]] of ancient physics ([[air (classical element)|air]], [[earth (classical element)|earth]], [[water (classical element)|water]] and [[fire (classical element)|fire]]) are formed, and how Earth and terrestrial beings are formed through their interactions. Unlike other Pre-Socratics, he never defines this principle precisely, and it has generally been understood (e.g., by Aristotle and by [[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]]) as a sort of primal [[Chaos (cosmogony)|chaos]]. According to him, the Universe originates in the separation of opposites in the primordial matter. It embraces the opposites of hot and cold, wet and dry, and directs the movement of things; an entire host of shapes and differences then grow that are found in "all the worlds" (for he believed there were many).<ref name="Chisholm1911"/><blockquote>"Anaximander taught, then, that there was an eternal. The indestructible something out of which everything arises, and into which everything returns; a boundless stock from which the waste of existence is continually made good, "elements.". That is only the natural development of the thought we have ascribed to Thales, and there can be no doubt that Anaximander at least formulated it distinctly. Indeed, we can still follow to some extent the reasoning which led him to do so. Thales had regarded water as the most likely thing to be that of which all others are forms; Anaximander appears to have asked how the primary substance could be one of these particular things. His argument seems to be preserved by Aristotle, who has the following passage in his discussion of the Infinite: ''"Further, there cannot be a single, simple body which is infinite, either, as some hold, one distinct from the elements, which they then derive from it, or without this qualification. For there are some who make this. (i.e. a body distinct from the elements). the infinite, and not air or water, in order that the other things may not be destroyed by their infinity. They are in opposition one to another. air is cold, water moist, and fire hot. and therefore, if any one of them were infinite, the rest would have ceased to be by this time. Accordingly they say that what is infinite is something other than the elements, and from it the elements arise.'⁠—Aristotle Physics. F, 5 204 b 22 (Ritter and Preller (1898) Historia Philosophiae Graecae, section 16 b)."''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Early Greek Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/earlygreekphilos0000burn|url-access=registration|last=Burnet|first=John|publisher=A. & C. Black, Ltd.|year=1930|location=Great Britain|pages=[https://archive.org/details/earlygreekphilos0000burn/page/53 53]}}</ref></blockquote>Anaximander maintains that all dying things are returning to the element from which they came (''apeiron''). The one surviving fragment of Anaximander's writing deals with this matter. Simplicius transmitted it as a quotation, which describes the balanced and mutual changes of the elements:<ref>[[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]], ''Comments on Aristotle's Physics'' (24, 13):

In [[Ancient Greek]] quotes usually blend with surrounding text. Consequently, deciding where they start and where they end is often difficult. However, it is generallyuncertain acceptedhow that this quotemuch is not Simplicius' own interpretation, {{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} but Anaximander's writing,text inand "somewhat poetic terms" as itwhat is mentioned by Simplicius.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Curd, |first=Patricia, ''|title=A Presocratics Reader: Selected Fragments and Testimonia'' (|publisher=[[Hackett Publishing]], |year=1996), p. |page=12.}}</ref>

Whence things have their origin,<br />

Thence also their destruction happens,<br />

According to necessity;<br />

For they give to each other justice and recompense<br />

For their injustice<br />

Simplicius mentions that Anaximander said all these "in poetic terms", meaning that he used the old mythical language. The goddess Justice ([[Dike (mythology)|Dike]]) keeps the cosmic order. This concept of returning to the element of origin was often revisited afterwards, notably by Aristotle,<ref>Aristotle, ''Metaphysics'', I, 3, 983 ''b'' 8–11; ''[[Physics (Aristotle)|Physics]]'', III, 5, 204 ''b'' 33–34</ref> and by the Greek [[Tragedy|tragedian]] [[Euripides]]: "what comes from earth must return to earth."<ref>Euripides''[[The Suppliants (Euripides)|Supplices]]'', v. 532</ref> [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], in his ''[[Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks]]'', stated that Anaximander viewed "... all coming-to-be as though it were an illegitimate emancipation from eternal being, a wrong for which destruction is the only penance."<ref>[[Friedrich Nietzsche]], ''[[Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks]]'' (1873) § 4.</ref> Physicist [[Max Born]], in commenting upon [[Werner Heisenberg]]'s arriving at the idea that the elementary particles of [[quantum mechanics]] are to be seen as different manifestations, different quantum states, of one and the same "primordial substance,"' proposed that this primordial substance be called ''apeiron''.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Bmcpsgp-Ml4C&pg=PA546 | page= 546 |title=A Cultural History of Physics |last=Károly |first= Simonyi |author-link= Simonyi Károly |date= April 7, 2012 |workchapter=Chapter 5.5.10 Back to the Apeiron? |publisher= CRC Press |isbn=9781568813295 <!-- print source, but for the fans: |access-date=July 9, 2013 -->}}</ref>

Anaximander was the first to conceive a mechanical model of the world. In his model, the Earth floats very still in the centre of the infinite, not supported by anything. It remains "in the same place because of its indifference", a point of view that Aristotle considered ingenious, in ''[[On the Heavens]]''.<ref>Aristotle, ''On the Heavens'', ii, 13</ref> Its curious shape is that of a cylinder<ref>"A column of stone", [[Aëtius (theologian)|Aetius]] reports in ''De Fide'' (III, 7, 1), or "similar to a pillar-shaped stone", pseudo-Plutarch (III, 10).</ref> with a height one-third of its diameter. The flat top forms the inhabited world, which is surrounded by a circular oceanic mass.

