(Originally Written August 30, 2006 in History I)
Classics of Philosophy, Louis Pojman
Anaximander:
1. Like Thales, Anaximander believed all things came from a single substance. He denied though that this substance could be water as Thales held, nor could it be any element. He held that this substance must be one of an indefinite or boundless nature. His poetic language shows how everything continues to change from opposite to indefinite to opposite to bring Greek justice to the world of substances. -Simplicius on Anaximander
2. Anaximander, Thales' companion held that the boundless was the sole causal agent of origin and perishing in this world. He held that time was infinite and cyclical. As for the physical earth he held it to be cylindrical. The physical universe was formed by substance breaking off from the boundless, first hot and cold, then a fire which formed both the stars and earth. Man's origin came about from evolution from fish. -Psuedo Plutarch on Anaximander
3. The earth is self-sustaining, unsupported by anything. He held that we walk on the surface and there is a surface opposite that surface we walk upon. He held the heavenly bodies to be circles of fire, surrounded by air. Eclipses occur when breathing holes are blocked in the sky. Living creatures came to be through the moistness being evaporated by the sun. Man was originally fish-like. All things in nature originate from other things. -Hippolytus on Anaximander
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