Home » Articole » Articles » Society » Philosophy » Schools and traditions » Milesian physics (3): A physics of geographers and meteorologists

Milesian physics (3): A physics of geographers and meteorologists

This interpretation fits with the thesis of the plurality of worlds, one of Anaximander’s theses which will be taken up by Anaximenes; he admits, in fact, the simultaneous existence of several worlds which are born and perish within the eternal infinity without old age. From this infinity the worlds are born, we are told, by an “eternal movement”, that is to say by a movement of generation incessantly reproduced which has the effect of separating the opposites, hot and cold, from one another; these opposites acting on one another produce, as we have seen, all cosmic phenomena (12).

Anaximenes, in taking air as a principle, that is to say as the first beginning, does not deviate from Anaximander. The word air only specifies the nature of the Infinite; for its principle is an infinite air (without limit), from which all things are born; it is, like the Infinity of Anaximander, animated by an eternal movement. But it seems that Anaximenes did not believe that this movement could resolve the problem of the origin of things; a movement of agitation like that which is imparted to a sieve can indeed separate mixed things, but not produce them. To this eternal movement, Anaximenes therefore superimposed another explanation of the origin of things: air, by its rarefaction, gives birth to fire, and, by its successive condensations, to wind, to cloud, to water and finally to earth and stones. In this last order of transmutations, he doubtless thinks of very concrete phenomena accessible to observation: formation of winds in calm and invisible air, then formation of clouds which resolve into rains, these rains giving birth to rivers which deposit alluviums. The inverse process, that of rarefaction, is that which gives birth to fire, that is to say doubtless to all igneous meteors and stars (13).

The physics of the Milesians is therefore a physics of geographers and meteorologists, but their overall vision of the universe in no way announces the progress of astronomy that the following century will see; the earth is for Thales and Anaximenes a flat disk that one makes float on water and the other on air; it is for Anaximander a cylindrical column whose base diameter is equal to a third of the height and whose upper part, which we inhabit, is slightly swollen; it remains in equilibrium, because it is at an equal distance from the confines of the universe. Anaximenes even returns to a very ancient mythical image, if it is true that he believes that the sun after setting does not pass under the earth, but goes around the horizon where it is hidden from view by high mountains, to return to the East. We can barely sense in the determination that Anaximenes gives some glimmer of what mathematical astronomy will be about the distances of the celestial rings from the earth (14).

On the other hand, to this physics, in which only sensible and familiar images intervene, is superimposed a mode of explanation of a completely different kind; the birth and destruction of worlds are regulated according to a certain order of justice: “It is in the things from which they came that beings destroy themselves according to necessity; they pay each other the punishment and the punishment of their injustice, according to the order of time.” Here emerges the idea of ​​a natural order of succession which is at the same time an order of justice: a social image of a world order, widespread in Eastern civilizations, and which will play a leading role in Greek philosophy. This notion of justice is undoubtedly linked to the divine character that the Milesians give to the world and to the primordial substance that Anaximenes calls immortal and imperishable. (15)

References

(12) Hippolyte, Réfutations des Hérésies, 1, 6,1-2, compared to Aristotle, Physique, III, 4, 203 b, 25 (quoted by Burnet, Aurore, p. 66, n. 1).
(13) Hippolyte, Réfutations, I, 4, 1-3.
(14) Thales, according to Aristotle, Métaphysique, A 3, 983 b, 21 ; Anaximenes in Hippolyte, Réfutation, I, 7, 4 et 6 ; Anaximandre in Hippolyte, I, 6, 3, and Plutarch, Stromata (Diels, Doxographi, 579, 11).
(15) Theophrastus in Simplicius (Diels, Doxographi graeci, 476, 8-11). Cf. CORNFORD, From Religion to Philosopha p. 174 et 176.

Source: Émile Bréhier(1951). Histoire de la philosophie, Presses Universitaires de France. Translation and adaptation by © 2024 Nicolae Sfetcu

Emotions and Emotional Intelligence in Organizations
Emotions and Emotional Intelligence in Organizations

Unlock the Secrets of Emotional Intelligence to Transform Your Life and Organization.

not rated 0.00 lei Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Causal Loops in Time Travel
Causal Loops in Time Travel

Welcome to the Fascinating World of Time Travel and Paradoxes

not rated 0.00 lei Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Last Thoughts
Last Thoughts

Discover the Wisdom of a Universal Genius in “Last Thoughts” by Henri Poincaré

not rated 23.89 lei Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *