Today we are going to talk about a quite important Greek philosopher, geometrist and astronomer in history. Is about Anaximander of Miletus. This man assumed the existence of a constitutive and original principle common to all living beings in nature. This principle was called arche. Unlike the rest of his companions who identified the arche with a physical substance, Anaximander is the one who established it as the first principle known as ápeiron.
In this article, we're going to tell you about Anaximander's biography and the most important achievements of his life.
Anaximander of Miletus
This Greek philosopher and astronomer established as the first principle common to all beings of the nature of the apeiron. This term can be translated as "the indeterminate" or "the undefined." He was a disciple of Thales of Miletus and a member of the Miletus School. He lived in the city where he lived, and he was an active citizen and led an expedition to Apollonia, located on the Black Sea. He acted as a politician, holding important positions, so much so that he was entrusted with the mission of limiting the birth rate in Apollonia. This was a serious problem due to the excessive birth rate at that time and a lack of resources to meet everyone's needs.
It was one of the many colonies that had to solve the problem of the overpopulation of the Ionian cities. Limiting the birth rate was a complicated issue for that time. The citizens chose him thanks to his knowledge and political merits. Not so long ago a statue was discovered in the excavations at Miletus.
Throughout his life, Anaximander devoted himself to numerous investigations. One of these investigations was to create the first map of our planet, which was a precursor to other maps such as the PythagorasThis map had to be drawn from the remaining small maps and news received by Greek merchants. It was a map that could not be perfected until later by Hecataeus, and which Herodotus used. To draw up this map, Anaximander had to imagine the Earth as a motionless cylinder. This idea went against the general opinion that the Earth was flat.
Other works attributed to him include determining the equinoxes and solstices and calculating the distances and sizes of stars. Anaximander also developed a sundial, as did a celestial sphere. This celestial sphere was used to display certain celestial bodies in the firmament.
Philosophy of Anaximander
This philosopher has had amazing speculations about the origin of living beings and man. According to his philosophy, everything from a wet phenomenon. In this phenomenon, the Earth was a liquid place and during the process of dissociation the humidity gave rise to the living. In such a way that the first men had fish and other more primitive animals as their ancestors. For this theory he was considered the first cosmologist and as the predecessor of the modern theory of evolution.
Anaximander was the first Greek thinker who was able to write down all his philosophical reflections. He wrote his treatise, which included all the most notable reflections on the systematization of philosophical thought prior to Aristotle. A fragment of his treatise, "On Nature," survives. However, given Aristotle's history, at least some parts of the entire doctrine of Anaximander can be recomposed.
Within his philosophy he agreed with Thales of Miletus in the defense that there was only one basic principle, called arche, which was the generator of all things. Anaximander called this basic principle ápeiron. The apeiron referred to the indefinite or the indeterminate. This is, a substance that is indeterminate, unlimited and infinite and eternal. The apeiron is incorruptible and imperishable. From this origin, all other living beings and the universe derive from it and are subject to birth and disappearance due to the opposing force between them.
The beginning of everything
Miletus city
He had several attempts to determine the total principle. For this he follows the constant of the Milesian philosophical themes. Unlike the rest of the philosophers who tried to find this principle in a finite nature, for Anaximander this principle was seen in the apeiron that it is not perceived by experience if what has to be postulated as something permanent and transcendent of an empirical world.
It is something indefinable in both space and time, but it is the principle of all perishable and defined things. Many details are left out of the subjects that are the object of our experience. For this reason, Anaximander's doctrine is difficult to interpret.
In school, research on the arche would occupy most of the philosophers' time. It began to be studied in the school of and continued through Parmenides and Heraclitus. This problem, which began in the school of Miletus, became a recurring theme throughout Greek philosophy.
Anaximander was the author of four books in total. The first is the one we've already mentioned, "On Nature." However, he also authored three more books called "Perimeter of the Earth," "On the Fixed Stars," and "A Celestial Sphere." Anaximander's books probably had no titles and were simply named after chapters in a fundamental book. What is known with absolute certainty is that Anaximander he was one of the first to write a prose book. The importance of the existence of a prose writing lies in the fact that Anaximander continued the tradition of Thales as a philosopher and inaugurated a new literary genre, which is related to the one that has been used by various poets and educators throughout history.
As you can see, Anaximander has been a quite important philosopher and astronomer who has brought many advances to history. I hope that with this information you can learn more about Anaximander and his exploits.