This article is about the pre-Socratic philosopher. For other uses, see Anaximander (disambiguation).
Anaximander
Anaximander in a 17th century portrait by Pietro Bellotti
Born
c. 610 BC
Miletus, Ionian League (modern-day Balat, Didim, Aydın, Turkey)
Died
c. 546 BC (aged c. 64)
Era
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Region
Western philosophy
School
Ionian / Milesian
Naturalism
Main interests
Metaphysics, astronomy, geometry, geography
Notable ideas
The apeiron is the arche Evolutionary view of life[1][2] Earth floats unsupported Mechanical model of the sky Rain is from evaporation World map
Anaximander (/æˌnæksɪˈmændər/AN-ak-sih-MAN-dər; Greek: ἈναξίμανδροςAnaximandros; c. 610 – c. 546 BC)[3] was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus,[4] a city of Ionia (in modern-day Turkey). He belonged to the Milesian school and learned the teachings of his master Thales. He succeeded Thales and became the second master of that school where he counted Anaximenes and, arguably, Pythagoras amongst his pupils.[5]
Little of his life and work is known today. According to available historical documents, he is the first philosopher known to have written down his studies,[6] although only one fragment of his work remains. Fragmentary testimonies found in documents after his death provide a portrait of the man.
Anaximander was an early proponent of science and tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe, with a particular interest in its origins, claiming that nature is ruled by laws, just like human societies, and anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long.[7] Like many thinkers of his time, Anaximander's philosophy included contributions to many disciplines. In astronomy, he attempted to describe the mechanics of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. In physics, his postulation that the indefinite (or apeiron) was the source of all things, led Greek philosophy to a new level of conceptual abstraction. His knowledge of geometry allowed him to introduce the gnomon in Greece. He created a map of the world that contributed greatly to the advancement of geography. Anaximander was also involved in the politics of Miletus and was sent as a leader to one of its colonies.
^DK fragments A 11 and A 30
^"Anaximander". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
^Couprie, Dirk L. "Anaximander". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
^"Anaximander" in Chambers's Encyclopædia. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 1, p. 403.
^Porphyry. Life of Pythagoras.
^Themistius, Oratio 26, §317
^Park, David (2005) The Grand Contraption, Princeton University Press ISBN 0-691-12133-8
Anaximander (/æˌnæksɪˈmændər/ AN-ak-sih-MAN-dər; Greek: Ἀναξίμανδρος Anaximandros; c. 610 – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived...
last of the three philosophers of the Milesian School, after Thales and Anaximander. These three are regarded by historians as the first philosophers of...
boundary'. The apeiron is central to the cosmological theory created by Anaximander, a 6th-century BC pre-Socratic Greek philosopher whose work is mostly...
springs and rivers. Anaximander argued that water could not be the arche, because it could not give rise to its opposite, fire. Anaximander claimed that none...
ISBN 978-1107069626 Anaximander: And the Birth of Science, Penguin Random House, 2023 (republication of The First Scientist: Anaximander and his legacy, Westholme...
from Plato into most later philosophy that was in any degree religious. Anaximander was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who is widely referred to as the...
known world, it is first used in the 6th century BCE by Anaximander and Hecataeus. Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along the Phasis...
kinsman" of Anaximander. Rather than water, Anaximander held all was made of apeiron or the unlimited; while Anaximenes, the successor of Anaximander, perhaps...
orientation around the 14th century BC. The ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander (610–546 BC) is credited with introducing this Babylonian instrument...
century BCE, due to Greek geographers such as Anaximander and Hecataeus.[citation needed] Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along...
Ethnography begins in classical antiquity; after early authors like Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus, Herodotus laid the foundation of both historiography...
There was, according to Anaximander, a continual war of opposites. Anaximenes of Miletus, a student and successor of Anaximander, replaced this infinite...
successor, Anaximander. Anaximander noted that water could not be the arche because it could not give rise to its opposite, fire. Anaximander claimed that...
external world and rejecting theological or mythological explanations. Anaximander, who believed that all things arose from the elemental nature of the...
philosophers attributed it to natural causes, such as wind striking clouds (Anaximander, Aristotle) and movement of air within clouds (Democritus). The Roman...
Greek philosophical (and scientific) tradition, when Thales, followed by Anaximander and Anaximenes (known collectively, to modern scholars, as the Milesian...
first published in 1564 Hypothetical reconstruction of the world map of Anaximander (610–546 BC) World map according to Posidonius (150–130 BC), drawn in...
of Hebrew gematria. Pythagoras was a contemporary of the philosophers Anaximander, Anaximenes, and the historian Hecataeus, all of whom lived in Miletus...
firmament above the Earth supported by pillars. However, the work of Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Thales, followed by classical Greek theoreticians like...
denoted by potentially infinite and actually infinite, respectively. Anaximander (610–546 BC) held that the apeiron was the principle or main element...
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