Thales

(Originally Written August 30, 2006 in History I)

The Classical Mind by W.T. Jones

Thales:

Thales was from Miletus, a Greek colony in Ionia (on the east coast of Asia).

He predicted an eclipse in 585 B.C.

He believed waster was the cause of all things and that all things were filled with gods.

Thales marks a chance for science to be founded. Prior to him everything was attributed to the supernatural. Thales' belief of water being the cause of all things brings causes under the dominion of the natural world and thus, under the umbrella of science.

Thales is remembered because he was the first man to answer the question, why do things happen as they do? without giving an answer that began or ended with because of the gods.

Thales assumed:
1) There is some one thing that was the cause of everything else (monism)
2) That the cause was in fact a thing or an 'ultimate stuff'
3) The ultimate stuff is active and contains an internal principle of change

The third assumption is what Thales means by stating that things are full of gods. Gods were causal agents in Greek thought. Thus, Thales was stating that things happen because things change, not because gods change things. The idea of processes was born in Thales' philosophy.

Thales marks a chance for an expansion of knowledge for ancient Greece. This expansion manifested itself as Thales' successors acutely critiqued each others' works and submitted an improved hypothesis moving away from mythology towards philosophy.