#Anaximenes of Miletus

[innabesedina]

🔵 Anaximenes of Miletus / Philosophy #Knowledge #Education #Anaximenes

"JUST AS OUR SOUL, BEING AIR, CONSTRAINS US, SO BREATH AND AIR ENVELOPS THE WHOLE COSMOS." 

οἷον ἡ ψυχή ἡ ἡμετέρα ἀὴρ οὖσα συγκρατεῖ ἡμᾶς, καὶ ὅλον τὸν κόσμον πνεῦμα καὶ ἀὴρ περιέχει 

ANAXIMENES OF MILETUS 

ANAXIMENES OF MILETUS WAS AN ANCIENT GREEK, PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHER... HE WAS THE LAST OF THE THREE PHILOSOPHERS OF THE MILESIAN SCHOOL, AFTER THALES AND ANAXIMANDER.

[jamesgraybooksellerworld]

A gigantic feat of erudition Eusebius' “Praeparitio” printed by Zel.

945G     Eusebius of Caesarea                  c. 260-c. 340 Eusebius Pa[m]phili de eua[n]gelica preparac[i]o[n]e ex greco in latinu[m] translatus Incipit feliciter.                [ Cologne, Ulrich Zel, not after 1473]                          $18,000 Folio 10 ¾  x 7 ¾  inches. [a]12, [b-o]10, [p]8      One of the earliest editions most likely the Second, (editio princeps : Venice 1470)  This…

[stastrodome]

Five Fun Facts about Anaximenes of Dabra

- Anaximenes of Dabra often took parts in debates with Empedocles where he  vigorously questioned the status of the sandal as universal footwear.

- Unaware of Socrates, Anaximenes of Dabra and his contemporaries obviously did not call themselves "Pre-Socratics".  They were called "Zaxy and The Dab-Lords".

- Anaximenes of Dabra was known as a physicist but he was also a beloved local candy maker who made confections with two simple ingredients: sugar and salt. 

- Jealous of Anaximenes of Miletus's perfection of the sun dial, Anaximenes of Dabra spent his last years trying to invent the pocket fisherman.

- Anaximenes of Dabra was the first person to actually slap another person for using the word “synergy”.

[annabelle-o-belmont]

philosophy is so fucking funny, like you go all the way back to the ionian school of pre-socratic philosophy and its like everyone is out here changing up what they believe the world arises from.

Thales of Miletus believed all things are derived from water because of moistness.

Anaximenes believed everything is derived from air.

Heraclitus believed all things are derived from fire.

straight up just like switching out what came before.

(lmao i know it’s more complicated than that and they had solid reasoning, but it’s funnier to think about them just like being like “fuck you philosophy father!! the archae is this!!!”)

i love philosophy so much lmao.

[psychreviews2]

The Presocratics: Anaximenes

Anaximenes

Miletus was a thriving city state, that once was the "glory of the Ionia", according to Herodotus. Miletus had ports rich with trade, and access to knowledge from the great civilizations of Babylonia and Egypt. It was an ideal place to develop new ideas. Three Presocratic philosophers in particular, in 6th century Miletus, arguably introduced an early form of scientific speculation based on our human nagging question of Why? Thales believed that water's liquid properties, and its ability to evaporate or freeze explains the changeability we see in the world. Anaximander on the other hand knew that labeling anything brings up the eternal question: what is the source of the source? He chose instead to focus on the movement rather than a substance that is known. The theory helped to avoid the infinite regress, but at the same time his theory lost some of its value by being so indeterminate. The infinite regress in science, in contrast, was more useful than expected. In fact the search for origins led to new knowledge, and still does. At this early stage of philosophy Anaximenes was able to bring that sense of definiteness back.

Like the other Presocratic philosophers, there is little we know about the life of Anaximenes. Diogenes Laertius says that he "was a student of Anaximander...He used plain and unadorned Ionic diction." We end up knowing more about historical characters by their deeds and influences referenced by later commentators such as Diogenes above, Simplicius, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, and Aëtius.

Air

The most famous association with Anaximenes is his choice of Air as the origin of the universe. "Anaximenes...who says like [Anaximander], that the underlying nature is single and boundless, but not indeterminate as he says, but determinate, calling it air. It differs in essences in accordance with its rarity or density. When it is thinned it becomes fire, while when it is condensed it becomes wind, the cloud, when still more condensed, water, then earth, then stones." The common analogy used in descriptions of Anaximenes' density theory is felting, where wool is compressed to make felt. Not to leave Anaximander's cold, hot, wet, and dry theories behind, to explain the variety we see in the world, Anaximenes continues with his theory of rarity and density.

