Anaximenes of Miletus as imaginatively depicted, wearing a tainia, in a 16th-century engraving from Girolamo Olgiati
Born
c. 586/585 BC
Miletus, Ionian League (modern-day Balat, Didim, Aydın, Turkey)
Died
c. 526/525 BC (aged c. 60)
Miletus
Era
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Region
Western philosophy
School
Ionian/Milesian school
Main interests
Metaphysics Natural philosophy
Notable ideas
Air is the arche Matter changes through rarefaction and condensation
Anaximenes of Miletus (/ˌænækˈsɪməˌniːz/; Greek: Ἀναξιμένης ὁ Μιλήσιος; c. 586/585 – c. 526/525 BC) was an Ancient Greek, Pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). He was the last of the three philosophers of the Milesian School, after Thales and Anaximander. These three are regarded by historians as the first philosophers of the Western world. Anaximenes is known for his belief that air is the arche, or the basic element of the universe from which all things are created. Little is known of Anaximenes' life and work, as all of his original texts are lost. Historians and philosophers have reconstructed information about Anaximenes by interpreting texts about him by later writers. All three Milesian philosophers were monists who believed in a single foundational source of everything: Anaximenes believed it to be air, while Thales and Anaximander believed it to be water and an undefined infinity, respectively. It is generally accepted that Anaximenes was instructed by Anaximander, and many of their philosophical ideas are similar. While Anaximenes was the preeminent Milesian philosopher in Ancient Greece, he is often given lower importance than the others in the modern day.
Anaximenes held that air could change into other forms through either rarefaction or condensation. Condensation would make the air denser, turning it into wind, clouds, water, earth, and finally stone. Rarefaction would make the air less dense as it eventually becomes fire. Anaximenes also developed a model of the Earth, describing it as a flat disc floating atop the air while the Sun and stars are also flat and float alongside it. He described the Sun as revolving around the Earth, causing it to be obscured by higher lands during the night. As one of the Milesian philosophers, Anaximenes was one of the earliest figures to develop science. He influenced many of the Pre-Socratic philosophers that succeeded him, such as Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Diogenes of Apollonia, and Xenophanes. He also provided early examples of concepts such as natural science, physical change, and scientific writing.
and 25 Related for: Anaximenes of Miletus information
AnaximenesofMiletus (/ˌænækˈsɪməˌniːz/; Greek: Ἀναξιμένης ὁ Μιλήσιος; c. 586/585 – c. 526/525 BC) was an Ancient Greek, Pre-Socratic philosopher from...
Anaximenes (Ancient Greek: Ἀναξιμένης) may refer to: Anaximenesof Lampsacus (4th century BC), Greek rhetorician and historian AnaximenesofMiletus (6th...
Thales ofMiletus (/ˈθeɪliːz/ THAY-leez; Greek: Θαλῆς; c. 626/623 – c. 548/545 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia...
list of ancient Greek philosophers contains philosophers who studied in ancient Greece or spoke Greek. Ancient Greek philosophy began in Miletus with...
BC, Greek philosopher AnaximenesofMiletus claimed that all things are made of air that is simply changed by varying levels of pressure. He could observe...
boundless". AnaximenesofMiletus (c. 585 – 525 BC). Of the Milesian school. Believed that all was made of air. Pythagoras of Samos (c. 580 – c. 500 BC). Of the...
Anaximander, AnaximenesofMiletus claimed that air was the most suitable candidate. Pythagoras (born c. 570 BCE), from the island of Samos off the coast of Ionia...
remained stable because it was the same distance from all things. AnaximenesofMiletus believed that "the Earth is flat and rides on air; in the same way...
Miletus, with Thales followed by Anaximander and which ended with Anaximenes. 3rd-century Roman rhetorician Aelian depicts Anaximander as leader of the...
according to Anaximander, a continual war of opposites. AnaximenesofMiletus, a student and successor of Anaximander, replaced this infinite, boundless...
BC, Greek philosopher AnaximenesofMiletus claimed that all things are made of air that is simply changed by varying levels of pressure. He could observe...
speculations on the natural causes of earthquakes were included in the writings of Thales ofMiletus (c. 585 BCE), AnaximenesofMiletus (c. 550 BCE), Aristotle...
direct reference to the philosophy of Anaximander, AnaximenesofMiletus and Pherecydes of Syros. Of the Pythagorean philosophers, Hippasus, Alcmaeon,...
west pediment of the Temple of Artemis, Korkyra, is made. c. 580 BC—Standing Youth (kouros) is made. 585 BC—Birth ofAnaximenesofMiletus, Greek philosopher...
Leucippus, but Epicurus has also been said to have denied the existence of Leucippus. Miletus, Elea, and Abdera have all been suggested as places where Leucippus...
November 17, 2400 AD. Aeschylus, author of Greek tragedies Psammetichus III, Egyptian pharaoh AnaximenesofMiletus, Greek scientist and philosopher (b....
substance from which all things are born and to which all things will return. Anaximenes, Anaximander's pupil, advanced yet another theory. He returns to the elemental...
infinite'). Reality is some, one thing, but we cannot know what. AnaximenesofMiletus: Air Heraclitus: Change, symbolized by fire (in that everything...
by Aristagoras during the revolt of the Ionian cities against Persian rule from 499 to 494 BC. AnaximenesofMiletus (6th century BC), who studied under...
Global Information