Natural_Philosophers



		The Natural Philosophers



		Acropolis appears courtesy of Encarta

	The earliest Greek philosophers are called the Natural Philosophers because their main concern was the world and all of its natural processes. The Greeks believed that at any point in history, the world has always existed. The philosophers observed visually that the world was in a constant state of transformation. All of the earliest philosophers shared the belief that there had to be a basic substance that everything was composed of. The only difference was what that substance was.

		The Miletians

Miletus was a Greek colony in Asia Minor. All of the following philosophers originated from there. Thales (circa 585 B.C.) thought that the source of all living things was water. What was exactly meant by that is unknown, but is surmised that he meant that all life originated from water, and that all life returns to water when it dissolved. He also said �all things are full of gods�. Again, his literal meaning of this is unknown. Perhaps he meant that the earth is full of �life-germs� responsible for the production of all life. But it is certain that he was not referring to the Homeric gods. The next philosopher is Anaximander, who lived at about the same time as Thales. He thought our world was only one of a myriad of worlds that evolve and dissolve in something called the boundless. It is not know by what he meant by the boundless, but it is apparent that he didn�t think of a known substance like Thales. Possibly he intended that the essence that is the source for all things had to be something different than the things themselves. The third was Anaximenes (c. 570-526 B.C.). He thought that all living things are made of �air� or �vapor�. He thought water was condensed air. When water is pressed further, it became earth he thought. Fire is rarefied air, he reasoned. So, like Thales, he thought that there is an underlying substance that is the source of all natural change.

		Parimenides

Starting around 500 B.C a group of philosophers emerged in the Greek colony of Elea, which is in Southern Italy. Their problem was how something transformed into something else. The most important of these philosophers was Parimenides (c. 540-480 B.C.). He believed that everything that existed had always existed, an idea that was not foreign to the Greeks. Nothing can come out of nothing, and anything that exists cannot become nothing. He thought that there was no thing as actual change. He did realize that nature was constantly changing, but he could not equate that with what his reason was telling him. When he had to choose between what he saw and what reason was telling him, he chose reason. He believed that the senses gave an incorrect picture of the world. As a philosopher he saw it as his mission to reveal all forms of sensory illusion. The unshakeable faith that Parimenides had is called rationalism.

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