[[Carlo Rovelli]] suggests that Anaximander took the idea of the Earth's shape as a floating disk from [[Thales of Miletus|Thales]], who had imagined the Earth floating in water, the "immense ocean from which everything is born and upon which the Earth floats."{{sfn|Rovelli|2023|p=48}} Anaximander was then able to envisage the Earth at the centre of an infinite space, in which case it required no support as there was nowhere "down" to fall. In Rovelli's view, the shape – a cylinder or a sphere – is unimportant compared to the appreciation of a "finite body that floats free in space."{{sfn|Rovelli|2023|p=48}}

[[File:Starry Spin-up.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|center|The sight of stars circling the [[Pole star]] and vanishing and reappearing at the horizon could have suggested to Anaximander that the earthEarth was surrounded above and below by a void.{{sfn|Rovelli|2023|pp=50–52}}]]

Anaximander's bold use of non-[[Greek mythology|mythological]] explanatory hypotheses considerably distinguishes him from previous cosmology writers such as [[Hesiod]].{{sfn|Rovelli|2023|pp=42–43}} It indicates a pre-Socratic effort to demystify physical processes. His major contribution to history was writing the oldest prose document about the Universe and the origins of life; for this he is often called the "Father of [[Cosmology]]" and founder of astronomy. However, [[pseudo-Plutarch]] states that he still viewed celestial bodies as deities.<ref>Pseudo-Plutarch, ''Doctrines of the Philosophers'', i. 7</ref> He placed the celestial bodies in the wrong order. He thought that the stars were nearest to the earthEarth, then the moonMoon, and the sunSun farthest away. His scheme is compatible with the [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] philosophical traditions contained in the Iranian [[Avesta]] ochand the [[India|Indian]]n [[Upanishads]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marcovich |firstfirst1=Miroslav |date=June 1975 |title=Reviewed Work: Early Greek Philosophy and the Orient by M. L. West |journal=Gnomon |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=321–328}}</ref>

Anaximander was the first astronomer to consider the Sun as a huge mass, and consequently, to realize how far from Earth it might be, and the first to present a system where the celestial bodies turned at different distances. Furthermore, according to Diogenes Laertius (II, 2), he built a [[celestial spheres|celestial sphere]].{{failed verification|date=October 2023}} This invention undoubtedly made him the first to realize the [[Axial tilt|obliquity]] of the [[Zodiac]] as the Roman philosopher [[Pliny the Elder]] reports in ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' (II, 8). It is a little early to use the term [[ecliptic]], but his knowledge and work on astronomy confirm that he must have observed the inclination of the celestial sphere in relation to the plane of the Earth to explain the seasons. The [[doxography|doxographer]] and theologian Aetius attributes to Pythagoras the exact measurement of the obliquity.

=== Meteorological phenomena ===

He saw the sea as a remnant of the mass of humidity that once surrounded Earth.<ref>Pseudo-Plutarch (III, 16)</ref> A part of that mass evaporated under the sunSun's action, thus causing the winds and even the rotation of the celestial bodies, which he believed were attracted to places where water is more abundant.<ref>It is then very likely that by observing the moonMoon and the tides, Anaximander thought the latter were the cause, and not the effect of the satellite's movement.</ref> He explained rain as a product of the humidity pumped up from Earth by the sun.<ref name="Refutation" /> For him, the Earth was slowly drying up and water only remained in the deepest regions, which someday would go dry as well. According to Aristotle's ''[[Meteorology (Aristotle)|Meteorology]]'' (II, 3), Democritus also shared this opinion.

=== Origin of humankindmankind ===

== Other accomplishments ==

Maps were produced in ancient times, also notably in [[Egypt]], [[Lydia]], the [[Middle East]], and [[Babylon]]. Only some small examples survived until today. The unique example of a world map comes from the late Babylonian tablet [[Babylonian Map of the World|BM 92687]] later than 9th century BC but is based probably on a much older map. These maps indicated directions, roads, towns, borders, and geological features. Anaximander's innovation was to represent the entire inhabited land known to the ancient Greeks.

=== Gnomon ===

=== Prediction of an earthquake ===

== InterpretationsLegacy ==

== See also ==

==Footnotes References ==

==References Sources ==

=== Secondary sources===

* {{cite book |last=Brumbaugh |first=Robert S. |title=The Philosophers of Greece |location=New York |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell |date=1964}}
* {{cite book |author-link=John Burnet (classicist) |last=Burnet |first=John |title=Early Greek Philosophy |url=http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/burnet/index.htm |edition=3rd |location=London |publisher=Black |date=1920 |access-date=2011-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111171732/http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/burnet/index.htm |archive-date=2011-01-11 |url-status=dead}}

* [httphttps://wwwiep.utm.edu/researchanaximander/iep/a/anaximan.htm ''The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' – Anaximander]