History of Ancient Philosophy

Lecture 3
The Milesians and the Pythagoreans

Presented
By
Godfrey Marera
MA (Philosophy)
Philosophy Begins with Wonder
Philosophy begins in a sense of wonder. It
begins when we wonder about what otherwise
is taken for granted or assumed to be true. The
philosopher looks for alternative answers and
asks questions outside the usual ones. This was
the case with the Milesian Philosophers, the
first philosophers in the Western World
Who are the Milesians
The first three philosophers in the west, to
deserve the title came from Miletus in Ionia
hence they are called Milesians or sometimes
Ionians. They are Thales, Anaximander and
Anaximenes.
 The Milesian Question
The Milesians observed that although there is a
multiplicity of things which existed these things
seemed to be somehow similar or looked alike.
There was unit in diversity. Why was it like that?
They wondered. They concluded that for things to
be different but somehow looking the same of alike
there should be something common in all of them,
an element which they all have.
 The Milesian Question
The Milesian philosophy was therefore an
attempt to find the Urstoff, the arche, the
primordial principle of reality or that which
underlies all being. Their main contribution
was the development and application of theory
purely based on empirical observation of
natural phenomena. They were all materialist
in their explanations
Thales
From his observations, he
concluded that water is the
all-important, underlying,
unifying, original principle;
the arche of life and the
Earth.
 Thales – Why Water
Some Possible Reasons are
1. Water is the nourishment of all life
2. Water can take different states
3. Water is an agent of change (erosion, exfoliation
etc)
4. The earth was floating on water
 Thales – Some anectodes
Some Amusing Things about Thales the Astronomer
1. Predicted a solar eclipse
2. Discovered the length of the solar year
3. Made money from predicting a drought
4. Devised a way to have an army cross a deep and
wide river
5. Devised a way to measure the height of Egyptian
pyramids etc,
 Anaximander
• Unlike Thales whose writings
are completely unkown,
Anaximander is thought to
have written the following;
On Nature, On the Fixed
Stars, Geometric Surveying,
Sphere, Map of Greece, and
Map of the World.
 Anaximander
According to him, the arche could not be any one of the
elements – air, water, earth and fire. He introduced the
concept of the apeiron or boundless. According to
Aristotle Anaximander thought - Everything has an origin
or is an origin. The Boundless has no origin. For then it
would have a limit. Moreover, it is both unborn and
immortal, being a kind of origin. For that which has
become has also, necessarily, an end, and there is a
termination to every process of destruction.
 Anaximander
Now the universe was created from the Boundless. Here
the introduced the concept of creation from opposites.
A germ, filled with hot and cold, was separated off from
the Boundless, then out of this germ a sphere of fire
grew around the vapor that surrounds the earth, like a
bark round a tree.
The sphere of fire split into several wheels which were
then the wheels of the stars, moon, and sun.
Anaximenes
A younger associate of
Anaximander, concluded that
air must be the original
source of life and all physical
things. According to
Anaximenes, air became
other physical things by
altering its state and texture
through a process called
 Anaximenes
According to him, When "most evenly
distributed," aer is the common, invisible air of
the atmosphere. By condensation it becomes
visible, first as mist or cloud, then as water, and
finally as solid matter such as earth or stones. If
further rarefied, it turns to fire.
Air is eternal and even our souls are air
 Pythagoreans
The Pythagoreans were a religious
brotherhood founded by
Pythagoras from South Italy in the
middle of the fifth century BC. They
were famous for philosophy,
mathematics, music and astronomy.
It is said that the word philosophy
was first used by Pythagoras who
said he was not a wise man but a
seeker after wisdom.
 Pythagoras - Life
It is said that Pythagoras travelled a lot with his father who was a
merchant. However, much of what is known about him can not be said
with certainty since the people who preserved the events in his life
wanted to present him as a holy man, divine like. What can be said with
certainty is that he was well educated, learning to play some musical
instruments and to recite Homer. He is said to have visited Thales when
he was about 18 though Thales might have been very old to have taught
Pythagoras for a long time. He however got interest in mathematics and
cosmology from Thales. It is said that it was Thales who encouraged him
to travel to Egypt to learn better on these subject. He was even admitted
in one priesthood after completing some rites. Much of what he did in the
brotherhood is not known since the Pythagoreans led a life of secrecy.
 Pythagoreans
Among the many beliefs that Pythagoras believed are:
(1) that at its deepest level, reality is mathematical in
nature,
(2) that philosophy can be used for spiritual purification,
(3) that the soul can rise to union with the divine,
(4) that certain symbols have a mystical significance, and
(5) that all brothers of the order should observe strict
loyalty and secrecy.
Pythagoras – Transmigration of the Soul

Pythagoras believed in
metempsychosis or
reincarnation, according to which
human souls were reborn into
other animals after death or
elevated to join the divine. This
may explain why the
brotherhood would not eat meat
 Pythagoras – Everything is Number

Pythagoras believed that things are numbers, i.e.

realtiy is number. When one looks at the
Pythagoras theorem one can come to some
understanding of this. He meant that things can be
expressible in number. Number can express the
hidden reality of things. It is almost like the
underlying principle of reality of the Milesians.
Numbers were special for Pythagoras so that for
him each number represented something.
 Pythagoras – Number, Music and
harmony

Numbers did not only give an

interpretation of reality but also
gave harmony to it as expressed in
music. Musical harmony is given in
the interplay of opposite ratios.
Finer tunes in stringed
instruments, for example, are
made by tightening the string.
 Pythagoras –
Contemplation
Contemplation was considered
to be very important for it
provided inner piece. It was
also a way of purifying the
soul from materiality. Music,
mathematics and philosophy
were important for
contemplation.