"...Breath is cooled when it is compressed and condensed by the lips, but when the mouth is relaxed it becomes hot as it leaves the mouth because of being rarefied." To continue with the style of his predecessors, Anaximenes tries to explain life with his theoretical source, air. "Anaximenes...declared air to be the source of beings. For from them this do all things arise and back into it do all things dissolve. As our soul, he says, which is air, controls us, so do breath and air encompass the whole world-order."

By making air the source of everything and boundless, like Anaximander's indeterminate source, Anaximenes is able to create a source that is determinant, and with the mechanism of condensation, he can explain how one thing can change into anything else we see.

Astronomy

The Milesian view of astronomy starting with Thales held the view that eclipses happened when the moon moves in front of the sun. Thales description of stars was that they were "earthy but they have fire in them." Anaximander explained eclipses happening "when the mouth of the fire hole is closed off." How the sun appeared to Anaximander was of a "circle twenty-eight times the size of the earth, similar to a wagon wheel, having its rim hollow, full of fire, in one part emitting its fire through an opening as through a jet of fire...The moon is a circle nineteen times the size of the earth, like a wagon-wheel having a hollow rim full of fire, like that of the sun, having a single vent like a jet of fire...Eclipses occur when the opening of the wheel is blocked."

The problem of earth and its position is explained by Anaximander that it "stays in place by uniformity...For it is not more fitting for what occupies the middle and is equally situated in relation to the extremes to travel up than down or to the side; and it is impossible for it to make a move in contrary directions at the same time, so it stays in place by necessity." Stars are treated the same but are closer than the sun. "The sun is the highest body, and the lowest are the circles of the fixed stars."

With Anaximenes the astronomy makes some distinctive changes. "...Flatness is the cause of [the earth's] staying in place...The earth is table shaped...It floats on air...It...covers the air below like a lid, as we observe those bodies do which have a flat shape; for these are difficult to move especially against the wind because of their resistance. Thus they say the earth owing to its flatness acts the same way in relation to the underlying air, which because it does not have any place to move, being contained by what is under it like water in a water clock, stays still."

From the earth Anaximenes creates the source of our stars. "The heavenly bodies came to be from earth because of the moisture arising from it, which being thinned came to be fire, and from fire floating aloft the stars were composed...Stars are fixed like nails to an ice-like surface so as to form [constellations]...The nature of stars is fiery, and they include certain invisible earthly bodies that are carried around with them...The stars revolve not under but around the earth...the sun does not travel under the earth, but rather around the earth and, and it disappears and causes night because the earth is high toward the north." Instead of being closer to us than the sun, as with Anaximander, "the stars do not heat us because of their great distance...The heavenly bodies make their turnings because they are deflected by the contrary pressure of condensed air."

Theology

Similar to Thales' quote that "all things are full of Gods", Anaximenes "[says] air [is God]." Again this is different from the typical theology of the time. "...Anaximenes...ascribed the cause of all things to boundless air, nor did he deny the existence of gods or pass them over in silence. He did not, however, believe air was created by them, but that they were formed out of air." Richard McKirahan highlights how divinity is seen by Anaximenes. "Here the key attribute of air is its unceasing motion, which is an indication of its divinity. This need mean only that as a whole or in general air is characterized by motion, not that every bit of air is always in motion. When air moves enough to be noticed, it is a breeze, which is already a condensed form of air. Thus, it seems that air by its own mobile nature is condensed in some places and rarefied in others, and so other substances come into being."

A good example of the philosophical move away from myths is when looking at a rainbow. Instead of a rainbow being the Greek goddess Iris, "a rainbow is formed by the illumination of the sun falling on a dense, thick, dark cloud, when the rays, which are not able to penetrate to the other side, are gathered together on it."

The Milesian School

As Greek theories in philosophy expanded to theories of truth with the Eleatics, and Pluralists, philosophy moved closer to our modern understanding of it, which is examining a good and meaningful life. The Presocratics from Miletus were later grouped as the Milesian School that focused more on the origins of the world, and challenging mythical explanations. The value of this early school is that if myths can be wrong about the origin of the world, what else are they wrong about? It opens the door to challenging cultural norms and creating new ways for societies to be organized.

