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Thales (in
Greek: Θαλης)
of Miletus (circa
635 BC - 543 BC), also known as
Thales the Milesian, was a
pre-Socratic Greek
philosopher and one of the
Seven Sages of Greece. Many regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition as well as the father of
science. Although it is now accepted that the beginnings of science may in fact be traced to
Ancient Egypt (see
scientific method).
Life
Thales lived in the city of Miletus, in
Ionia, now western Turkey. According to
Herodotus, he was of
Phoenician descent.
The well-traveled Ionians had many dealings with
Egypt and
Babylon, and Thales may have studied in Egypt as a young man. In any event, Thales almost certainly had exposure to
Egyptian mythology,
astronomy, and
mathematics, as well as to other traditions alien to the
Homeric traditions of Greece. Perhaps because of this his inquiries into the nature of things took him beyond traditional mythology.
Several anecdotes suggest that Thales was not solely a thinker; he was involved in business and politics. One story recounts that he bought all the olive presses in Miletus after predicting the weather and a good harvest for a particular year. Another version of this same story states that he bought the presses to demonstrate to his fellow Milesians that he could use his intelligence to enrich himself. Herodotus recorded that Thales advised the city-states of Ionia to form a
federation.
Thales is said to have died in his seat, while watching an athletic contest.
Theories and influence
Before Thales, the Greeks explained the origin and nature of the world through
myths of
anthropomorphic gods and
heroes. Phenomena like lightning or earthquakes were attributed to actions of the gods.
By contrast Thales attempted to find naturalistic explanations of the world, without reference to the
supernatural. He explained earthquakes by imagining that the Earth floats on water, and that earthquakes occur when the Earth is rocked by waves.
Herodotus cites him as having predicted the
solar eclipse of 585 BC that put an end to fighting between the
Lydians and the
Medes.
Thales' most famous belief was his
cosmological doctrine, which held that the world originated from water. Aristotle considered this belief roughly equivalent to the later ideas of
Anaximenes, who held that everything in the world was composed of air. Thus it is sometimes assumed that Thales considered everything to be made from water. According to Lloyd, however, it's likely that while Thales saw water as an origin, he never pondered whether water continued to be the substance of the world.
Thales had a profound influence on other Greek thinkers and therefore on
Western history. Some believe
Anaximander was a pupil of Thales. Early sources report that one of Anaximander's more famous pupils,
Pythagoras, visited Thales as a young man, and that Thales advised him to travel to Egypt to further his philosophical and mathematical studies.
Many philosophers followed Thales' lead in searching for explanations in
nature rather than in the supernatural; others returned to supernatural explanations, but couched them in the language of philosophy rather than myth or
religion.
Sources
Most of our sources for information on the Miletian philosophers (Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes) are the works of much later writers. The primary source for Thales' philosophy is
Aristotle, who credited him with the first inquiry into the causes of things.
Thales may or may not have ever written books. It is certain, however, that Aristotle did not have access to any work of Thales, and was writing from secondary sources of his own. While Thales' historical importance is unquestioned, this introduces a good deal of uncertainty into our understanding of him.
See also
References
G.E.R. Lloyd,
Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle
External links
Category:Ancient mathematicians
Category:Ancient philosophers
Category:Presocratic philosophers
Category:635 BC births
Category:543 BC deaths
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