The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists by Robin Waterfield: Kindle: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780199539093/

Presocratics: Natural Philosophers before Socrates by James Warren: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780520253698/

The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy: The Complete Fragments and Selected Testimonies of the Major Presocratics by Daniel W. Graham: Paperback: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780521608428/

Explaining the Cosmos: The Ionian Tradition of Scientific Philosophy by Daniel W. Graham: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780691125404/

Philosophy Before Socrates - McKirahan, Richard D.: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9781603841825/

Greek City-States by Kathleen Freeman: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780393001938/

Histories - Herodotus: https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780143107545/

Philosophy: http://psychreviews.org/category/philosophy03/

[brtschmllr]

fr. B2: Air-Soul (Aet.1,3,4 [Ps.-Plut. 876 A])

Ἀναξιμένης Εὐρυστράτου Μιλήσιος ἀρχὴν τῶν ὄντων ἀέρα ἀπεφήνατο· ἐκ γὰρ τούτου πάντα γίγνεσθαι καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν πάλιν ἀναλύεσθαι. οἷον ἡ ψυχή, φησίν, ἡ ἡμετέρα ἀὴρ οὖσα συγκρατεῖ ἡμᾶς, καὶ ὅλον τὸν κόσμον πνεῦμα καὶ ἀὴρ περιέχει(λέγεται δὲ συνωνύμως ἀὴρ καὶ πνεῦμα).

Anaximenes, the son of Eurystratos, from Miletus, explained that the principle of existing things is air, because everything arises from it and everything dissolves into it again. "Just as our soul," he says, "because it is air, holds us together, so breath and air encompass the whole world"; air and breath are used synonymously.

[art-of-manliness]

Podcast #943: The Lesser-Known Philosophy of the Iron Age Greeks

When we think of Western philosophers who pondered questions about the good life, we typically think of the classical era of Greece and the likes of Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. But my guest would say that the poets and philosophers who came out of the preceding period, Greece’s Iron Age, also have something to say about the nature of existence. Adam Nicolson is the author of How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks. Today on the show, Adam takes us on a tour of Iron Age Greece and how these seafaring people set the stage for our modern sense of self. Adam makes the case that the early Greeks had what he calls a “harbor mindset,” which lent them a mentality centered on fluidity and transience. We discuss how Odysseus exemplifies this harbor mindset, and how a group of lesser-known pre-Socratic philosophers defined life through a lens of change and contradiction. Adam then explains how a mystical guru named Pythagoras paved the way for Greek thinkers like Plato and Aristotle and the rise of cooperative civility. Resources Related to the Podcast * Adam‘s previous appearance on the AoM podcast: Episode #857 — Why Homer Matters * AoM Podcast #337: What Homer’s Odyssey Can Teach Us Today * The philosophers of Miletus: * Anaximenes * Thales * Anaximander Listen to the Podcast! (And don’t forget to leave us a review!) Listen to the episode on a separate page. Download this episode. Subscribe to the podcast in the media player of your choice. Transcript Coming Soon The post Podcast #943: The Lesser-Known Philosophy of the Iron Age Greeks appeared first on The Art of Manliness. http://dlvr.it/SymwTs

[dzikra-yuhasyra]

[Part II Day 2] Day 2 #22HBB Vol. 2 (23 Maret 2023) 5 - 64 – Dzikra Yuhasyra ⚽ 📚 Dunia Sophie - Jostein Gaarder – hlm. 54-83 / 798 Insight/rangkuman/catatan: Pada suatu sore Sophie mendapatkan lagi surat yang berisikan secarik kertas dengan tulisan: "Adakah zat dasar yang menjadi bahan untuk membuat segala sesuatu? Dapatkah air berubah menjadi anggur? Bagaimana tanah dan air dapat menghasilkan seekor katak hidup?" Ketika pulang sekolah hari itu ia mendapatkan amplop tebal di kotak surat yang berisi "Proyek Para Filosof" yang diawali oleh "Para Filosof Alam". Para filosof Yunani paling awal kadang-kadang disebut filosof alam sebab mereka hanya menaruh perhatian pada alam dan proses-prosesnya. Mereka ingin memahami proses yang sesungguhnya dengan menelaah alam itu sendiri. Ini sangat berbeda dengan menjelaskan guntur dan halilintar atau musim semi dan musim salju dengan menciptakan dongeng mengenai dewa-dewa. Filosof yang pertama kita kenal adalah Thales dari Miletus, sebuah koloni Yunani di Asia Kecil. Thales beranggapan bahwa sumber dari segala sesuatu adalah air. Filosof berikutnya adalah Anaximander. Dia beranggapan bahwa dunia kita hanyalah salah satu dari banyak dunia yang muncul dan sirna di dalam sesuatu yang disebutnya tak terbatas, tapi tampaknya jelas bahwa dia tidak sedang memikirkan suatu zat yang dikenal dengan cara yang dibayangkan Thales. Jelas bahwa zat dasar itu tidak mungkin sesuatu yang sangat biasa seperti air. Selanjutnya Anaximenes (kira-kira 570-526 SM) yang beranggapan bahwa segala sesuatu pastilah udara atau uap. Ketiga filosof ini semuanya percaya pada keberadaan satu zat dasar sebagai sumber dari segala hal. Namun bagaimana mungkin satu zat dapat dengan tiba-tiba berubah menjadi sesuatu yang lain? Kita dapat menyebut ini masalah perubahan. Sejak sekitar 500 SM, ada sekelompok filosof di koloni Yunani Elea di Italia Selatan. "Orang-Orang Elea" ini tertarik pada masalah ini. [Lanjut Part III Day 2] @salmanreadingcorner @fimbandung @fimtangerangraya (at Kota Bandung) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqHLtdDyPMb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sabakos]

Ok fine, an hour and a half.

Aelianus 17 Aeneas of Gaza 24 Aeschines the Orator 33 Alciphron 44 Alexander the Great 98 Amasis II 100 Amelius 101 Anacharsis the Scythian 102 Anaximenes of Miletus 106 Antigonus II 107 Antiochus III 108 Apollonius of Tyana 110 Arcesilaus 131 Archytas of Tarentum 132 Aristaenetus 133 Aristotle 172 Artaxerxes 175 M. Junius Brutus 177 Kalanos 192 Chilon of Sparta 193 Chion of Heraclea 194 Cleobulus 207 Crates of Thebes 208 Demetrius of Phalerum 218 Demosthenes 219 Diogenes 235 Dio Chrysostom 259 Dionysius of Antioch 260 Euripides 275 Heraclitus 280 Hippocrates 289 Isocrates 319 Julian the Apostate 337 Lucian of Samosata 392 Menecrates of Syracuse 399 Menippus of Gadara 400 Musonius Rufus 401 Nicias 405 Pausanius of Sparta 407 Periander 408 Phalaris of Akragas 409 Pherecydes of Syros 460 Philip of Macedon 461 Philostratus of Athens 468 Pisistratus 490 Pittacus of Mytilene 491 Plato 492 Procopius of Gaza 533 Ptolemy Philadelphus 599 Pythagoreans 601 Socrates and Socratics 609 Solon of Athens 636 Synesius of Cyrene 638 Thales of Miletus 740 Themistocles 741 Theophylact Simocatta 763 Thrasybulus 787 Xenophon 788 Zeno of Citium 792

Hey you know it's really cool when 19th century book printers include a table of contents for their 1000 page volumes of writings that aren't collected anywhere else.

[lindahall]

Anaximenes of Miletus – Scientist of the Day

Anaximenes was the third of the three Ionian pre-Socratic philosophers from Miletus, on the west coast of Asia Minor.

read more...

[jamesgraybooksellerworld]

The “Praeparitio” is a gigantic feat of erudition.

945G     Eusebius of Caesarea                  c. 260-c. 340 Eusebius Pa[m]phili de eua[n]gelica preparac[i]o[n]e ex greco in latinu[m] translatus Incipit feliciter.                [ Cologne, Ulrich Zel, not after 1473]                          $18,000 Folio 10 ¾  x 7 ¾  inches. [a]12, [b-o]10, [p]8      One of the earliest editions most likely the Second, (editio princeps : Venice 1470)  This…

[romangoldendreams]

The school of Miletus

Tales, Anaximander, Anaximenes

Water, the  ἀρχή of all things. All things come from water, its humidity, its marine character, everything we see exists and has such an origin. (Tales)

τὸ ἄπειρον unlimited, absolute, it is made up of the four elements that are opposed and destroyed (water, air, fire, earth) and delimited by it. The Earth is absolute and flat, the center of the universe, and on its side there are tubes where fire burns. Everything about the universe, eclipse, moon, corresponds to this fire. (Anaximander)

The  ἀρχή  is the air, from it everything comes, from his innate nature. The Earth is absolute and flat, the center of the universe, and on its side there are tubes where fire burns. Everything about the universe, eclipse, moon, corresponds to this fire. (Anaximenes)

[mostly-history]

When compared with the Hippocratic doctors just 100 years later, let alone Archimedes and Euclid in the 3rd century BC, the methods of the Milesians were horribly crude.  That, paradoxically, is why they count as philosophers.  Scientific thinking had barely been born, yet still they dared to look for the natural causes of things.  Thus they tried to delve deeper than the conventional world-picture suggested was possible.  The fact that they did this, and that they used reason as their spade, makes them philosophers. The use of reason was an act of faith.  There is little point in trying to describe the impersonal laws that govern the cosmos if there aren't any, or if they are beyond the bounds of understanding.  The Milesians simply assumed that there were such laws and that the mind was capable of comprehending them.  This faith in an intelligible pattern in nature was rewarded when they came up with what seemed to them to be good explanations of such things as life, eclipses and thunder.  Anaximander's talk – albeit in somewhat poetical terms – of 'necessity' and of the elements paying 'penalty and retribution to each other for their injustice according to the assessment of Time' illustrates the Milesians' newfound belief in a world governed by comprehensible law.

The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance

[neilmach]

Who was Anaximander? Why is his #Apeiron so important? #Anaximander #Anaximen #amwritingfantasy

Apeiron is an ancient Greek word and idea that means: “(that which is) unlimited, boundless, infinite, or indefinite...” The word is used to describe a construct: in other words, a thing that does not exist in objective reality but exists only because we humans agree the thing exists… A book is an Apeiron. And, presumably, so is the Universe! I will get into that in a second… The Apeiron…

[saqqaras]

[chailattesandwriting]

10-23-2022

PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY

SIX MAJOR THEMES OF PHILOSOPHY TO GET US STARTED:

Philosophy is an extremely broad topic, in which we are able to explore numerous concepts. Such concepts can include the meaning of life, knowledge, morality, reality, the existence of God(s), consciousness, politics, religion, economics, art, linguistics, etc..

Within a wide perspective, there are essentially six major themes that philosophy touches on:

i. Metaphysics; the study of the universe and reality

ii. Logic; how to create a valid argument

iii. Epistemology; the study of, and how we acquire, knowledge

iv. Aesthetics; the study of art and beauty v. Politics; the study of political rights, government, and the role of the citizens vi. Ethics; the study of morality and how one should live their life.

2. PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY

This form of philosophy is the roots of western philosophy. Giving thanks to the works of Greek philosophers during the fifth and sixth centuries, they are the first ones to give us the idea that it’s okay to question the world around us.

So, rather than attributing their surroundings to the Greek Gods, these philosophers searched for more rational explanations that could explain the world, the universe, and their own existences.

This was a philosophy of nature.

These philosophers main questions were things along the lines of: where everything came from, what everything was created from, how nature could be described mathematically, and how could one explain the existence of plurality in nature? In essence, they were all looking for the primary principal, which they called “archê.” This was the material of the universe.

But, there’s a catch here. Due to the fact that not everything in the universe looked the same or remained in the exact same state, pre-Socratic philosophers came to the conclusion that there must be principles of change that the archê contained.

3. IMPORTANT SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT:

There are five schools of thought that I’d like to briefly go over.

i. The Milesian school:

a. Existed in the city of Miletus, which was along the coast of Anatolia (modern day Turkey)

b. Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes all came from this school.

ii. The Pythagorean school:

a. Named after Pythagoras, also a mathematician; who believed that the basis of all reality was mathematical relations and that mathematics governed everything.

b. He essentially believed that numbers and math were sacred.

iii. The Ephesian school:

a. Based off the works of one man and one man alone; Heraclitus of Ephesus, he believed that everything in nature was constantly changing and/or in a state of flux.

b. You may be more familiar with his work through the saying “one cannot step in the same river twice.”

iv. The Elatic school:

a. This school was based in Colophon, which was not far from Miletus.

b. The philosophers Xenophanes, Parmenides, Zeno, and Melissus came out of this region.

v. The Atomist school:

a. Started by Leucippus in the fifth century b.c. And later passed down to Democritus, believed that every single physical object on this planet is made up of atoms and void.

b. Also believed that the atoms were so small that they could not be cut in half, and they all differed in size, shape, motion, arrangement, and position. When put together, however, these atoms created what we see in the visible world.